Who won this one?

[Lyin' Steve]

Who outdueled the other?

[YPestis25]

I'll go with Clinton. Both candidates had really good moments, and pretty bad ones, but Sanders had more bad ones I think.

[Matty]

Bernie pooped the bed big time in this debate.

I think his margin in NH just dropped by maybe 15%.

[bedstuy]

Clinton crushed. Bernie was dreadful on foreign policy.

[Pyro]

Sanders made much more sense on the basics, but needed to counter Clinton's arguments and -desperately- needs to hire a foreign policy consultant.

[psychprofessor]

Bernie had a really good close but his foreign policy answers were not where a major presidential contender should be.

[The Other Castro]

Clinton won the foreign policy section, but the majority of the other sections were wins for Sanders. The part with Clinton getting booed is also probably going to get talked about as well. All in all, nothing about this debate will probably change what will happen in New Hampshire or the rest of the race.

[Eraserhead]

Bernie pooped the bed big time in this debate.

I think his margin in NH just dropped by maybe 15%.

Yeah, that sounds rational...

[HillOfANight]

I don't pay him much attention, but he seemed aloof and sad and constantly just agreeing with Clinton's substantive answers, and then threw in a cute one liner for the kids.

[Higgs]

I only saw bits and pieces, could someone explain how Bernie did so bad on foreign policy questions?

[YPestis25]

I only saw bits and pieces, could someone explain how Bernie did so bad on foreign policy questions?

He was vague, and went back to talking points quite a bit. Clinton dominated during that section.

[Gass3268]

It was the best debate of the cycle. Bernie dominated the first hour, Clinton carried the foreign policy section, and they both did very well in the last 40 minutes. On balance Bernie won.

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

Hillary seriously f_cked up in the beginning. The first 30 minutes I thought she was going to wreck her own campaign and fulfill the "spiteful, slimy, hateable lawyer" image that everyone attacks her on. She did not handle the answers about campaign donations well (even though I think this "guilt by donation" thing is completely bullsh_t and low blow). There was severe discomfort; that was awful to watch.


But after that, she completely dominated the debate. Ending strongly is more important than starting, and even though there was blood in the beginning, they ended on a positive note. But she recovered with strong answers on Flint, electability, successfully tied herself to Obama, and absolutely crushed on foreign policy.

So in the end, Hillary. Bernie failed to destroy her, and she recovered and made a strong case for herself.

[Ebsy]

Hillary seriously f_cked up in the beginning. The first 30 minutes I thought she was going to wreck her own campaign and fulfill the "spiteful, slimy, hateable lawyer" image that everyone attacks her on. She did not handle the answers about campaign donations well (even though I think this "guilt by donation" thing is completely bullsh_t and low blow). There was severe discomfort; that was awful to watch.


But after that, she completely dominated the debate. Ending strongly is more important than starting, and even though there was blood in the beginning, they ended on a positive note. But she recovered with strong answers on Flint, electability, successfully tied herself to Obama, and absolutely crushed on foreign policy.

So in the end, Hillary. Bernie failed to destroy her, and she recovered and made a strong case for herself.

I'm not going to deny that she struggled with her answers on corporate donations and Wall Street, etc., but I think we must have been watching different debates at the beginning. The first question was about whether Clinton was a true Progressive, and I think she totally shut down that line of attack from Sanders. Since Sanders is the one saying or implying she isn't one, it really fell upon him to make the case, and it was obvious that he totally failed to do so while Clinton offered a vociferous defense of her work on progressive causes. Her answer on that issue was extremely well prepped and set up the rest of the debate for a really strong showing for her.

[psychprofessor]

when tad devine is having issues post debate on msnbc trying to explain away sanders' foreign policy awkwardness, you know you lost

[ProgressiveCanadian]

Clinton crushed. Bernie was dreadful on foreign policy.

Foreign policy isn't really a big issue to democrats as much as campaign finance.

[Joe Republic]

Clinton crushed. Bernie was dreadful on foreign policy.

Foreign policy isn't really a big issue to democrats as much as campaign finance.

oh ok then

[ProgressiveCanadian]

Clinton crushed. Bernie was dreadful on foreign policy.

Foreign policy isn't really a big issue to democrats as much as campaign finance.

oh ok then

I guess you could say that Sanders was the only one that got booed tonight... Oh wait no that was Hillary.

[Holmes]

Clinton was on the defensive at the beginning, when (probably) more people were watching. She didn't do anything particularly bad, but being on the defensive is a bad look, especially in a one-on-one debate. In the second half, Sanders really sh**t the bed though. So overall, I think it's a wash. Sanders' clear ignorance on anything foreign policy-related should be a bit unnerving by this point.

[Joe Republic]

Clinton crushed. Bernie was dreadful on foreign policy.

Foreign policy isn't really a big issue to democrats as much as campaign finance.

oh ok then

I guess you could say that Sanders was the only one that got booed tonight... Oh wait no that was Hillary.

So you're conceding that Sanders is weak on foreign policy, but you're saying that it doesn't matter in the primaries anyway, plus he's stronger on an issue you and a debate audience care more about?  Top notch strategy there, bud.

[Blue3]

Hillary.

And I think she actually was at her best in the beginning.

Especially her first answer on how almost no one fits Sander's version of a true progressive... yet Sanders is against gun control and voted against Immigration Reform and some may say that's not progressive enough... and then said it's time to move beyond labels and to issues.

And then Hillary telling Sanders to stop making implications, and if he's going to attack her integrity then to do it to her face.


I don't think many voters know Sanders voted to deregulate derivatives, or against Immigration reform, but now Hillary has brought that up.


Sanders also totally dodged the question on Afghanistan, talking about how he'd bomb ISIS and equip Arabs to fight ISIS instead of talking about Afghanistan.


And then Sanders talked about how he couldn't even get 60 Senate votes to get what he wanted done on the Veterans bill, and how he had to scale back to get something passed. While promising free college and healthcare.


Also, watch Hillary in her response to Flint, and her eyes right after she's done speaking. She's genuinely holding back tears there.

[BuckeyeNut]

Hillary.

And I think she actually was at her best in the beginning.

Especially her first answer on how almost no one fits Sander's version of a true progressive... yet Sanders is against gun control and voted against Immigration Reform and some may say that's not progressive enough... and then said it's time to move beyond labels and to issues.

And then Hillary telling Sanders to stop making implications, and if he's going to attack her integrity then to do it to her face.


I don't think many voters know Sanders voted to reregulate derivatives, or against Immigration reform, but now Hillary has brought that up.


Sanders also totally dodged the question on Afghanistan, talking about how he'd bomb ISIS and equip Arabs to fight ISIS instead of talking about Afghanistan.


And then Sanders talked about how he couldn't even get 60 Senate votes to get what he wanted done on the Veterans bill, and how he had to scale back to get something passed. While promising free college and healthcare.


Also, watch Hillary in her response to Flint, and her eyes right after she's done speaking. She's genuinely holding back tears there.

I agree with this pretty much in it's entirety.

[Adam Griffin]

Look: I really don't give a s[inks]t about foreign policy or whether a candidate knows much about it, and we all know that the President of the United States is going to have more foreign policy advisers than literally anyone else in the world upon swearing in, but he really needs to have at least a fundamental set of talking points that jives with conventional military thought on the matter. Otherwise, he will continue to look like a bumbling old fool and it will negate his debate strengths in other categories among anyone not already firmly in his corner.

[Lyin' Steve]

Look: I really don't give a s[inks]t about foreign policy or whether a candidate knows much about it, and we all know that the President of the United States is going to have more foreign policy advisers than literally anyone else in the world upon swearing in, but he really needs to have at least a fundamental set of talking points that jives with conventional military thought on the matter. Otherwise, he will continue to look like a bumbling old fool and it will negate his debate strengths in other categories among anyone not already firmly in his corner.

This is so irresponsible.  Virtually any complicated job requires good intuition and rock-solid fundamentals to make good decisions, no matter how much advice one is given.  Just like you can't just read a book about skiing and then go out there and ski, even if you're surrounded by ski instructors.  You have to have a feel for what the right thing to do is.
It's a lot more than just weighing pros and cons and using common sense.  If that was all there was to it, the president wouldn't have to make decisions because his advisors would make them for him and tell him exactly what to do.  They trust the president to synthesize their advice with his or her judgment, experience and intuition to make the right decision.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Obviously Bernie has less experience than Hillary in turning the middle east into a sh**thole. But that's not a bad thing.