Insiders: Bad night for Bernie

One day after the Paris attacks, Democrats viewed him as unprepared to talk in depth about foreign policy

By Katie Glueck, Politico.com
11/15/15 06:50 AM EST

Bernie Sanders had the weakest night of the three Democrats onstage at Saturday night’s debate.

That’s according to a survey of the POLITICO Caucus, a bipartisan group of influential strategists, operatives and activists in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, who weighed in immediately following the second Democratic primary debate.

Nearly half of Democrats surveyed said the Vermont senator lost the debate, and only 10 percent of Democrats said he won. Those insiders who said Sanders had the worst night argued that he appeared out of his depth on foreign policy a day after terrorist attacks rocked France. He spent just a few seconds addressing the matter in his opening statement before pivoting to his familiar pitch about the economy, in stark contrast to rival Hillary Clinton, a former secretary of state who devoted her entire statement to the Paris attacks.

“He made a mistake right off the bat in switching from Paris to the economy, and had an uneven performance,” a New Hampshire Democrat said.

"He was clearly not comfortable discussing detail on foreign policy matters," agreed another New Hampshire Democrat.

(More here.)