After enduring months of GOP un-hopefuls acting-out like a gang of middle children seeking media attention--sharing such enlightening comments as all Mexicans are rapists and the Holocaust wouldn't have happened if the Jews were all armed to the teeth like present day Americans--we get to hear from the grown-ups.
What to expect:
Bernie Sanders is still mostly unknown despite his nipping at Clinton's heels in the polls. A strong performance tonight could put him over the top. His advantage lies in the low expectations of his performance. Unless he falls asleep at the podium, a-la Obama in the first 2012 debate against Romney, he's going to gain some new followers and stand in stark contrast to Hillary's long history of flip-flopping, half-truths, and ties to the same wall street types Sanders wants to put in jail for destroying the economy.
On the other hand, Bernie is a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist, which to most Americans just means Socialist. Here's a word that's been used on both sides of the aisle for decades to marry progressive politicians to the ideas of Stalin and Lenin and the like...and Bernie is using it to describe himself. If Hillary doesn't use this word at least a dozen times tonight it will show a great deal of self-restraint and perhaps a poor debate strategy. However, even if she does, Bernie is an incredibly articulate man and has been defending this title effectively for years. I'm sure he will have an educational response to any accusations that he somehow sides with hammer and sickle Socialism just because he promotes public benefits that people of other wealthy nations have enjoyed for decades. Still, that shouldn't stop Clinton from highlighting that America has historically been repulsed by all things Socialist, which limits his chances in the general election.
Whether Hillary will get to play offensive tonight depends a lot on the moderators. Based on the CNN GOP debate, it seems likely that we'll see the moderators stirring up petty arguments about emails and Benghazi accusations, and trying to pit Hillary against the politics of her husband. She will have to skillfully pivot out of these traps if she wants to compete with Bernie's big ideas for revolutionizing our social and economic way of life in the U.S. It would be greatly to Clinton's benefit to try to stay on offense, because, based on Sanders' campaign thus far, he is not going to go negative. He's brilliant at keeping interviewers on topic and rarely stoops to bashing other Democrats when there are so many real life institutions and broken policies to rail against--not to mention, Republicans. If Clinton spends the debate tearing down Sanders instead of talking up her own plans, she's going to come off as a bitch, which I assume she is desperately trying to avoid.
As for the other candidates, Joe Biden's empty podium has a better chance of getting the nomination. Why they were even invited I do not know. Hopefully, this will be the first and last time we hear from them; although, I'm sure Clinton and Sanders will be relieved to have some non-threatening candidates giving them a break from talking every once in awhile. The rest of us, barring some brilliant ideas that these candidates have that are simply not making their way into the media cycle, will be annoyed with them cutting into time we could all be sleeping. Which begs the question: Why the hell aren't these things done on the weekend? But hey, that's neither here nor there.
Happy viewing! Regardless of what happens tonight it will be good to hear from a few politicians who didn't spend 48 hours prior to the debate prepping themselves on Wikipedia about the issues facing our country. Clinton and Sanders are some powerhouse intellectuals with some stellar political skills. I imagine we're in for a treat.
