The first Democratic presidential-primary debate took place last week, and unlike every exchange we have seen between the Republican candidates so far, the entire event was steeped in civility. Yes, finally, the American people have been reminded that it’s possible for a group of candidates to engage in respectful discourse and still find ways to deliver their messages without lambasting one another for the sake of scoring political points.
On these grounds alone, I argue that for the first time in a long time, the winner of a highly publicized political debate in this country was the American people.
Now, I acknowledge that some of you reading this have resolved to never vote for a Democrat and may not have even bothered tuning in to watch the event. If that’s the case, then the most you may know about the outcome of the debate is that quite a few media outlets and pundits unsurprisingly proclaimed Hillary Clinton as the winner of the event. But there’s something far better to consider than winners and losers of these sorts of exchanges — especially when you consider how far away we are from the actual election and how different the political atmosphere will be once these primaries are settled.
One of those considerations should be the overall dialogue that this group was capable and willing to have over very sensitive issues. Rather than intercepting a topic and using it to pander for applause with unsubstantive responses, many of these candidates were able to point to their voting records and previous leadership experiences to describe how they would address our nation’s greatest challenges if elected president. Those who tuned in also got the chance to see the difference in how these candidates viewed entities that are considered “too big to fail” and the impact that their poor decision-making has had on the American taxpayers. Guns also came up for debate, and for the first time in a long time, viewers could see a group of people who were capable of respecting and protecting the Second Amendment but who were also interested in preventing the further loss of lives to senseless and preventable gun violence.
Then there was the frequent mention of the effect that campaign finance reform has had on our country and how our nation’s working poor and middle classes deserve better than what our government has been delivering. Our nation’s massive prison system also came under fire and rightfully so, as we have more people in jail than any other country on Earth. The majority of these candidates know that our prison system does less to rehabilitate criminals and reduce crime in our country, and more or less serves as a reminder of how dependent our nation has become on these institutions in light of absent policies that could truly make us all stronger.
The contrast between the Republican and Democratic debates could not be starker. If we set aside the idea of winners and losers and look ahead to what the general-election experience would be like between the various pairings of front-runners from both sides, then we need to look no further than last week’s debate to know who is speaking the language that best resonates with the American people.
Jessica DeLoach Sabin appears on Political Plays on KARK on Friday mornings.