Martin Eden Mercury
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- Nov 2, 2015
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The second Democratic debate was held at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Nov. 14. It came one day after home-grown, EU jihadist sleeper cells, tied to the war in Syria and Daesh/Islamic State, had attacked Paris France. Former First Lady, US Senator, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's first question and answer went like this: MODERATOR John Dickerson "Hours before the attacks, President Obama said, 'I don't think ISIS is gaining strength.' Seventy-two percent of Americans think the fight against ISIS is going badly. Won't the legacy of this administration, which is -- which you were a part of, won't that legacy be that it underestimated the threat from ISIS?" CLINTON "Well, John, I think that we have to look at ISIS as the leading threat of an international terror network. It cannot be contained, it must be defeated." Here we have a bit of a policy difference here between the President and his former Secretary of State. It is worth wondering if Clinton argued this view during the policy debates within the administration.
More of the debate focused on the Paris attacks, and national security and foreign policy. Echoing former President George W Bush right after the September 11, attacks of 2001, Clinton recited the responsible talking points: The US is not at war with Islam; The US is not at war with all Muslims; The US is at war with violent extremists -- with jihadists. Democratic candidates Vermont Senator, Bernie Sanders, and former Mayor of Baltimore and Governor of Maryland, Martin O'Malley mildly challenged Clinton in this area. Then the debate veered into the direction of domestic issues and the economy, which was the original format of the debate. Here we saw mild challenges and a lukewarm debate. I've written before, that if there were no true intra-party debate between these campaigns, because of a reluctance to criticize Hillary Clinton, by attacking her strengths...the Democratic nomination is Hillary's to lose.
In cogitation over where to go with this piece, I stumbled upon a piece written by a man named Ed Rollins. Mr. Rollins has been a very successful consultant, and a brilliant advisor to GOP causes, and GOP candidates like former President Ronald Reagan. I'll end with a quote from Ed Rollins' piece, that I find especially enlightening and refreshing "The overall message of the night was the Democrats agree on most things. Including, if they would be honest, that Hillary's going to be the nominee."
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