The scientific law known as Newton’s First Law of Motion concludes than an object in motion tends to stay in motion. Right now, the Clinton campaign is hoping that principle doesn’t apply to the momentum emanating from the Sanders campaign.
This past week that saw Senator Sanders win five contests by enormous margins, and losing one state that is being chided all over the nation for its disastrous handling of election day and pre-election day registration. The momentum is clearly behind the Vermont senator as he looks to push forward and continue his string of impressive victories in Wisconsin.
Keeping this in mind, it should come as no surprise that Senator Sanders has continued to do what he has done since this campaign season began: push for more debates. In recent days, Senator Sanders has been calling for a debate in one state in particular, New York.
The upside for Senator Sanders is obvious. Having come off a string of victories and feeling good about their chances in Wisconsin, Sanders would be able to come into the debate with significant momentum.
This is significant because for those of us who watched the Democratic debate in Miami, Senator Sanders, fresh off a historic upset in Michigan, displayed arguably his most confident performance of the debate season, often on the offense and staying on message.
The upside for Secretary Clinton is less clear, which could be an indication as to why she has yet to personally respond to Senator Sanders call for another debate. Should she accept the debate and lose Wisconsin, she would be heading into New York with a strong delegate lead, but with a sense of doubt.
The Clinton camp maintains that any future debate will depend on the tone of the Sanders camp, a ludicrous standard for participating in a benchmark of democracy. If it were, there wouldn’t have been any Republican debates because of Donald Trump’s tone.
Secretary Clinton’s chief strategist, Joel Benenson, says that as long as Senator Sanders continues to renege on his promise to not run negative ads, the debate will not happen. This is in part a response to Senator Sanders refusing heed the calls of many Democrats to lighten his tone because Secretary Clinton will be the nominee and his attacks will hurt her in a general election.
Bogus.
Sanders has promised to raise issues specific to New York as the primary nears, such as fracking, and raising the minimum wage, which affects countless people in a state with such a high cost of living.
What is obvious to even the most casual political observer is the fact the more debates give the American public a greater sense of who these candidates are, what they stand for, and how they plan on leading this country.
Millions of people all over this country only begin to pay attention to the primary competitions as their state’s contest begins to near. Why should we rob those people of an open and inclusive political process simply because they live in a state near the end of the primary season? The answer is easy: we shouldn’t.
Featured Image by Disney/ABC Television Group, available under a Creative Commons license.
