Last night, as the contenders for the Democratic nomination for President of The United States faced off for the first time in front of a national audience, the question of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's integrity was raised to the candidates. When asked if he would trust Clinton as a leader after news that she used a private email server at the State Department broke earlier this year, former Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee responded, "I think we need somebody with the best and ethical standards as our next president. That's how I feel." After answering questions and defending criticism regarding her veracity to lead, Clinton was tired of explaining herself to the American public. When asked if she wanted to defend against Chafee's condemnation, Clinton replied with a terse, confident "no."
Watch a clip of this response right here:
The retort provoked massive applause in the crowd, and earned headlines for Clinton in the ensuing news coverage. After telling moderator Anderson Cooper that she had specifically asked to testify in a public hearing before Congress, and that her actions in the State Department were a mistake, it was clear that the former Secretary of State wanted to distance herself from this controversial topic.
Although her campaign has had a rough summer, with poll numbers dropping and favorability rates among the national electorate plummeting, Clinton needed to use the debate as a platform to tell the American people why she was best qualified to lead. She emerged Tuesday night with a message of levelheaded progressiveness that seemed to strike a chord with the Democratic base. Further, in the question of electability, Clinton was able to rise above the rest and remain presidential without getting into the mud. While there are many question ahead as the race for the Democratic nomination comes closer to an end, Tuesday's debate showed audiences what each nominee truly has to offer.
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