Clinton’s debate showing may spell trouble for Biden

For most of the night, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders – the party’s clear frontrunners – dominated the conversation and host Anderson Cooper’s attention.

“Nobody up here, certainly no Republican, can address the major crises affecting our country, unless millions of people begin to stand up to the billionaire class that has so much power over our economy and our political life.”

Anyone who watched that debate couldn’t have come away feeling better about a “President Hillary Clinton”, from her policy acumen to her ability to show self-effacing humor, to her ability to take subtle openings or digs and turn them into points (thank you Martin O’Malley). Clinton replied, grinning broadly: “Me too, me too”. 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. A RealClearPolitics.com look at surveys testing various match-ups suggests that Clinton, Biden, or Sanders could beat the current Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, but Biden would have a more comfortable margin (11 points) compared to Clinton (1.6 points) or Sanders (4.3).

Webb was right that those two fellow candidates got significantly more airtime than he did: Clinton spoke for nearly twice as long as the former Virginia senator, and Sanders bested him by 12 minutes.

“No”, said Clinton. “I think that, like most people that I know, I have a range of views, but they are rooted in my values and my experience”.

Heading into Tuesday night, there was unanimous agreement that the total audience would be lower than the 25 million who tuned in for Fox’s Republican debate on August 6.

Yet Clinton has been handed two gifts on the email issue from her political opponents.

Republicans argue that Clinton still has vulnerabilities that would hurt her in the general election, including shifts to the left on major issues – a version of the problem the GOP contenders could face after focusing on the right for their primary.

On the contentious issue of gun control, Americans overwhelmingly support expanding background checks for ownership, a proposal Clinton touted in the debate. For all of her flaws – perceived or real – her strengths were always there: Hillary Clinton is smart, tough, and battle-tested. He complained throughout the Democratic presidential debate that he wasn’t getting the same amount of speaking time as his rivals – particularly Independent Vermont Sen.