With the presidential primary elections quickly approaching, the Democratic party held their first debate on Oct. 13 in Las Vegas, Nevada, ushering the new candidates into the public eye. The debaters on Tuesday were Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Martin O’Malley, Jim Webb, and Lincoln Chafee. The host of the debate was Anderson Cooper.

The debates serve a very crucial role in the presidential campaigns every four years. With intensive media coverage, the debates allow candidates to be seen by the public, even if they do not have millions of campaign dollars. The Republican GOP has already had two debates, so many Democrats believed their party was running a little behind.

“I thought the debate was very interesting, particularly because the Democrats did not get dirty like the Republicans did. I also thought they showed a united front against the Republicans, who seemed divided within their own party,” Ahmad Zaidi, junior, said.

The Democratic party, according to several online polls on various news websites such as CNN, seems very limited in its number of viable candidates. The public is split between Clinton and Sanders. Clinton is the former Secretary of State and married to ex-president, Bill Clinton. Sanders is a senator of Vermont.

The other candidates are not to be disregarded. O’Malley is a former governor of Maryland, as well as the former mayor of Baltimore. Webb is a former senator of Virginia, and a Vietnam veteran. Chafee is a former governor of Rhode Island, and his father, John Chafee, is a renowned politician.

The debate certainly seemed to spotlight Clinton and Sanders. The New York Times calculated how much speaking time each candidate got throughout the entire debate, and the fairness of their results could definitely be questioned.

“Hillary Rodham Clinton had the most speaking time of the debate, with more than three times that of Lincoln Chafee, who had the least,” The New York Times said.

The candidates discussed a plethora of topics and issues during the debate, varying from gun control, civil rights, U.S. involvement in external affairs, taxation, drug legalization, prison systems, education, and many more. The candidates all offered different policies, some leaning more left on the political spectrum than others.

Although there is no official “winner” of the debate, the media and public quickly decided who they think performed the best. According to several online polls, as well as some polls done in person, Sanders was the victor of the debate. However, the majority of media outlets highlighted Clinton’s victory in the debate. Very few thought anyone besides Clinton and Sanders came out on top.

Another pressing topic that CNN covered during the debate was Vice President Joe Biden’s potential involvement in the 2016 election. Biden has yet to join the race for presidency, but as the current Vice President for Barack Obama, he would definitely be a force to be reckoned with.

“[He is] aware of the practical demands of making a final decision soon,” Ted Kaufman, a close friend and advisor of Biden, said. 

Still, at the current time, only Clinton, Sanders, O’Malley, Webb, and Chafee represent the Democratic party. As the winter primaries grow nearer, one thing is for sure: things are going to start heating up! The next debate will take place on Nov. 14 on CBS. 

Top Image by Josh Haner, The New York Times