MSNBC Democratic Debate: Live Coverage

There’s another interesting dynamic, too, which is that there are actually quite a view Democratic-Republican swing voters in New Hampshire. Unaffiliated (independent) voters can vote in either primary. Believe it or not, some of them might be deciding between, for instance, Bernie Sanders and John Kasich. Stressing how conservative all of the Republicans are on social issues might have been a good strategy for Sanders, since those independents in New Hampshire are fairly socially liberal.

Are we surprised that these two haven’t been going after the GOP candidates at all? Who would have bet that more than 90 minutes in, Trump would have just one mention, and Cruz and Rubio wouldn’t have been mentioned at all?

That’s something that probably deserves a whole post instead of a quick liveblog take! (And Harry has dived into this.) The short answer is that Sanders would probably cost the Democrats a couple of percentage points, other things held equal, but not necessarily produce a McGovern/Goldwater type disaster. The longer answer involves mentioning that McGovern and Goldwater weren’t just “extreme” ideologically but also very divisive nominees, so some of it would depend on how much Sanders was able to unite the Democratic Party behind him.