Presidential candidate Martin O’Malley was declared the winner of Saturday’s Democratic debate, according to The Washington Post, with Hillary Clinton the loser and Bernie Sanders somewhere in between.

While O’Malley was a clear winner and Clinton was a clear loser, Sanders won on account of his domestic policy discussion and lost on account of his foreign policy, according to The Washington Post.

The three Democratic candidates left in the 2016 presidential race met in Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday to publicly debate for the second time. During the debate, which was held at Drake University, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley discussed a variety of foreign and domestic policy issues.

The debate, which was televised on CBS television affiliates, focused mostly on a discussion of foreign policy in light of the terrorist attacks that struck Paris on Friday, leaving 129 people dead. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The candidates also discussed college tuition, the Affordable Care Act, raising minimum wage, super PACs, the refugee crisis affecting the European Union, gun control and immigration reform.

“Our symbol is the Statue of Liberty. It is not a barbed wire fence,” O’Malley said, referring to Republican candidate Donald Trump’s proposal that a wall be built along the United States and Mexican borders. The purpose of the wall would be to prevent illegal immigration into the U.S.

In regard to minimum wage, O’Malley and Sanders proclaimed their support for raising the wage to a national standard of $15, while Clinton said she supports raising the wage to $12.

Clinton called the issue of guns in the U.S. an “emergency,” citing several recent shootings since the first Democratic debate was held, including a shooting in Des Moines that killed three.

Since the first Democratic debate, three Democratic candidates have dropped out from the race, including former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, former Rhode Island Gov. and Sen. Lincoln Chafee and Lawrence Lessig, a professor at Harvard University.

The debate was moderated by “Face the Nation” anchor John Dickerson, CBS News Congressional Correspondent Nancy Cordes, KCCI anchor Kevin Cooney and the Des Moines Register political columnist Kathie Obradovich. KCCI is an affiliate of CBS News.

Published on November 14, 2015 at 11:54 pm

Contact Alexa: atorrens@syr.edu