The first Democratic Presidential debate, coming up on Tuesday, October 13, on CNN, gives three candidates their first chance to gain attention and support.
Former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley. former Rhode Island Governor and Senator Lincoln Chafee, and former Virginia Senator Jim Webb have gained virtually no support, no more than one or two percent in polls, with all of the attention focused on Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, and with Vice President Joe Biden still considering whether to enter the race, although he will not be in the first Presidential debate.
All three of the “unknowns” have records worthy of consideration, but at this point, have what is considered to be zero chance to be the Democratic Presidential nominee.
Interestingly, three of the five candidates for the Democratic Presidential nomination started as Republicans, including Hillary Clinton Lincoln Chafee, and Jim Webb.
And Bernie Sanders, technically has never been a Democrat, although he caucuses with the Democrats in the US Senate.
So only Martin O’Malley has ALWAYS been a Democrat, an ironic twist!
It will be interesting to see if any of the three “unknowns” gain any real momentum after Tuesday’s debate, with the best bet being O’Malley!
This cycle is bad for Democrats. Hillary will probably win. Biden is still a wildcard. Sanders no way Jose he will win (though I wish he would), and O’Malley is practically non-existent in the polls (nobody knows he is running) plus he lacks the money. And are Webb and Lincoln Chafee running? So for all intents and purposes the top 2 , if Biden runs, are electoral losers when it comes to presidential primaries. Biden lost 3 time, and Hillary 1. Plus both are old white folks. But fear not my leftist friends! The Republican establishment is working diligently to hand over another Democrat victory!
If CNN wants to be balanced in how it moderates the upcoming Democratic debate on Tuesday, it will ask questions that prompt the candidates on stage to fight with one another, because that’s exactly how they handled the GOP debate back on September 16.
Of the 74 total questions asked by CNN’s debate moderators at the GOP debate, 55 of them (74 percent) were framed to get Republican candidates to criticize each other’s positions and even personal traits.
At the last GOP debate, Tapper’s very first question goaded Carly Fiorina to hash it out with Donald Trump: “Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, has suggested that your party’s frontrunner, Mr. Donald Trump, would be dangerous as President. He said he wouldn’t want, quote, ‘such a hot head with his finger on the nuclear codes.’ You, as well, have raised concerns about Mr. Trump’s temperament. You’ve dismissed him as an entertainer. Would you feel comfortable with Donald Trump’s finger on the nuclear codes?â€
That was just the first of 55 “food fight†questions that Tapper and the other moderators (CNN’s Dana Bash and radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt) asked the Republican presidential candidates at the September 16 primetime GOP debate.
So, if Tuesday night’s lead moderator Anderson Cooper is following Jake Tapper’s GOP debate model, viewers should expect questions designed to get Bernie Sanders to fight with Hillary Clinton like asking the anti-corporatist Sanders’ view on money being funneled to the Clinton Foundation from foreign companies while Hillary was still Secretary of State? Cooper, if he were following Tapper’s lead, could also ask more personal questions, such as asking Martin O’Malley if he thinks Hillary Clinton’s high untrustworthy numbers in polls disqualifies her to be the nominee.