Hillary, Benghazi, and the Bern: Where Do the Dems Go From Here?

It sure has been an eventful few weeks for the Democratic party. Last week’s debate on CNN was the first real look into their nomination race, all the candidates were hilariously lampooned on Saturday Night Live, former Sen. Jim Webb dropped out, Vice President Joe Biden said he wouldn’t run and Hillary Clinton held her ground against the Benghazi committee. While the Dems’ contest is not the same circus as the Republican race and they also have a disturbing lack of diversity amongst their candidates, the last few weeks have provided an insight into each one of the Democratic candidates and what they bring to the table. Unfortunately, as is the case in our outdated, unfair and ineffective two-party system, the eventual winner of the Democratic presidential nomination may still not yield the changes Americans really want. Let’s take a look:

Clinton has certainly had the strongest performance the last few weeks -- she “won” the debate according to numerous reports and held her ground against the Benghazi committee for hours. She hasn’t had any blatant gaffs and is much more likeable than she was in 2008, and her competition is all old white men, which is just how she wants it and obviously why she’s played the hell out of her I’m-the-only-female card. The controversy over her Benghazi decisions has likely passed since she survived the Republican gauntlet, and she also got a get-out-of-jail-free card on the email issue thanks to a certain fantastic “damn emails” line. Overall, if she continues with this momentum -- for good or ill -- she’ll be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee.

Of course, Sen. Bernie Sanders “won” the debate according to the internet, and thanks to some other great TV appearances the past week, he really is the best thing about the Dems’ race this election season. He’s nailed most of his talking points on income inequality and presented his democratic socialist views in a very passionate and understandable way to the American people. My thought is that he can at least pull Hillary more to the left during the race -- she’s already started parroting some of his views -- but Bernie is already a genuine populist hero in so many ways that if he continues to speak about his positions well, he’ll be a revered icon of the growing progressive movement in our country and will be remembered as such from here on.

As for all the other old white guys, former Gov. Martin O’Malley has done well enough, as he used the debate to build off his record of fighting guns and crime in Maryland, but still won’t own up to the fact that he was blatantly the inspiration for The Wire’s Tommy Carcetti. Perhaps he should just do the next debate with his shirt off.   Similarly, former Governor Lincoln Chaffee had such a disaster of a night that everyone from Trevor Noah to Sean Hannity thought he was a laugh riot and is now dropping out. And Webb -- who was almost just remembered as the “I didn’t get enough time guy” or the “I killed people in Vietnam guy” -- feels the race is rigged and he's decided to do the same, potentially exploring a run as an independent.

Lastly, the most interesting piece of news is that my sources were right when they said ol’ “Crazy Joe Biden” would not seek a run and the presidential field is set.  So from here, we’ll likely see a few more months of charming progressive discussions from the candidates before Clinton finally locks up the nomination. And like a lot of Americans, I don’t know how I feel about that.