With just over two weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses, things are definitely starting to heat up in the race for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. According to RealClear Politics, Hillary Clinton currently leads Bernie Sanders by 12.7 points nationally, although today's NBC/WSJ poll has Clinton +25 points, while a recent CBS/NY Times poll had her up just 7 points. That's national polling; the early states are closer, with RealClear Politics showing Clinton up 4.0 points in Iowa and Sanders up 6.2 points in New Hampshire.
So, with this being the final Democratic debate before Iowa - and don't get me started on why there have been so few Dem debates, and why the ones there HAVE been have been buried on Saturday night, Sunday night (at 9 pm no less!), etc. - I'd expect Clinton and Sanders to go after each other more aggressively than they have previously. Also, just this morning, "Sanders depicted Clinton as a tool of Wall Street bankers and part of a 'corrupt' campaign finance system," while "Clinton called Sanders 'a flip-flopper' who was still unwilling to take some steps to stop mass shootings." So yeah, I'd definitely expect some "sharp elbows" tonight, although of course nothing like the Republicans' viciousness, let alone the GOP candidates' extremism, lying, etc. How about you? Will you be watching? If so, what will you be watching for?
P.S. Let's hope the questions aren't non-value-added, non-substantive nonsense (e.g., about emails or whatever), but focus on the most important issues facing America. I'm not holding my breath, though.
P.P.S. The Sanders campaign just released its "Medicare for All" plan. I'm going to check it out.
Blue Virginia
