The three Democratic candidates are sure to bring some critical points to the stage during Saturday night's third debate and not all of them will be won by Hillary Clinton. In this much anticipated debate, Bernie Sanders could well upstage Hillary Clinton again to show that the race for Democratic primary is closer than the polls suggest. Since Martin O'Malley has considerably less support than the rest of the crew, it looks like the showdown is going to be, almost solely, between Clinton and Sanders. Though Clinton is leading in the polls and has definitely one-upped her fellow candidates when it comes to political experience as Secretary of State, she doesn't hold all of the playing cards.
According to a survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal, almost 60 percent of Democratic primary voters who took an online poll after the Dems' second debate agreed that Sanders — not Clinton — "best understands the problems facing people like you." And that's just it. Sanders has a certain appeal that Clinton lacks. On top of that, he's popular with millennials, more liberal than Clinton on a number of fronts, and let's face it — he kills it on Twitter, even during the GOP debates. Here are some of the ways Sanders will continue to deliver the #bern in the upcoming debate.
1) He Won't Resort To Republican Jargon When It Comes To National Security
With the San Bernardino shooting and Paris attacks fresh in the minds of American, foreign policy and combating ISIS will inevitably become topics of discussion during Saturday's debate. During the last showdown, which focused largely on foreign policy, Sanders adopted a more liberal stance than Clinton and appealed more strongly to left of moderate Democrats. On the contrary, Clinton was accused of employing Bush-Cheney era jargon with references to 9/11; Sanders even reminded us of her vote of approval for the Iraq war. At a speech in New York just days later, she called for increased military involvement in the Middle East.
This leaves a comfortable amount of room for Sanders to distance himself, to a greater extent than Clinton, from the Republicans' resolve to intensify the fight in the Middle East. For people who are sick of bellicose references to 9/11 and don't want to hear about it in the next debate, Sanders is your man.
2) He'll Be Tough On Wall Street
Sanders won some serious applause for his comment on Hillary Clinton's Wall Street reforms during last month's debate. He gave a simple response that really hit home.
Not good enough! Let's not be naive about it. Why, over her political career, has Wall Street been a major — the major — campaign contributor to Hillary Clinton? Maybe they're dumb and they don't know what they're going to get, but I don't think so.
And there you have it. I'm sure this isn't all he has to say on the topic either. Stay tuned on Saturday.
3) He'll Be More Honest than Clinton
After November's debate, Sanders has fostered a reputation for honesty and it all connects back to his intent to be tougher on Wall Street than Clinton. During the previous debate, Clinton brought up 9/11 to defend the fact that she has accepted monumental campaign donations from big banks. You can probably see how that would be a problem. She dodged the question at hand and Sanders, who will seem more reputable and transparent in the upcoming face-off, isn't going to let her get away with it next time around.
Unlike many politicians in the race (think Republican candidates), Sanders doesn't attack other candidates unless he truly disagrees with them. He proved this in his refusal to comment on Clinton's email scandal during the first debate and he has been perceived as both more honest and impassioned because of it.
4) He Already Won The GOP Debate
Bizarrely, Sanders managed to gain more Twitter followers during Tuesday's fifth GOP debate than any of the Republican or Democratic candidates. Sanders gained over 5,000 followers while live tweeting the debate. Sadly, as opposed to losing millions, Trump (ew) gained the second largest amount of followers, but that's beside the point. Sanders hit the nail on the head in this tweet and this is why people love him for his straight forwardness. That bump in Twitter followers will definitely inspire social media users — hello, millennials — to pay more attention to Sanders this Saturday.
5) He'll Crack Down on Global Warming
December's climate conference resulted in an agreement among nearly 200 nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help fund those who can't afford it. Kumi Naidoo, International Executive Director for Greenpeace, made a statement that Sanders will most likely echo.
There's not enough in this deal for the nations and people on the frontlines of climate change. It contains an inherent, ingrained injustice. The nations which caused this problem have promised too little help to the people who are already losing their lives and livelihoods.
Like his stance on Wall Street, Sanders' commitment to urgently addressing global warming is incredibly strong. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio called Sanders' environmental activism "inspiring" in an interview with Wired.
I mean, when they asked each of the candidates what the most important issue facing our planet is, Bernie Sanders simply said climate change. To me that's inspiring.
America loves Leo. Leo loves Sanders. Need I say more?
6) He'll Be More Relevant
Rapper Killer Mike recently released his six-part interview with the Vermont senator as an endorsement. Sanders said "sh*t," fist-bumped, and showed the world a more casual, approachable side that's going to shine in the next debate. Relevancy, to an extent, is synonymous with rejecting the dishonesty and lack of genuineness that are perceived to go hand in hand with being a politician. In that sense, Hillary Clinton's responses during the debates seem more staged. Sanders, on the other hand, has an advantage when it comes to saying it like it is and being a little more spontaneous, even if it's awkward. He exemplified that quality in this comment to Killer Mike.
I think it is fair to say that my political career is different than anybody else's. Because I didn't get into politics to figure out how I could become president or a senator. I got into politics because I give a damn.
