Hillary and Bernie Each Had a Pretty Strong Debate. That Means Hillary Won
[link:http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/12/19/hillary_clinton_won_the_abc_democratic_debate_in_new_hampshire_even_though.html|Slate:
In an evenly matched debate, one in which the two leading candidates each have their strong moments and some blah ones, who could possibly be named the “winner”? The answer is the one who was already winning heading in—especially when she, Hillary Clinton, was the only one to receive an onstage apology from her main (and trailing) rival.
The sparks over #Datagate—or whatever we’re calling the events that led to Democratic horse race drama outshining Republican horse race drama for a whole 36 hours this week—were extinguished early on. About 14 minutes into the two-hour debate, Sanders reiterated his campaign’s talking points about how a) he had axed the staffer who breached the Clinton campaign’s voter data and was investigating further misconduct; and b) it was completely unfair and over-the-top for the Democratic National Committee to temporarily lock his campaign out of its own voter data. Then the moderator offered him an opportunity to apologize to Clinton.
“Yes, I apologize,” he said. “Not only do I apologize to Secretary Clinton, and I hope we can work together on an independent investigation from day one. I want to apologize to my supporters. This is not the type of campaign that we run. And if I find anybody else involved in this, they will also be fired.”
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From then on, Sanders and Clinton debated their proposals on taxes, health care, and education from the left and center-left, respectively. Both gave solid performances. But it’s hard to see how either could have taken many supporters from the other. Since Hillary Clinton came in with more supporters, and was able to parry off attacks on her vulnerabilities well enough, the tie goes to her.
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Bernie's apology and Hillary's "May the force be with you" quote.
And yes, Hillary won.
