The consensus on the collective Obama-media was that Hillary Clinton dominated, which, with the above trends among partisan progs, is the story of this campaign. See the Week, "The most talked about candidate of the debate was Bernie Sanders — by a long shot."
Sanders' discussion of democratic socialism, seen below, really causes social media to explode.
More at the Wall Street Journal, "Hillary Clinton Confronts Critics at First Democratic Debate":
LAS VEGAS—Hillary Clinton on Tuesday went on offense in the first Democratic presidential debate on issues such as gun control, foreign policy and the Republican probe of her email server, while also punching back against a quartet of primary rivals seeking to knock her out of front-runner status.
The Democrats’ first matchup proved to nearly be as rough-and-tumble as the previous Republican debates, though the candidates also found several areas of agreement. Mrs. Clinton even got an assist from her main challenger, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who said he wasn’t interested in discussing her private email server, which has bedeviled her campaign for months.
After spending months virtually ignoring her Democratic rivals, Mrs. Clinton aggressively tangled with her opponents, focusing on policy differences and highlighting her depth of experience.
She said Mr. Sanders wasn’t tough enough on guns, noting that he repeatedly opposed the Brady bill, which mandated background checks, and voted to give gun manufacturers immunity from lawsuits. She dismissed his explanation that the immunity bill was “large and complicated.”
“It wasn’t that complicated to me,” said Mrs. Clinton, who was also in the Senate at the time.
While Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Sanders were center stage, the other three candidates—former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, and Lincoln Chafee, a former governor and senator from Rhode Island—also asserted themselves.
Mr. Chafee used his opening statement to note that he hasn’t suffered a “scandal,” a direct shot at Mrs. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, who faced a series of probes during his administration.
Mrs. Clinton faced fire from all sides as her opponents questioned her judgment and her record in the U.S. Senate and the State Department. The other candidates also took aim at Mrs. Clinton’s vote to go to war in Iraq, the same issue that was a key factor in her loss in the 2008 Democratic primary race.
Mr. Sanders punched first, characterizing the Iraq war as the “worst foreign policy blunder in the history of this country.” Mr. Chafee chimed in, questioning Mrs. Clinton’s “poor judgment calls.”
“If you’re going to make those poor judgment calls at a critical time in our history…that’s an indication of how someone will perform in the future,” Mr. Chafee said.
Mrs. Clinton, who has spent months answering questions about the private email server she used as secretary of state, offered a familiar defense, saying she had made a mistake but did nothing wrong, and quickly pivoted to saying the entire matter was driven by Republicans.
“It is a partisan vehicle, as admitted by the House majority leader…to drive down my poll numbers, big surprise,” she said, referring to a congressional committee investigating the matter. “I am still standing.”
She then got backup from Mr. Sanders, who said he agreed with her and said Americans want to hear about critical issues that affect their lives.
“The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails,” he said, to Mrs. Clinton’s delight. “Enough of the emails! Let’s talk about the real issues facing America.”
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