Democrats’ debate brings wealth gap to campaign’s center stage
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Reporting from Las Vegas — The most compelling moment of the first debate between the candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination came when the inevitable question arose about Hillary Clinton’s emails. After Clinton responded with a counterattack against the House Republicans’ politically motivated investigation into the private email account she kept as secretary of State, CNN moderator Anderson Cooper asked Clinton’s main rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, what he had to say about the subject.
Nodding toward Hillary, Sanders declared, “The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails!” He went on to decry the news media’s obsession with the issue, saying there are far more vital topics that need focus, particularly the question of whether the United States will remain a democracy or devolve further into an oligarchy run by and for the wealthiest 1% of Americans.
As Clinton leaned in to shake Sanders’ hand and both of them grinned, the debate audience rose up in a standing ovation.
The Democratic candidates were not unanimous in all their opinions and they fought to define the differences that set them apart from each other, but even Jim Webb, the former Virginia senator who was significantly more conservative than the other four on most issues, joined in the assault on big banks and Wall Street. Hedge fund managers should suffer a few sleepless nights as they contemplate what continued Democratic control of the White House might mean.
Sanders called for a revolution — a peaceful revolution at the ballot box — to move the country away from an economy where middle class wages have stagnated for decades even as big corporations and banks have enjoyed obscene profits. The central question of the campaign seems to be whether a large enough share of the Democratic electorate is ready to join the Sanders revolt and make him their nominee or if Clinton’s newly expressed passion on the issue of economic equality will be enough to satisfy their ire.
The debate likely did not settle the issue. Sanders did well, but so did Clinton. She was smart, assertive, occasionally jovial and full of confidence. She looked like a front-runner. Among the three candidates who have been stuck in the shadows, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley made his own case as a champion of economic change and may have done well enough to finally get on the radar with voters. It was a debate without gaffes, an unusually articulate exchange of ideas free of cheap shots, boorish insults and overt pandering — the things that have made the Republican debates entertaining, but disheartening, and more than a little scary.
With the Democrats coming center stage after so many months of attention focused on the Republican aspirants, the 2016 campaign is now in full swing. If the wealth gap now also moves to the center of the debate, that will be a very good news.
Twitter: @davidhorsey
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