It’s really remarkable how unscathed Clinton has been tonight by the other candidates. She skated right past questions on Benghazi and her private email server, and on one of her most vulnerable issues — her vote to authorize the war in Iraq — she drew only indirect criticism from Sanders and Chafee, who missed a huge opportunity to draw a sharp contrast with her foreign policy. The moderators have tried to get the other candidates to rough her up, but about the best they’ve been able to do is get O’Malley to say that she may be a little too eager to use military force. Sanders supporters are likely to disagree with Clinton’s support for the Patriot Act, but instead of criticizing her directly for that vote, Sanders loosed a familiar broadside at government surveillance and did not link her to it. Clinton’s skills at debating are clearly evident tonight, but she has benefited most greatly from a decorousness by the other candidates that is rarely on display during Republican debates.
