Democrats debate Tuesday night
The first Democratic presidential debate of the 2016 election cycle will air at 9 p.m. Tuesday on CNN.
On the campaign trail
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s reporters have traveled the country to keep you informed about the 2016 presidential election. Daniel Malloy and Greg Bluestein have roamed across eight states for the “Shifting South” series about the region’s political and demographic changes. And AJC reporters have provided breaking news coverage and analysis on the biggest political stories in the nation.
Hillary Clinton will share the debate stage for the first time Tuesday with her biggest rival for the Democratic nomination, Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, as she tries to steady a campaign bogged down by sagging poll numbers and nagging questions about her email controversy.
The first Democratic presidential debate will be an opportunity for Clinton to draw sharp contrasts with Sanders in what has so far been a rather tepid primary compared with the free-for-all and name-calling on the Republican side.
Sanders, though, is a tenacious brawler who is expected to offer a bristling critique of Clinton’s more moderate policies — and possibly her controversial decision to use a personal email server during her stint as secretary of state. And any misstep Clinton makes is almost certain to become the story of the debate.
It will also be a chance for lesser-known contenders — ex-Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and former Virginia U.S. Sen. Jim Webb — to raise their profiles in front of an audience of millions.
Looming large will be the specter of another potential candidate who won’t appear on the stage: Vice President Joe Biden, who is riding a wave of speculation that he may yet launch a late bid for the White House.
A careful balance
Sanders, for now, poses the most serious challenge to Clinton’s bid for the Democratic nomination.
His left-leaning insurgent campaign attracts raucous crowds — including a recent visit to Atlanta — and polls show he is threatening the former secretary of state in the important early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire.
Clinton typically shies away from attacking Sanders — or even uttering his name — instead squaring many of her attacks on the leading Republican contenders. But she will have to address him head-on Tuesday without angering supporters of the Vermont lawmaker whom she will need next year if she wins the nomination.
"I know Bernie. I respect his enthusiastic and intense advocacy of his ideas," she told CBS recently. "That's what I want this campaign to be about, and I hope people who support me respect that."
Clinton could have much more to lose if her attacks fail to land. She’s set out to improve her image in the past few weeks, including giving an apology for using the private email account for her government business and making a cameo appearance on “Saturday Night Live” that mocked herself.
“I’m watching to see how defensive she’ll be. Will she try to explain things away, or will she go beyond that?” said Charles Bullock, a University of Georgia political scientist. “She has to take Bernie Sanders seriously, but she’ll have to navigate it carefully.”
Her move to the left on recent issues, such as her opposition to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline and her stance against the White House's major Pacific trade agreement, could be both an attempt to halt Sanders' momentum and keep an eye on Biden, who is likely to present himself as President Barack Obama's heir apparent if he runs.
She’s likely to target Sanders, who calls himself a democratic socialist, on areas that could open a wider rift between the senator and his more liberal supporters.
The Vermont lawmaker didn’t support the Brady Act, which mandated a waiting period and background checks for gun sales, and he backed a 2005 law that shields firearms makers from some lawsuits filed by shooting victims. Clinton, meanwhile, called for the repeal of that law in the wake of a mass shooting in Oregon.
Domestic disagreements
The two have starkly different visions of the federal government’s role in domestic policy issues.
Sanders proposes a range of government-expanding initiatives, including offering universal health care to every American, setting into motion a massive infrastructure upgrade and creating a program to make tuition free at public universities. The Wall Street Journal put the price tag of his policies at $18 trillion over a decade.
Clinton backs a more modest package of programs, including a plan to make higher education more affordable by reducing tuition at public schools and cutting student loan interest rates, that is estimated to cost $650 billion over 10 years.
Sanders has already telegraphed one of the areas he'll attack Clinton: her October 2002 vote while in the U.S. Senate to authorize military force against Iraq. Clinton later wrote in her 2014 book that she got that decision "wrong." Sanders, then a member of the U.S. House, voted against the measure while warning of "unintended consequences."
Still, the Tuesday debate will almost certainly be a sharp contrast from the fanfare surrounding the contest across the aisle. The sharp-elbowed attacks and blustering campaign promises from Republican front-runner Donald Trump turned the GOP debates into must-see TV that set ratings records for cable news channels.
Sanders, for one, has said he will use the national spotlight to highlight his liberal positions — and not go personal.
"You're looking at a candidate who has run in many, many elections, who has never run a negative political ad in my life and hopes never to have to run them," Sanders told reporters about the upcoming debate. "And you're looking at a candidate who does not go about attacking people personally. I just don't do that."
About the Author
