Clinton clobbers Sanders [with comment by Paul]

I thought Hillary Clinton clobbered Bernie Sanders in their close encounter in New Hampshire on MSNBC last night. The video below (about eight minutes) is illustrative. CNN’s Stephen Collinson has a good summary with a 90-second highlight clip. NR’s Brendan Bordelon has a good account with a slightly different perspective. Matt Continetti credits Sanders with giving Republicans the tools to beat her.

For those of us who are pulling for Sanders to take the bark off a gold-plated phony, Sanders is a great disappointment. As we used to say of Vikings coach Jerry Burns, he lacks a killer instinct. Sanders brought a squirt gun to a knife fight. Unless he’s angling for a spot in the Clinton administration, it seems to me that he stands soon to be relegated to the ash heap of history.

Video via Chris Deaton/Weekly Standard (who also has a slightly different perspective).

PAUL adds: I think Sanders may have bested Clinton in the domestic policy portion of the debate. Clinton probably sounded lame to many Democrats with such claims as she’s not “establishment” because she’s trying to be the first female president and Wall Street, to which Clinton clearly has ties and which Sanders attacks incessantly and effectively, is “just one street.”

On foreign policy, I completely agree with Scott; it was a rout for Clinton. Sanders seemed to be in over his head.

I noticed that MSNBC kept its camera trained on Sanders when Clinton was speaking (using a split screen). It thus caught Sanders looking uncomfortable at times and also making some unflattering movements and gestures. Clinton wasn’t shown much when Sanders spoke and when she did appear, she betrayed little.

Did MSNBC differ in its approach due to pro-Clinton bias or because Sanders was putting on more of a show?

The polls say Clinton is way behind in New Hampshire. So even if Clinton fought Sanders to a draw in the debate — that’s how the left-leaning FiveThirtyEight scored it — she should improve her standing. If Clinton won decisively, the race may tighten considerably.

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