I watched the first 40 minutes, but for some reason the video wouldn't play past that! They introduced themselves and had a few short skirmishes. I thought that Bernie Sanders was very smart although he was relying on canned speech a little too much and kept repeating himself and seemed nervous. He had relatively more time than some and was able to get his points across. I felt that I like many of his replies to the moderators. Hillary Clinton was poised and flowed. She outclassed her opponents who although they were accomplished and had some good track records did not stand out as gifted in her presence. She made many of them seem forgettable. The questions directed to some of the contestants revealed some of their past differences with party positions, interrogated them about flip-flops and changes of mind. One who had change from republican to independent to democrat said he had not changed his mind about issues and only had changed his party. That was impressive to me. He might win with that kind of record, because it appeals I think to moderates (like myself who am the definition of moderate of course). The fellow with the NRA past seemed uncomfortable under questioning and had several weaknesses that could easily sink him if he were selected, such as statements he had made about Affirmative Action which required more than 20 seconds of explaining and I wasn't able to follow it all. Some of the candidates had dark teeth, and while that shouldn't matter it made me wonder about their health. I also thought that Bernie looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep. Senator Webb seemed to be new to debates and kept trying to direct the conversation to points where he felt he shined while Hillary spent most of her time on defence, fielding numerous questions. I think if the presidency requires intelligence then Hillary is the clear winner of the first 40 minutes. I could not determine which of these contestants would be able to win over voters and rally the people who didn't vote last time.
