You have to hand it to Madame Secratary Senator First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, Esquire. When it comes to debating, she can flat out deal.
She knows how to land a point. She knows how to counterpunch. She knows how to give worse than she gets. She knows how to dodge a predictable line of attack. She even knows when to shut up and smirk while her opponents ramble incoherently (a surprisingly rare skill in egocentric politics).
Regular readers – both of you – know that we are fond of saying the politics is much more like a cage match than a chess match. Successful candidates hammer away with their “messaging” over and over without much in the way of subtlety. The most effective bludgeoner usually wins.
We saw an exception tonight, though. Consider the following topics:
- The so-called “reset button” with Russia
- The NSA’s dragnet on cell phone and email traffic
- Syria and the “red line” around the use of chemical weapons
- Wall Street as a source of campaign funding
None of these are particularly flattering to President Barack Obama. Most are distasteful to the most liberal wing of the Democratic Party. Yet liberal Senator Bernie Sanders was effectively neutered by an adroit Clinton. She positioned herself as an instrument and partner of President Obama and thus immunized herself from criticism of the still wildly popular president (wildly popular among Democratic primary voters and caucus goers, to be sure).
She was by far the most effective messanger on health care. Host Andrea Mitchell lobbed a question about single payer health care, a line of attack the Clinton campaign has trotted out over the last several days, claiming that Sanders’ liberal plan might undermine the progress of Obamacare.
Four days ago we saw Donald Trump clumsily make the argument that he was not questioning Ted Cruz’s eligibility for the office of president but that Democrats would, making Cruz’s eligibility a “legitimate campaign issue.” Trump was rightfully booed.
Here, though, Clinton made an analogous claim about the Sanders single payer health care plan, darling of the liberal left. “I’m absolutely committed to universal health care,” she said. She personally had nothing against single payer of course, but Republicans would fight it to the last man. She pointed out that the enemy camp had voted down Obamacare just days ago. Why not stick with Obama’s signature policy achievement, the Affordable Care Act? Unlike Trump, Clinton got away with the gambit unscathed.
Sanders fought, citing the 29 million Americans still without health care (side note: does that sound high? I’d like to see the fact check on that one) and said, “No one is tearing this up” of the ACA. But Clinton threw another jab at the several iterations of Sanders’ policy and again raised her unwillingness “to start over again with a whole new debate.” “We had a chance to vote for the public option,” she pointed out.
As as a Sanders supporter, it was especially distressing to see him founder on the gun issue again. Clinton hammered him in the last debate on this topic and he essentially repeated the same maneuvering mistakes that got him in trouble last time around. She again painted him as “a pretty reliable vote for the gun lobby” because he sided with gun manufacturers on several Senate votes. Sanders really should have developed a better response to the “soft on guns” charge, warranted or not. Called out by Clinton, Sanders could only stammer about “relooking” (sic) at gun control. Sanders might have done better to apologize for having only D- record from the NRA, gotten a laugh, and moved on to to more hospitable terrain. Having seen this exact line of attack in the last debate, Sanders needed a more effective response but fell well short.
Over and over, Clinton managed to underscore her own experience and toughness while avoiding out-and-out chest pounding. Using an oh-by-the-way style, she invoked “Hedge fund billionaires who are running ads against me right now and Karl Rove, who is running an ad against me right now.” These two bogeymen wouldn’t stop her, she implied, and neither would any other force from the right. “I know a little bit about this having spent many hours in the Situation Room advising President Obama,” she prefaced an answer on chemical weapons and the Assad regime. Without taking on Sanders directly, she underscored her policy experience.
Sanders scored best when he trumpeted his own independence, especially from corporate campaign contributions. “I don’t take big money from big banks; I don’t take speaking fees from Goldman Sachs,” he moralized. At one point he pointed his finger directly at Clinton while lecturing about Super PACs, earning an icy glare from the Secretary.
Lester Holt and co-host Mitchell held the candidates to account on time and on the questions, with the notable exception of Mitchell poking Sanders on his comments about Bill Clinton’s infidelities. Sanders promptly responded by mounting the pulpit for a bit of righteous media bashing, always popular among any electorate. “I’m going to debate Secretary Clinton on the issues facing the American people,” he thundered, an echo of his famous “The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails” line from the last debate.
Bottom line: Sanders was clearly uncomfortable criticizing the policies of a sitting Democratic president. He wasn’t able to effectively contrast himself with Clinton and he didn’t do anything that would shake up this race.
Note: Just like old times, I wrote this recap without any influence from experts, talking heads, campaign spinners, or even basic fact check. The goal is an unbiased and honest reaction to the debate. Other viewpoints are welcome.
Six Weeks, Six Votes 