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 Clinton, 67, was widely hailed by analysts as turning in a nimble,
effective performance on Tuesday night, perhaps easing the fears of
some Democrats fretting that the flap over her use of a private
email server while in the Obama administration was torpedoing her
candidacy.
In doing so, she at once may have dampened calls for Biden to make a
belated entrance into the race, while also blunting the threat from
insurgent candidate Bernie Sanders, a 74-year-old U.S. senator from
Vermont and self-described democratic socialist.
“If you’re a Hillary supporter and you were worried for whatever
reason, you should feel very good about yourself,” said Rodell
Mollineau, a Democratic strategist who attended the debate in Las
Vegas. “This is the kind of debate that helps build momentum.”
Sanders, Clinton’s top rival among declared presidential candidates,
was handed the opportunity by debate moderators to assail her over
the email issue. Instead, he dismissed the controversy as trivial,
drawing an ovation from the crowd and shoving the spotlight away
from Clinton’s most profound political weakness.
 For Biden, 72, who continues to ponder a bid for the presidency in
the November 2016 election, the evening served as a reminder of how
tenacious Clinton, steeled by scores of debates in her 2008
presidential run and four years as secretary of state, can be as a
candidate.
REACHING FOR PROGRESSIVES, MODERATES
At times Clinton seemed to be reaching out both to the progressives
in her party more likely to back Sanders and the moderates who may
prefer Biden.
She went toe-to-toe with Sanders over gun control, addressed income
inequality, and advocated for more liberal family-leave policies. At
the same time, she refused to go along with Sanders’ call to break
up Wall Street banks, reiterated her support of the Patriot Act, and
said she would not hesitate to use military force if necessary, at
times obliquely criticizing President Barack Obama's White House -
and by proxy, Biden - for failing to stand up to Russian President
Vladimir Putin and for doing too little with regard to the civil war
in Syria.
“I think Biden probably has less room (for a bid),” said Brad
Bannon, a Democratic strategist in Washington. “People had questions
about how well Hillary can handle herself. I thought she performed
very well.”
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The evening may have also exposed Sanders’ limitations. As a
candidate, he has made populist economic themes central to his
campaign, almost to the exclusion of other issues. His discomfort on
guns - his home state of Vermont is protective of gun rights - and
with foreign policy seemed evident. At one point, Sanders loudly
protested he is not a pacifist.
“He didn’t handle himself well on guns or on foreign policy,” Bannon
said. “He seemed flustered and defensive. Americans want someone
calm and collected when dealing with a crisis.”
Candidate Jim Webb, the former senator from Virginia who also took
part in the debate, may have delivered the most scathing indictment
of Sanders’ candidacy, telling him at one point, “Bernie, I don’t
think the revolution is going to come.”
Still, Sanders’ liberal base likely saw little to prompt a second
thought about supporting him. “It was a good night for him too,”
said Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign
Committee, who also praised Clinton.
She said the scrutiny of Sanders’ positions on guns and national
security demonstrated his viability as a top-tier candidate and
alternative to Clinton. “People were attacking him like he is the
front-runner.”
If anything, that may mean that when Biden takes a fresh look at the
Democratic field, he may see that Clinton has solidified her
standing with establishment Democrats while Sanders has kept his
grip on populist progressives, leaving even less space for him.
Whether that ultimately affects his decision remains anyone’s guess.
(Reporting by James Oliphant; Editing by Howard Goller)
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reserved.]
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