Hillary Clinton Wins the First Democratic Debate in Las Vegas. Sanders Is No Threat to Her. And What about Biden?

Hillary Clinton has won the first Democratic presidential debate. Vice President Joe Biden, who was absent from the debate, seems to be her only potential rival, and that is only if he does decide to join the presidential race.

Officially, there were five Democratic candidates taking part in the debate, broadcast by CNN. Unofficially, just two of them mattered: Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders. It was reflected in the polls, which indicate around 45 percent of Democratic voter support for the former first lady and 25 percent for Sanders.

The most important question before the debate was whether the 74-year-old senator from Vermont, who calls himself a “socialist,” had a chance to threaten Hillary, who is favored, and get the party nomination, just like Obama did seven years ago. The answer seems to be that Sanders might pose a temporary threat, but he will lose in the end, partially due to his own fault.

The Not So Radical Sanders, the Socialist

During the entire debate, Sanders, who gets the largest crowds during his events, kept on repeating that rapidly growing social inequality is currently the most important problem for the United States. A tiny fraction of the richest Americans possesses more than 90 percent of the wealth of all U.S. citizens. It will only get worse, because the political system is corrupted by the rich, who sponsor presidential or congressional candidates’ election campaigns in order to secure their input in Washington’s decisions. “It is not Congress that regulates Wall Street – it’s Wall Street that regulates the U.S. Congress,” Sanders said.

He explained that U.S. society needs a wake-up call to go and vote en masse in order to abolish this immoral system. Naturally, what Sanders meant was that voting for him is the alternative. He rejects the unhealthy system in his campaign by accepting donations only from ordinary voters and not from billionaires. So far, he has received small amounts from more than 600,000 Americans.

Sanders articulated the above-mentioned credo of his campaign excellently and convincingly during the Democratic debate. The Washington Post’s reporters established that Sanders’ name was most frequently Googled during the debate, and that he got the highest number of comments on Twitter. At the same time, though, Sanders made mistakes in his own typical style, which minimize his potential as a nominee and will very probably cause his final downfall.

Firstly, he has been calling himself a socialist, which antagonizes many U.S. citizens, although his views are not really radical. During the debate, he said it was shameful that the U.S. was the only developed country in the world that doesn’t offer paid maternity leave.

It is not radical to demand maternity leave for U.S. women and it is among Clinton’s positions too, and yet she does not call herself a socialist.

Sanders was also rather careless during the debate, when he claimed that in certain matters the U.S. should look up to countries such as Sweden or Denmark. Clinton immediately used his comment to ridicule him. “We are not Denmark … I love Denmark. We are the United States of America …” she said, winning applause from the audience that gathered at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas to watch the live debate. Clinton mentioned inequality as well, but she did that in a more skillful and acceptable manner.

There was a difference in the attitudes of Clinton and Sanders. She attacked Sanders a few times, which clearly surprised him. She pointed out that Sanders did occasionally vote in Congress in favor of the National Rifle Association, a lobby for gun salesmen and owners. “It’s time the entire country stood up against the NRA,” Clinton stated.

Mrs. Clinton Gives a High-Five

Sanders, on the other hand, remained chivalrous. Not only did he not attack his rival, he also helped her in a key moment of the debate, when CNN journalist Anderson Cooper asked Clinton about the email scandal. Between 2009 and 2013, when Clinton was secretary of state, she used her personal email for professional matters, at the same time instructing all U.S. diplomats not to do it. She claimed personal email accounts were not secure and mentioning any matters confidential to the state could have serious consequences.

Republicans argue that Clinton used her personal email account on purpose, so that she had the option of deleting any correspondence that proved inconvenient to her. Indeed, when she left the post, she managed to delete thousands of emails that she thought were “private,” before passing on the content of the email account to government archives.

The FBI is leading an investigation into that case, trying to establish if any of the messages contained secret information.

When she was forced to explain herself once again during the debate, and admitted that it was wrong to use her personal email account, Sanders said, “Enough of the emails, let’s talk about the real issues facing the United States of America.” Clinton was so pleased with his help that she even gave Sanders a high-five.

Clinton came across very well during the two-hour long debate. She was confident, determined, competent, logical and relaxed. She smiled a lot, but she also spoke with passion (e.g. about the NRA). She was far more “presidential” than the other four candidates combined. That was the reason why Clinton was regarded the debate winner in the first post-debate commentaries.

The others – apart from Clinton and Sanders – performed poorly or disastrously. The worst performance was that of Sen. Lincoln Chafee, who admitted that he had no opinion as to the Senate’s crucial votes and followed the majority. Former Sen. John Webb will be best remembered for his bizarrely satisfied facial expression when he described how he killed an enemy in Vietnam 50 years ago. Admittedly, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley did not disgrace himself, but he did nothing that would give him hope of advancing in the polls, which currently show him at the bottom.

What about Biden? He Has to Decide Soon

Some post-debate comments expressed doubt as to whether the three outsiders would even be able to last until the primary election in Iowa. In these circumstances, the only real hope that the race for the Democratic nomination is not going to be a mere formality is Vice President Biden. He has 20 percent of voter support in the polls, although he has not confirmed yet if he is going to join the race. He is going through a tough period in his personal life with the death of his son from brain cancer. Allegedly Biden’s son encouraged his father’s presidential run until his very last moments. Time is passing quickly, though, and Biden has only a few days left to decide and make his decision public.

Meanwhile, the Republican race for the nomination is far more exciting and diverse. At first, the favorite was Jeb Bush, the son and brother of the last two Republican presidents. However, in an unexpected turn of events, he was outrivaled by three novices in the world of politics: billionaire and showman Donald Trump, former neurosurgeon Ben Carson and former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Carly Fiorina. Their popularity soared thanks to the general dissatisfaction with political elites, a popularity which has recently been breaking records. According to the polls, less than 10 percent of Americans say they have any trust in Congress.