I haven’t written much about the Democratic side of the race because, frankly, it isn’t very interesting. Hillary is going to be the nominee unless her campaign completely implodes over Benghazi or some other scandal TBD. In addition, the candidates don’t disagree about very much, so there isn’t a whole lot to say.
That aside, look for the following tonight:
1. How far left will she go? Clinton, in my opinion unnecessarily, has been taking positions on issues like the TPP that will hurt her in the general election in order to deal with Bernie Sanders. Both the substance and the tone of her comments tonight will be important.
2. How does Sanders argue that he can accomplish his wish list in a Congress largely dominated by the GOP? The other candidates will maintain at least somewhat plausibly that they have a history of successfully reaching across the aisle. Sanders, not so much. Does he honestly believe that 2016 will be a tidal wave election, and that the GOP House majority will magically disappear?
3. To what extent will the candidates distance themselves from President Obama? Hillary certainly will on the use of American power overseas. There probably will be some discussion about sticking it to Wall Street, and Sanders could bring up single-payer. Otherwise, their only real objection to the President’s agenda is his inability to get it through Congress (see #2 above).
If that isn’t enough to keep your attention, you can be forgiven for changing the channel. I probably will at some point.