Okay, I guess we are doing this again? For some reason? Hillary and Bernie are going to have to vamp for two hours about why you should vote for them. What on Earth can they possibly have left to talk about? I guess we'll find out. I'm going to assume that, unlike the Republican debate, their genitals will not be a subject of discussion.

The debate's livestreaming on CNN, but if you don't feel like watching, KXL is carrying it as well.


4:56 We're apparently taking a moment to remember Nancy Reagan. Anderson Cooper is recalling her "grace and elegance in the White House." Oh yeah, remember her? The lady who said "just say no" to helping Rock Hudson in his final days.

Speaking of which, how do we feel about gloating over Nancy's death? Was she as bad as her husband? Can we make jokes like this?


4:59 National anthem sung by Flint Citywide Choir. It is an unusually intense rendition! And not, as with the Republican Debate, a country version.

5:00 Anderson is leading off with a startlingly harsh indictment of officials — local, state, and federal — for poisoning the people of Flint.

5:02 Bernie met with Flint victims and "what I heard and what I saw literally shattered me." Adds: "the governor of the state should understand that his dereliction of duty was irresponsible. He should resign." Huge applause. He then pivots to income inequality stuff ("no more tax breaks for billionaires"), which is great, but ooh boy we've heard it all before. Glad that he connected it to what's happening in Flint though.

5:04 Hillary: "Amen to that. ... I agree, the governor should resign or be recalled." Does a little more pandering than Bernie — says Flint needs to get more money. "It is raining lead in Flint, and the state is derelict in not coming forward with the money." It's pandering, of course, but also completely correct.

5:06 Question from a resident about how they can ever trust the government again. Hillary has some good suggestions about training aid workers and streamlining operations between various government offices. "We should run thorough in our minds how we use water every day," says Hillary. Anderson asks her to be more specific. "I support what President Obama is doing," she says. Accountability from EPA, expanding Medicaid.

5:09 Bernie: "If local government does not have the resources, if state government for whatever reason refuses to act ... federal government comes in." Expresses incredulity that Flint's poisoned water is so expensive. Says people should not have to pay their water bill. CDC should come in and examine kids for lead exposure. Has a bill for a trillion dollars to rebuild infrastructure.

5:11 Sarcastic comment from Bernie about how much worse Flint would be if Wall St or corporations were running the show in Flint. Hard not to think about Roger and Me at this point.

5:13 Bernie says he'd fire any official who knew what was happening and didn't do anything. Pivots to the insanity of spending trillions of dollars in Iraq when our infrastructure is falling apart.

5:14 So far, Bernie and Hillary are taking turns agreeing with each other and making beautiful promises. Okay now I'm no conspiracy theorist, and I don't know how closely Hillary and Bernie are coordinating. But it really seems like they're both working together tonight to remind viewers what real grown-up presidential candidates look like. Tonight is all about making the Democratic Party look inspiring and trustworthy and dignified. I'll be surprised if we see any arguing between the candidates at all.

5:21 This "debate" is really a beautiful thing. It's not really a debate at all — there's no conflict between the candidates tonight so far. It feels instead like a brain-storming session for ways to make Flint — and cities like it — better places to live. We're watching two really smart leaders offering one solution after another. Feels amazing.

5:24 Oh, I spoke too soon. Bernie is attacking Hillary for supporting NAFTA and other agreements that he says sent jobs overseas. Clinton is looking at him as he talks, and it is not a happy look.

5:26 Hillary easily swats Bernie down by pointing out that he opposed the auto bailout.

5:27 Okay now it's getting mean. Bernie: "Your story is for voting against every disastrous bailout." Hillary tries to jump in, he bellows "excuse me, I'm talking," and it feels INCREDIBLY inappropriate.



5:32 Bernie says we Hillary should release the transcript of the speech she gave to Goldman-Sachs. Hillary says she'll release her speech if everyone else releases their speeches. What is that supposed to mean? Is she saying Bernie gave some kind of sketchy speech to someone?

5:33 Bernie says he'll happily release all of his speeches to Wall Street because he doesn't give any. Ha.


5:35 Okay, we're getting back on track. Hillary and Bernie are both in agreement that bank executives should be jailed for breaking the economy.

5:37 Now they're debating trade policies, spurred by Anderson showing them this tweet:


5:37 Hillary points out that there was a job increase in Michigan during her husband's administration, which feels a little weird, like she's taking credit for something Bill did. What she's really saying is that she'd enact policies similar to Bill's, but it still feels like for just a moment she defined herself in terms of her spouse.

5:40 We've been on a fairly wonky question about banking and corporate welfare for the last few minutes. Hillary's doing a good job of pointing out how her experience as Secretary of State has helped her understand international trade.

5:47 And we're in break. So far, so good. Some observations:





5:50 Question about guns from the father of a shooting victim in Kalamazoo. Hillary says it's wrong to give gunmakers immunity. The next ten minutes are basically yelling about how terrible the gun manufacturers are for making deadly weapons — but I haven't heard anything about how those companies purchase politicians.

6:04 A list of ideas from both Hillary and Bernie for ending mass incarceration. Bernie says that at the end of his first term America would no longer lead the world in incarcerations.

6:06 Question for Bernie about experiences that have helped him understand other cultures. Bernie seems happy to talk about his work on desegregation as a student organizer. Brings up his arrest at a desegregation rally, marching on Washington.



6:08 Don Lemon asks Hillary if she's a little bit racist. She dodges that question and talks about attending black churches, babysitting the kids of migrant workers, going to MLK rallies, being guided by her faith to fight for racial equality. Name drops her work with Marian Wright Edelman. A much better answer than Bernie's.

6:11 Don Lemon repeats the question "what racial blind spots do you have?" Hillary: "Being a white person in the United States of America, I know I've never had the experience that many of the people in this audience have had. ... I urge white people to think about what it is like to have to talk with your kids, scared that your sons or daughters could get in trouble for no reason whatsoever like Sandra Bland and end up dead in a jail in Texas."

6:12 Bernie's answer: tells a story about a black congressman he knew who couldn't get a cab in DC. Tells another story about talking to a Black Lives Matter organizer.

6:17 Question for Hillary about using the term "super-predators" back in the '90s in a way that sounded pretty racist. She says it was a poor choice of words, and she was talking about drug cartels.

6:20 Back to commercial. This debate is about a 6 out of 10 on the Boring Meter. It was a great idea to focus on some specific incidents, because it prevents candidates from getting vague and making general promises they can't possibly be held to. But most of the debate's been about policy. Even though both Hillary and Bernie have great ideas and great policies, it's a lot more interesting to hear them talk about Flint and specific quotes.


6:26 Question from the audience about how terrible schools in Detroit are. "Who's going to step up?" This is a vague question. Bernie offers a vague answer: value of a nation is judged by how we treat kids and elderly, Republicans want tax breaks for the rich.

6:30 Hillary's answer is specific. Reinstate a '90s program for repairing schools. Use legal means to end the state's emergency management of Detroit schools. Big applause. Set up an "education swat team" to deal with school crisis situations. Bernie is staring off into space with a look that says "wish I'd said that."

6:34 Bernie repeats call for tuition-free college.


6:35 Clinton wants a national infrastructure bank that can spend hundreds of billions on roads and pipes and whatnot. She's basically describing the best SimCity ever.


6:38 Audience question about whether candidates support fracking. Hillary says it's fine if a community is OK with it and the company's transparent about it, but that rules out most locations. Bernie: "My answer is a lot shorter. No." Huge applause.

6:43 Bernie: "I don't take money from the fossil fuel industry," says that he's more trustworthy when it comes to bringing down dirty fuel companies. Hillary counters that she has a more comprehensive sustainable energy plan.

6:44 Hillary's really on a roll with clean energy. Anderson Cooper keeps trying to break in but she's not letting him and it's kind of fantastic to hear a woman who won't let a man interrupt her.

6:45 Bernie: "If elected president, we are going to invest a lot of money into mental health, and when you watch the Republican debates you know why."

6:46 Kind of a non-sequitur, but Bernie says he would overturn Citizens United. Hillary adds that that's why we need to support Obama's right to nominate a Supreme Court Justice.

6:47 Another commercial. Good God, it's always nice to support Democrats over Republicans, but I don't think it's ever been such a pleasure.

6:51 Anderson asks how Hillary will take on Donald Trump. "There's only one candidate in either party that has more votes than him," she says. "And that's me."

6:53 Bernie: "I would love to run against Donald Trump. ... What almost every poll has shown is Sanders vs Trump does better than Clinton vs Trump."

6:55 Kind of a kooky question from the audience: "Do you believe God is relevant?" Bernie answers quite beautifully, citing lots of different religions: "what we are talking about ... is to do unto others as you would like them to do unto you."

6:56 Bernie adds: "I am very proud of being Jewish. That is an essential part of who I am as a human being."

6:58 Follow up question from audience about who Hillary prays for and to whom. Hillary formulates a polite answer about wishing people well. "It's very hard to imagine living ... without being able to fall back on prayer and my faith."

7:00 Closing statements. My closing statement is that this was a far less depressing than the Republican debate.