On Tuesday night, after months of political heartburn, things finally started cutting Hillary Rodham Clinton’s way.
Her performance at the first Democratic presidential debate was so commanding that even her greatest vulnerability — the lingering controversy over her private email practices as secretary of state — ended up redounding to her benefit.
After she crisply explained that she made a “mistake” using a private email server and defended her judgment, the moderator, Anderson Cooper of CNN, turned to her biggest threat in the primary campaign so far, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, in hopes that he would attack her. Mr. Sanders instead came to her aid.
“Let me say something that may not be great politics, but I think the secretary is right — and that is that the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails,” Mr. Sanders said to cheers and a standing ovation from the Democratic audience.
“Thank you!” Mrs. Clinton said, reaching out and shaking his hand. “Me, too! Me, too!”
Highlights From the Debate
Catch up on analysis of the first Democratic presidential debate featuring Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley, Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee.
All night, the debate played to Mrs. Clinton’s advantage and to her opponents’ limitations. From gun control and banking regulations to debt-free college and Social Security benefits, Mrs. Clinton positioned herself as a champion of liberals, young people, and the elderly — the very voters who make up the Sanders coalition — while also repeatedly reaching out to women, as an advocate for families and children (and as, potentially, the nation’s first female president).
Mr. Sanders, whose plain-spoken disgust over the email controversy drew praise, looked sheepish and reactive at other points, hesitating to attack Mrs. Clinton forcefully over her ties to Wall Street, and running into trouble defending his past opposition to stricter gun control laws and immigration reform.
By the end of Tuesday night’s debate, Mrs. Clinton had seized every opening to try to accomplish her chief goal: re-establishing trust with Democrats who have come to doubt her honesty and political competence after months of difficulties and shifting policy positions.
Right from her opening remarks, Mrs. Clinton sounded a liberal rallying cry, saying “the wealthy pay too little and the middle class pays too much” in taxes. She sought to create a bond with voters by saying she would judge free-trade deals, which are broadly unpopular on the left, by whether she could “look into the eyes of any middle-class American and say this will help raise your wages.”
She called for increasing Social Security benefits for the poorest recipients and singled out older women who were “impoverished” because they had not earned enough money earlier in their lives.
And she was blunt in saying she has a liberal political philosophy but is also a pragmatic leader who would work with both Democrats and Republican to pass legislation.
How the Democrats — and CNN — Fared in the Debate
“I’m a progressive, but I’m a progressive who likes to get things done,” she said. “I know how to find common ground, but I know how to stand my ground.”
Mrs. Clinton was effective in cornering Mr. Sanders on the issue of gun control. Mr. Sanders, who is hugely popular among liberals, has opposed some gun control legislation like the Brady Bill — and Mrs. Clinton made sure that voters knew it.
After Mr. Sanders defended his record on gun laws, Mr. Cooper, the moderator, asked if Mr. Sanders was “tough enough” on guns.
“No. Not at all,” Mrs. Clinton said emphatically. She then listed Mr. Sanders’s history opposing gun control at length — well aware that every minute a Democratic debate was about gun control was a minute too long for Mr. Sanders.
The burdens on Mrs. Clinton were unusually heavy for the first debate of a presidential campaign, when candidates typically focus on introducing themselves to a national television audience and gently drawing distinctions with their rivals. Not so Mrs. Clinton: The continuing Republican attacks over her trustworthiness and judgment, particularly over her email have tarnished her in the eyes of many voters. Some are tired of endless Clinton melodramas, others tantalized by Mr. Sanders’s left-wing candidacy.
Given Mrs. Clinton’s vulnerabilities — she lags behind Mr. Sanders in polls of New Hampshire primary voters — she needed to use the debate to persuade voters to look beyond her political troubles and see her as likable, rather than programmed; as genuinely liberal, as opposed to strategic; and ultimately as electable, instead of as a damaged candidate compared with, say, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who is considering entering the race.
Moments From the First Democratic Debate
The Times reporter Michael D. Shear analyzes key moments from the first Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR, QUYNHANH DO and A.J. CHAVAR on Publish Date October 13, 2015. Photo by Josh Haner/The New York Times. Watch in Times Video »Mrs. Clinton’s unspoken aim was to demonstrate such strength and spiritedness that Mr. Biden would see little point in challenging her for the Democratic nomination.
Indeed, her expertise as secretary of state translated into stature on the debate stage — a sophistication about global challenges and poise under fire. On dealing with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Mrs. Clinton crisply described the ways that the United States’ relationship with Russia had soured since Mr. Putin returned to the presidency.
“We have to stand up to his bullying,” Mrs. Clinton said. “I think it’s important, too, that the United States make it very clear to Putin that it’s not acceptable for him to be in Syria, creating more chaos, bombing people in support of Assad.”
Mrs. Clinton also put two rivals in their place when they challenged her judgment on foreign policy. Replying to former Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland, who questioned her 2002 vote to authorize the invasion of Iraq, she scoffed at “a lot of loose talk going on here” and noted how “pleased” she had been when Mr. O’Malley endorsed her in 2008.
And when another Democratic candidate, Lincoln Chafee, criticized Mrs. Clinton for “poor judgment calls” in authorizing the invasion of Iraq, Mrs. Clinton pivoted by noting that President Obama apparently had no problem with her judgment when he selected her as secretary of state.
The most vexing challenge for Mrs. Clinton was how to handle Mr. Sanders. He has consistently taken the high road whenever controversy has engulfed her, as he did in refraining from trying to score points over her email controversy.
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Mrs. Clinton is skilled at parrying direct attacks, like those she faced in 2008 from her Democratic rivals over the Iraq war, health care, and driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants. With Mr. Sanders, she needed to find ways to undercut him without undercutting her own goals of appearing personable and appealing to his supporters to give her a second look.
Mrs. Clinton chose to challenge Mr. Sanders carefully on issues that are important to liberals, and more forcefully on gun control. She was the first to criticize another candidate, chiding Mr. Sanders over his distaste for the excesses of capitalism and his embrace of democratic socialism and political systems like the government of Denmark.
“We are not Denmark — I love Denmark — we are the United States of America,” Mrs. Clinton said. “We would be making a grave mistake to turn our backs on what built the greatest middle class in the history of the world.”
Mr. Sanders pushed back at times, noting his support for small businesses and later his backing for some gun control laws. While he criticized some of her hawkish foreign policy stands, including support for a no-fly zone in Syria, he had fewer memorable moments than Mrs. Clinton as he stuck to reiterating his long record of supporting campaign finance reform and fighting against climate change.
But for the most part, rather than compete against Mr. Sanders, she sought to reinforce her support for issues important to crucial Democratic primary constituencies: a criminal justice overhaul and gun control (a priority for black and Hispanic voters) and equal pay (female voters).
In the end, Mrs. Clinton’s criticisms of Mr. Sanders appeared unlikely to dissuade his supporters, who include 650,000 donors — many of whom believe they are supporting a noble political cause against an establishment that Mrs. Clinton is the face of. His admirers like that he does not make typical political attacks — the sort that Mrs. Clinton made throughout the night. If she did not land any decisive blows against Mr. Sanders, she showed determination and skill in taking him on.
“Sanders has the momentum in key states right now, and he’s getting a free ride from the media and voters, and she can’t let that continue forever,” said Stuart Stevens, a Republican strategist who advised Mitt Romney during the 2012 presidential race. “This debate is the first step toward Hillary stopping Bernie.”
