The Democratic Debate 2015: Bernie Sanders To Attack Hillary Clinton’s Iraq War Record, Email Scandal?

With the 2016 presidential candidates planning for the Democratic Debate, 2015 promises to be interesting since Bernie Sanders may bring up Hillary Clinton’s war record during the Democrat’s presidential debate being hosted by CNN. In return, Clinton will have to convince Democrats that making her the United States president has a reason or goal, although it’s uncertain whether or not she will have to dance around questions based upon the infamous email server incident.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, Hillary Clinton met with the Black Lives Matter movement to discuss policies related to black people, police, prisons, and other topics, but some of the leaders said they were uncertain where Clinton stood on some matters. The final Benghazi report is scheduled to be released just in time for the 2016 presidential elections, and one U.S. Air Force investigator claims Republicans are allowing their bias to taint the Benghazi committee’s investigation.

GOP members have claimed the usage of a private email server and the subsequent deletion of some emails made her actions as Secretary of State illegal. An NPR fact check article notes that “[n]o one will likely ever know what was deleted from Clinton’s server,” but “it’s also unlikely she will ever be found to have violated the letter of the law.”

At this point, it is unclear if Bernie Sanders’ Democratic debate attack plan will include going after Hillary Clinton’s email scandal. Other Democrats have circled the wagons in regards to this sticky issue, and President Obama has even claimed that the emails did not represent a national security risk. Sanders has steered clear of the email scandal so far, but it is possible he could surprise everyone during the Democratic Debate. After all, some watchdog groups claimed Clinton at least violated the spirit of the law, if not the letter.

In regards to Bernie Sanders’ foreign policy experience, we already have a preview of the 2015 Democratic Debate. The Sanders campaign released a document showing the contrast between Sanders and Clinton, who voted in favor of the Iraq War only to flip-flop and call the decision a mistake in recent years. On Sanders’ website, the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate even showed off his old speech to the House when he stood against the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

“I do not think any Member of this body disagrees that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant, a murderer, and a man who has started two wars,” Sanders said in 2002. “The question, Mr. Speaker, is not whether we like Saddam Hussein or not. The question is whether he represents an imminent threat to the American people and whether a unilateral invasion of Iraq will do more harm than good.”

Since Hillary Clinton’s polls still have her as the front-runner, the issue is likely to come up during the Democratic debate. Similar to how Donald Trump was attacked by all sides in the Republican debates, it’s possible that the other Democratic candidates, including Martin O’Malley, Jim Webb, and Lincoln Chafee, may attempt to make themselves known by spearheading an attack on Clinton’s record.

It’s also possible that Sander’s position as a Democratic Socialist may come under fire since he is acknowledged as being in second place. Sanders defines Democratic Socialism as “having a government which reflects the interest of ordinary people rather than what is currently the case, the billionaire class,” but since around half of all Americans are wary of voting for any type of Socialist, the issue may come up.

We also know that CNN’s Democratic Debate plans call for keeping the Democrats accountable for their words.

“I believe if somebody says something that is factually incorrect, it’s a good thing to point out what the record shows,” Anderson Cooper said, according to the New York Times. “If somebody is saying something about their record that is not something they’ve said in the past or is different from what they’ve said in the past, then you can point that out.”

How do you think Bernie Sanders should approach the Democratic Debate? Which issues do you think he should bring up?

Are @HillaryClinton & @BernieSanders frenemies? @randikayeCNN reports: http://t.co/WQRFOU1z5T pic.twitter.com/TjX3oehVk0

— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) October 9, 2015

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