Front-runners Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders faced off for the first time on national TV during the Democratic presidential primary debate, hosted by CNN on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

The debate featured the top five declared candidates: Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sen. Bernie Sanders, (I-VT), former Gov. Martin O’Malley, former Gov. Lincoln Chafee and former Sen. Jim Webb.

CNN kept a sixth lectern in the wings just in case Vice President Joe Biden decided to join the race and make an appearance. Biden watched the debate in Washington, according to the White House.

Clinton had the most speaking time with 30 minutes and 25 seconds, followed closely by Bernie Sanders with 27 minutes 41 seconds, according to NPR. The other candidates dragged behind with O’Malley having 17 minutes 8 seconds, Webb having 15 minutes 20 seconds and Chafee having 9 minutes 5 seconds of talking time.

Moderator Anderson Cooper started off the debate by giving candidates the chance to comment on the concerns that Americans have for choosing them as a candidate.

Clinton was asked about why she believes she can be trusted. Sanders was questioned about his marketability toward the entire nation since he identifies as a democratic socialist. Chafee’s swapped party affiliation was called into question. O’Malley was asked about his culpability for the dire straits of Baltimore. Finally, Webb was called out on whether he is out of step with the Democratic Party due to his past criticism of affirmative action.

The conversation moved on to focus on some of the major issues that the campaign has focused on, including gun control, foreign policy, environmental issues, race issues, paid maternity leave and legalization of marijuana, among other topics.

It seemed from the beginning that frontrunner Clinton was taking an offensive stance on many of the issues. The former secretary of state was confronted about the email scandal that has been consistently brought up over the past few months.

Sanders chimed in saying that he, and America, were “sick and tired of hearing about (Clinton’s) damn emails,” commenting that it was time to talk about the real issues. The comment drew applause from those in the audience, as well as Clinton herself.

In her final statements, Clinton discussed how she hopes that the American people notice the difference between the Democratic debate and the Republican debate, saying that the Democratic candidates “tried to deal with the very tough issues facing our country, in stark contrast to the Republicans.”

The next debate is scheduled to take place on Nov. 14 in Des Moines, Iowa, and will be hosted by CBS.

Published on October 14, 2015 at 12:39 am

Contact Nina: nsleeds@syr.edu