Dear Commons Community,

The five candidates for the Democratic nomination for president had their first debate last night. Sponsored by CNN, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Jim Webb, Lincoln Chaffee, and Martin O’Malley sparred with each other throughout the evening. They all appeared prepared, knowledgeable, and competent. They also were focused on the issues and avoided personal attacks. Income inequality, gun control, climate change, and free public higher education were frequently mentioned. Hillary was confident and will keep her lead in the nomination process as a result of her performance during the debate.  However, Sanders made several strong statements.   A self-described democratic socialist, Sanders derided “a casino capitalist process by which so few have so much.”  Sanders called the Iraq war “the worst foreign policy blunder in the history of our country” and said he would not support sending American combat troops back to the Middle East to fight terrorism.  Sanders also had the best line of the evening in referring to Hillary’s email issues and said:

“The American people are sick and tired hearing about your damn emails.” As the crowd in Las Vegas roared with applause, a smiling Clinton reached over to shake his hand and said, “Thank you, Bernie.”

A good evening for Democrats!

Tony