“More on Democrat” isn’t that redundant? . . . anyway . . .
Gary Bauer must not have been playing the Democrat Debate Drinking Game and instead was sober enough to take some perceptive notes. Here are some of them via his Campaign for Working Families:
The Biggest Loser
Last night’s biggest loser wasn’t even at the debate. If Joe Biden was waiting to see if Clinton would stumble, or if he was hoping that her email scandal would trip her up, he must be sorely disappointed today.
Clinton even got an assist from Bernie Sanders on the email issue. When moderator Anderson Cooper raised the subject of Clinton’s private email server and the ongoing investigation, Sanders said, “The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails! . . . Enough of the e-mails. Let’s talk about the real issues facing America.” *
The left-wing crowd loved it and erupted into wild applause, as did the assembled “unbiased” journalists in the press room.**
Throughout the debate, Clinton repeatedly “hugged” Obama. When it appeared that she might be on the ropes over her vote for the Iraq war, she deftly turned the issue around by noting that Barack Obama picked her to be secretary of state, so he obviously trusted her judgment.
In short, Clinton showed none of the vulnerabilities that would enable Biden to easily justify jumping into the race at this late stage.
What They Discussed
Bernie Sanders used valuable airtime last night to defend socialism, saying that “countries like Denmark, like Sweden and Norway” were models we should emulate.
He and other candidates offered a wish list of new spending plans — while we are still running $500 billion deficits — and I don’t recall Anderson Cooper asking any of them, “How are you going to pay for it?” (According to one analysis, Sanders is proposing about $18 trillion in new spending over ten years.)
They bemoaned the state of the economy, stagnant wages and the struggles of middleclass families — all valid concerns. But they seemed to have forgotten that George W. Bush is not president — Barack Obama is. And his socialist policies have smothered economic growth. Why would we want more of the same?
They tried to outbid one another on raising the minimum wage and in pandering to illegal immigrants. Clinton suggested illegal immigrants should be eligible for Obamacare subsidies. O’Malley said he would “go further than President Obama has” when it comes to using executive orders to change our immigration policies. . . .
Asked what was the greatest national security threat facing the nation, two candidates offered climate change. I don’t recall any solutions for dealing with the Islamic State, the refugee crisis or Iran’s behavior since the nuclear deal. Israel was mentioned only once.
What You Didn’t Hear
Anderson Cooper studiously avoided anything related to cultural and values issues. Where were the “gotcha questions” that Republicans always get — like who wants to ban contraception? The sanctity of life only came up when Hillary praised Planned Parenthood and “a woman’s right to choose.”
That would have been a good opportunity for Cooper to ask, “Is there one abortion anyone on this stage would legally prevent?” When it comes to abortion, Democrats are the real extremists on the issue. The GOP nominee must be prepared to raise this issue on his or her own.
Here’s another “gotcha question.” Every Republican has had to answer whether they would vote for a Muslim to be president. Devout Muslims oppose same-sex marriage and abortion. Hillary could have been asked if she would vote for a Muslim candidate who supports Sharia law.
What Republicans Can Learn
Is there a lesson here for the GOP? Yes.
Hillary prevailed because her opponents were easy on her. They treated her the way McCain and Romney treated Obama in the debates — and they lost too.
I could not help but imagine Jeb Bush on that stage with Hillary Clinton. Given his weak performance in the debates so far, who do you think would win?
* ** Bauer’s article has more and it is recommended in its entirety. The reference to unbiased journalism media cheerleading came from a report in The Gateway Pundit:
Reporters in the press room at the Democratic Party presidential debate held in Las Vegas Tuesday night exploded in cheers after Sen. Bernie Sanders emphatically called for the media to stop reporting on the Hillary Clinton email controversy.
Two reporters in the press room, Hunter Walker of Yahoo News and Dave Rubin of Ora TV posted to Twitter the reaction of their fellow reporters.
Dave Rubin @RubinReport The entire press room just exploded when Bernie said that about Hillary’s emails. #DemDebate
Hunter Walker @hunterw Audible clapping and laughter in the press filing room after Bernie Sanders’ “enough of the emails moment
