This is not hard, or complicated, or difficult to parse. Hillary Clinton was the best speaker and debater.

The bigger issue was whether Bernie Sanders helped or hurt himself, and I’d say, beyond agreeing with Hillary about the emails nonsense, he hurt himself. For one thing, who shows up at the first Democratic debate needing a haircut? He looked like a slob and frankly, talked like one. His NRA comments were disturbing, making Clinton right — he is not tough enough on the NRA.

Beyond those two, the only one who distinguished himself was former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. He was direct and refreshing, especially on his opening comments as he was convincing about being an effective leader. Former Rhode Island Gov./Sen. Lincoln Chaffee lost it out of the box with his opening statement. It was weak and mealy-mouthed and made him look inept, even though he is a personal favorite of mine because he made a huge difference in Rhode Island. I see why Rhodies like him, but, he’s not going to catch fire nationwide.

Oh, and Jim Webb is right, he got jobbed on time. Then again, I would have jobbed him on time too. Although can I add? I like him too.