PHOTO: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in Sunday’s Democratic debate
Following Sunday night’s debate among Democratic contenders for the Presidency, I spoke with Monocle 24’s The Briefing this afternoon about the state of the race — in particular, whether Hillary Clinton should be worried about a surge in support for Senator Bernie Sanders before the first contests in Iowa and New Hampshire:
Q: Was last night the moment that Hillary realized that Bernie Sanders is a real rival and she needs to put him down?
A: No.
Listen from 12:40:
The Sanders phenomenon is predictable. I welcome it. I think he’s a fresh voice in American politics, and he’s needed.
He will do well in the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary. But once you get into the larger states and a lot of primaries at one time, that’s when the machine rolls into action.
You’ll see everybody welcoming Sanders bringing a bit of life into the campaign, but then you’ll see everyone rally behind Clinton.
The conversation closes with a look at how polarized US politics could be if that prediction is faulty: “Can you imagine a Sanders v. Trump contest in November?”
