What to look for in Saturday’s Democratic debate,
Clinton will try to solidify her status as the front-runner.
Following months of turmoil, Hillary Rodham Clinton heads into the second Democratic presidential debate Saturday night in Iowa on an upswing as she tries to solidify her front-runner status. But her chief rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, will be looking to stop her momentum with increasingly aggressive language accusing Clinton of failing to be consistent on policy positions.
The two-hour debate at Drake University, airing on CBS starting at 8 p.m. CST, will feature them plus former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. Here’s what to look for:
Can Clinton repeat?
She’s had a good run over the last month, lauded for strong performances at the first debate and in an 11-hour grilling on Capitol Hill about the fatal 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya. The polls, already in her favor, have shifted even more so. She needs to prove this isn’t just a phase, that she deserves her front-runner status after several months of questions about her judgment for possibly jeopardizing national security by using a personal email system while secretary of state.
Clinton will try to repeat her performance from last month, when she showed a commanding grasp of the issues while contrasting herself with Sanders and pushing back on attacks without appearing too negative or overly confident.
How close to Obama?
It wasn’t long ago that political watchers expected the candidates to distance themselves from President Barack Obama, who has seen his party move steadily to the left. After all, they oppose his trade pact with Pacific nations, vow to do more than him to fix the nation’s broken immigration system and campaign on dismantling a piece of his health care law. And yet they have begun to embrace the president, who has had a productive few months on a slew of issues, including negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran, restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba and hashing out a long-term budget agreement with Congress. Clinton said she wants to build on Obama’s successes. Sanders calls him a friend. O’Malley, who has become increasingly sharp in his attacks, accuses Sanders of betraying the president in 2012 by seeking to recruit a primary challenger for him.
Has Sanders peaked?
Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, garners large crowds. He continues to raise millions of dollars. He boasts an intense following that engages in enthusiastic tweets that use the hashtag #FeeltheBern. But with Clinton on her way up, some wonder if Sanders has reached a plateau. He needs to speak on a host of policy issues while being more personable and moving past his serious persona. “People think I am grumpy,” he acknowledged last week. Sanders already has started to portray a softer side.
What about Syria?
Obama recently announced that the U.S. is deploying a small contingent of special operations forces into Syria to help opposition groups beat back the Islamic State. Clinton backs the decision, while both Sanders and O’Malley are wary of ground troops in the war-ravaged country. Sanders and O’Malley may see an opening to go after Clinton, both on her support as well as what critics are calling another Clinton flip-flop. As secretary of state, Clinton advocated for a more aggressive U.S. role in Syria. But in October, before she backed Obama, she said she was opposed to American troops on the ground in Syria.