MORE ON THE DEM DEBATE – AT 9:41 A.M. ET:  Washington Post has an interesting take on why, in its view, Hillary Clinton lost last night's Democratic debate.  From Chris Cillizza at WaPo: 

The former secretary of state was, as always, solid. And, at times — like in her closing statement on the water in Flint, Mich. — she was outstanding. Her knowledge — both the depth and the breadth of it — is on full display in these debate settings.

So, why is she in the loser column? Because she did nothing in the debate to slow the momentum that Sanders is building in Iowa and New Hampshire. Aside from guns, where Clinton scored a clean win against Sanders, she was unable to effectively cast him as a pie-in-the-sky idealist and herself as the only person who could truly fight for — and win on — Democratic priorities.

Time and again, she was boxed into defending a status quo that the American public — Democrats and Republicans alike — is dissatisfied with.

The Clinton-as-cautious-pragmatist vs. Sanders-as-idealist-fighter is not a good dynamic for the former secretary of state.

COMMENT:  Possibly true, but I get the sense that Hillary's main problems are that she's stale, been around too long, and has a poor reputation for integrity. 

But I wonder, at this point, what will really matter.  As we've noted, voting starts two weeks from now in Iowa.  If Sanders pulls it out, it's a blow to Hillary.  It's almost a foregone conclusion that Sanders will win New Hampshire, a week later, as he's from a neighboring state and is well known and popular in the region.

The make-or-break for both Sanders and Hillary will be South Carolina, on February 27th.  South Carolina has a large black constituency.  If Sanders can penetrate that pro-Clinton group, that will be real news.  If Hillary can soundly defeat Sanders in South Carolina, she'll be back in the saddle. 

Remember that, despite all the talk of a Sanders surge, Hillary is still well ahead of Bernie in national polls.  Her problems may turn out to be less with Sanders than with the FBI.

January 18, 2016