#IowaCaucus: Ted 'Cruzin' & Bernie Clinton Tied

The Iowa caucuses are just about over which some interesting results.  On the Republican side, Ted Cruz pulled off a win over front runner Donald Trump, followed by Marco Rubio. It seems that a heavy evangelical vote pushed Cruz to first. On the Democrat side, both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are virtually tied for first showing how close the race is between both candidates.  Third remaining Democratic candidate Martin O'Malley barely received 1% and announced he would be suspending his campaign for good. Similarly, Mike Huckabee threw in the towel after barely scratching the surface with votes. No word yet on whether either candidate will throw their support behind the remaining candidates.  However, as the days move on, we may see some endorsements.









Source:

https://www.yahoo.com/politics/live-from-iowa-all-day-all-night-caucus-coverage-163929204.html

https://www.yahoo.com/politics/martin-omalley-is-suspending-his-presidential-031031742.html

Fourth #DemDebate

The fourth Democratic presidential debate took place last night. Each candidate spoke on healthcare, the economy and social issues.  They argued over healthcare with Sanders pushing for a better healthcare plan that includes all and is more affordable.  Clinton accused Sanders of wanting to start from scratch and said that would be a big mistake.  The arguments, formulations and so forth would further delay universal healthcare for all Americans.

On the economy, each candidate presented their ideas which were very similar. However, Sanders pushed for free college and other ideas that resemble socialism.  He also wants to increase taxes.  O' Malley argued that he has more experience at implementing change due to his terms as an elected official.  At one point of the debate, Sanders became annoyed with the moderator Andrea Mitchell when she asked about Bill Clinton's sex scandal. On social issues,

Sanders stated that he would have police officers made accountable whenever they violate the law or kill unarmed individuals.  He believes that the department of Justice should handle such scenarios, not local prosecutors.  For the most part, the debate showed three candidates who often did not answer the question directly and attacked on another.  Clinton and Sanders often went at it taking on a contrarian role.  At times, O'Malley tried to redirect the debate towards attacking Republicans.  





Source:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/17/politics/democratic-debate-2016-highlights/

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/17/463429928/the-fourth-democratic-debate-in-100-words-plus-a-vine-and-2-videos

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-democratic-debate-20160117-story.html

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/bernie-sanders-goes-off-democratic-041432300.html

Third Democratic Debate

Tonight, ABC News hosted the third Democratic debate with Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley.  The majority of the debate was focused on foreign policy. Each candidate took on different positions but each were united in criticisim their Republican counterparts. However, both O'Malley and Sanders attacke Clinton for her openess on the change of regimes in the Middle East. They argued that this opened the doors to instablity and the rise of ISIS.

 Sanders did a much better job in this debate in regards to foreign policy; however, Clinton showed that she does have a strong hold on it.  Each of the candidate attacked Trump and his suggestion that Muslims be banned from entering the United States.  O'Malley seemed upset and interjected several times claiming he was not getting enough time.  Each candidate differed on medicare and taxes. At one point, Hillary attacked Sanders' plans for medicare saying it will give too much control to Republican governors.





Source:


http://www.npr.org/2015/12/19/460429831/democratic-debate-liveblog-foreign-policy-is-focus-but-data-breach-looms-large


http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/19/politics/democratic-debate-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-updates/

Second Democratic Debate - CBS

The second Democratic debate just took place in Des Moine, Iowa. The three remaining candidates Clinton, Sanders and O'Malley took the stage.  At the onset of the debate, the events of terrorism in France was the first topic. Each candidate was dressed in dark 'mourning' attired. They debated on the United State's role in the fight against terrorism which Clinton stating that it was not America's fight. She was rebuked by O'Malley while Sander criticized Clinton's support on the war in Iraq. The rest of the debate pretty much was on the economy, income inequality, immigration and healthcare. Sanders defended his views which have been described as socialist by stating, "I'm not that much of a socialist compared to Eisenhower." He said he is for free college, true universal healthcare, the increase of the minimum wage to $15 and an increase of social security.

Clinton wants to better 'Obamacare,' wants a $12 minimum wage federal index allowing each state to decide afterwards whether to increase or not. O'Malley and Sanders agreed that big banks must be allowed to fail while Clinton disagreed stating that she would protect investment banks. O'Malley and Sanders attacked Clinton for defending Wall street.  The debate was a bit different from the previous one where each candidate seemed to support one another.  In this debate, Hillary was attacked by Sanders and O'Malley. She was questioned by them.On immigration, the candidates agreed that those illegal immigrants who are in the nation must have a path to citizenship.

The winner of this debate in my opinion was Bernie Sanders. He spoke articulately about his plans and had great rebuttals when questioned.  Clinton seemed more docile and only got a strong applause when she mentioned her female support.  Martin O'Malley did much better in this debate than in the last.  However, I do not see any big changes in the polls after this debate which was a bit bland.    




Source:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/bernie-sanders-burned-hillary-clinton-023404743.html

https://www.yahoo.com/politics/bernie-sanders-im-not-that-much-of-a-socialist-040238242.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/us/politics/democratic-debate-cbs.html?_r=0

http://time.com/4113434/transcript-read-the-full-text-of-the-second-democratic-debate/

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/follow-live-democratic-presidential-debate-cbs-n463586

http://mic.com/articles/128521/2015-cbs-democratic-debate-full-recap-and-highlights-from-saturday-s-debate#.CigxdHJ8U

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/14/politics/democratic-debate-2015-updates-duplicate-2/index.html

http://mic.com/articles/128521/2015-cbs-democratic-debate-full-recap-and-highlights-from-saturday-s-debate#.CigxdHJ8U

Democratic Debate (CNN)

Last night CNN aired the first Democratic debate for this presidential seasons.  Candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O' Malley, Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee.  The debate was watched by many on television and via live stream.  This debate differed greatly from the two Republican debates in that the candidates did not bash each other, were respectful and provided more substance to their answers.  There was no Trump verse Rand Paul episodes or repetition of political slogans without moving past that with an actual platform. At one point, Sanders even defended Clinton when he brought up the issue with her emails stating that Americans had enough with the damn emails.  The debate was clearly won by Hillary Clinton who presented herself as well prepared, poised and consistent.

Bernie Sanders also did well but kept to his area of economics and inequality.  He also came across as a milder Trump by becoming a bit emotional and raising his voice as he answered questions.  Martin O' Malley attacked Clinton on a few points but for the most part did not present himself as strong as her.  Both Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee were almost like the quiet mice in the room.  They hardly made an impact with their answers and did not engage in discussion with each other like Sanders and Clinton did several times. Clinton did well in appealing to women by defending Planned Parenthood, stating that Republicans are against big government until it involves women's rights when they want to use it to restrict a woman's "right to choose."

Sanders spoke more about inequality in regards to the economy, institutional racism and foreign policy.  The debate was not as lively as the Republican ones, but it was more organized, had more substance and was civil. Many political pundits believe that Clinton may have landed the front runner role for good and that Sanders confirmed to his supporters that he is in fact worthy to be the next president. Interestingly enough, the youth seem to be more supportive of Sanders than Clinton.




Source:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/10/the-atlantics-liveblog-of-the-democratic-presidential-debate/410413/

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/13/politics/democratic-debate-2015-live-updates/index.html?sr=sl101315debatelivestreamsmartlink

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/13/politics/democratic-debate-updates/