What Went Down At The CNN Democratic Debate

When asked if he’s a Democrat, Sanders touted his electability and mentioned his appeal to independents, although he noted that he is pursuing the nomination, of course, as a Democrat. The issue has come up before during this primary season. It opens up some questions about how we define political parties in the U.S. We do it pretty loosely, as evidenced by nomination rules that open up the process to candidates like Sanders and Trump — and, in some states, to independent voters. What it means to be a Republican or Democrat is generally in the eye of the beholder. I’ve generally argued that since Sanders caucuses with the Democrats, any distinction about his party ID is mostly semantic. But fundraising is an issue. Connections to other candidates are important. And so is ideology. Modern Democrats have generally embraced capitalism and business, and this has come up in debates. What does it mean for Sanders’s critique of capitalism for him to join the Democratic Party at last?

Despite Sanders’s denials just now, Democrats have been annoyed that he has not raised more money to help the party’s down-ballot candidates, as Politico reported on Wednesday. (If he is elected, he would need scores more Democrats in Congress than are in office now in order to get any of his policies passed.) But Sanders has agreed to raise money for three Democratic House candidates. What sets them apart from the larger pack is that they have endorsed him.

Sanders is making an argument at the end of the debate that the primary season was front-loaded with states in the Deep South that were bad for him but that things are going to look up in the next couple of months. I’ll quote here from good ole Harry Enten’s welcome post for this live blog: “Voting in the Democratic race has largely followed demographic lines, and the primary calendar in the second half of April shifts to the Northeast, which is more favorable terrain for Clinton — she’s favored to add to her lead in pledged delegates in states like Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York.”