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Divided Democrats On National Security And Election 2016
ResumeCan Bernie Sanders stop Hillary’s march to the nomination? We unpack the Saturday night debate and size up the Democrats’ chances against the GOP field.
On the Saturday before Christmas, Democrats held their third presidential primary debate. Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley. In New Hampshire, where full-fledged primary voting kicks off February 9, right after the Iowa caucus on Feb 1. For those who weren’t out drinking egg nog, it was a debate that turned toward the general election contest next year. Sanders and O’Malley got their lumps in on Clinton, but Clinton was going after Republican frontrunner Donald Trump. This hour On Point, the Democrats’ debate, and how the big contest is shaping up for 2016.
-- Tom Ashbrook
Guests
Lisa Lerer, national political reporter for the Associated Press. (@llerer)
Charlie Cook, editor and publisher of the Cook Political Report. Columnist for the National Journal Group. (@cookpolitical)
Margie Omero, Democratic pollster and managing director with Purple Strategies. Co-host of The Pollsters podcast. (@MargieOmero)
From Tom’s Reading List
Boston Globe: Sanders apologizes to Clinton over data breach during debate — "The debate was the first time that the candidates, in a field rounded out by former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley, have taken the stage since the San Bernardino, Calif., terrorist shootings, and it came just six weeks before voting begins in Iowa. As in earlier debates, all three presidential contenders stuck mostly to policy differences with far fewer of the personal attacks that continue to dominate the Republican primary contest."
Associated Press: Analysis: Sanders struggles to gain edge in presidential bid -- "While most polls have Clinton leading by more than 20 percentage points nationally, the contest remains tight in the crucial early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, the latter in which Sanders has an advantage as the longtime senator of neighboring Vermont. His aides believe that wins in those two states would give them momentum heading into the next contests in South Carolina and Nevada, territory where he's struggled to gain traction over the former first lady."
Cook Political Report: The GOP’s Stages of Grief -- "Thinking about the 2016 Republican presidential nomination has generally boiled down to two competing views. The first is that Trump and/or Carson, the consummate political outsiders, will remain at the top of the GOP field, with one or the other ending up as the nominee; the prospect makes some Republicans ecstatic and drives others into a near-clinical depression. The second view: While we certainly don’t know who the GOP nominee will be, we can feel reasonably assured that it won’t be one of those two. Adherents of this view see today’s Republican Party as behaving crazily but not actually insane. Things aren’t ever quite this simple, but in my view, this dichotomy is close enough. "
This program aired on December 21, 2015.