Tonight's debate at the Brooklyn Navy Yard falls five days before the next primary on April 19; as the eleventh hour approaches Dems have yet to really witness a true debate between Sanders and Clinton. Rather, both candidates offer up a host of canned and rehearsed compliments, making sure that the comparison is made between the low-brow style of the Republicans and the high ideal, high-minded approach of the Democrats. After this there is usually a brief segue-way, with not so veiled references to Trump, into a moment or two of general opposition to bigotry, misogyny, etcetera. The standard stock issues are then mentioned; with Clinton calling into question Sanders' Senatorial record on gun control while he constructs the Goldman-Sachs conundrum, insisting Hillary is a thrall to Wall Street. And the answers are always the same; no one expects to hear a mea culpa from Bernie about his previous support of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act nor does one anticipate a complete and total denouncement of worldly possessions by Hillary. The beat goes on and we, the voters, become progressively less interested in the primary delegate calculus.
According to a recent Associated Press-Gfk poll, a majority of Americans believe that none of the remaining candidates, Republican or Democrat, represent their opinions and/or concerns on major issues. Furthermore, among all registered voters more than 63 percent state that they would be disappointed if Clinton and Trump become the candidates for the general election.
Voter interest is definitely waning. How could anyone be surprised? In Arizona, voters are made to wait 5 hours just to gain access to polling stations and Colorado voters are locked out of the primary system entirely--without benefit of caucus or an opportunity to cast a ballot. Let's be clear, tuning into a town hall or debate simply to be entertained by a billionaire's penchant for policy pugilism is not equivalent to being engaged in the political process. Similarly, the Dems have done a great deal to disengage their voters--the very idea of a superdelegate is anathema to and stands in stark contrast to a representative democracy. Consequently, Clinton and Sanders must work to reverse the out-going tide of electorate engagement and offer-up a traditional debate in the style and tradition of Lincoln-Douglas.
What would this new approach sound like? For starters, the voters deserve complete answers on the issues of fracking, the minimum wage and student debt reform. Both Bernie and Hillary need to recognize any previous waffling and/or miscalculations--own them and move on. From this debate forward deflection onto one's opponent to obscure one's true opinion or position is not acceptable. Please answer the question that is asked before invoking something your opponent said or did a decade ago. Furthermore, many among us would like to witness Senator Sanders quiz Secretary Clinton on her views regarding nation-building and attempt to harvest her reaction to what President Obama cited as his single biggest mistake while in office. Why is this important? According to an interview recently conducted with the President by Fox News, the inability of his administration to anticipate the fallout from US intervention in Libya and the fall of Gadhafi was the worst mistake of his entire presidency. That is a profound statement as regards the position and responsibility of the Secretary of State-- during the episode cited US Secretary of State was Hillary Clinton; it brings into question Hillary's views on nation building and regime change. Is she a hawk? Is she a dove? Does she have the ability to forecast the near as well as the far consequences of a move on the international stage? We deserve to know. And more importantly, we deserve to hear it from her. We deserve to hear the candidates' views on public health issues, i.e. prescription drug costs(particularly cancer drugs), soil and water safety, chemical contamination of our ground water. Do they have a policy paper on women's health issues? And if not--why not? Many of us would like to hear Senator Sanders ask Secretary Clinton about gender-based pay inequity among her own staff. Democrats need to hear from their candidates the simple truth of their agenda as well as their vision for the country. Clinton needs to clearly disavow the influence of Big Pharma and Big Business in politics once and for all. Don't take their money, it's just that simple. Fracking? Yes or no. It can be that clear. It needs to be that clear. Because the message from voters is progressively less opaque: engage in the national conversation of our everyday or risk losing not only our interest but also our vote.
Please reference: ap-gfkpoll.com, abcnews.com, foxnews.com, cnn.com
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