Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton threw some serious punches at last night’s debate in a way that has not been seen before. While the debate was definitely the most spirited of all the Democratic debates this year, no candidate necessarily lost. Hillary Clinton hugged Obama and positioned herself as a continuation of the status quo, while Sanders promised real progressive change. This was nothing new, however, many people fail to realize that people still don’t know Sanders, especially African-Amerian voters. Therefore, although I would be hesitant to say Clinton lost the debate, Sanders definitely stole the spotlight.

The first tussle was over guns. Sanders rightfully called out Clinton for being “disingenuous” about his positions on guns and thoughtfully explained why he would make a good general election candidate who could bridge the gap between the two polarized sides of the gun control debate. Clinton responded by further criticizing Sanders past votes against the Brady Bill, but unfortunately, Sanders wasn’t given a chance to respond. One could say that among Democrats, Clinton won this fight, but I would say that this issue sheds more light on the fact that Sanders is better positioned to bring about a consensus on this issue. With the vast majority of Americans favoring the expansion of background checks and ending loopholes, the only way to achieve these important steps is to put aside party differences. With both parties positioning themselves on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum, these widely supported initiatives will never come about. I really don’t think this is an issue that Clinton can effectively use to fend of the Sanders surge in the long run.

Sparks flew again when healthcare came up, which was expected after all the deplorable and misleading attacks waged by the Clinton campaign during the past week. Clinton is trying to make the case that she knows how hard it is to get healthcare reform passed and we can’t afford to start all over again. Sanders pushed back by pointing out that premiums and deductibles are still way too high and that Obamacare didn’t go far enough in helping the most vulnerable. After waiting and waiting, Sanders finally hit the main underlying issue. We don’t have medicare for all because of the private insurance companies that contribute millions of dollars in lobbying and campaign donations. This was a great move by Sanders because he brought the issue of healthcare back to his main agenda concerning moneyed interests in Washington. He didn’t say it in the debate, but Hillary Clinton has received more money from the Pharmaceutical industry than any other candidate running for president including the Republicans.

Clinton is running out of ways to wage attacks against Sanders. The gun issue isn’t working too well and the healthcare issue has backfired immeasurably. What I find so encouraging about the Sanders campaign is that these attacks from Clinton actually raise more money for Sanders. After raising 3.2 million over five days, he raised another million during the debate. Just in case you weren’t keeping track, that’s 4.2 million in one week. The desperation on Clinton side is very evident, especially considering a Clinton Super-pac started to target Bernie’s age and health as a reason to not vote for him. How much money was raised off of that attack? 250,000 dollars on just one fundraising email sent out by the Sanders team.

It seems that Clinton’s new line of attack is framing Bernie as anti- Obama. She made some heavy handed remarks about how Bernie Sanders didn’t support Obama in 2008 or 2012. Sanders immediately shot those claims down. What Clinton continually fails to understand about Obama is that he was somewhat of a disappoint to progressives. Yes, Obama presided over the recovery of our economy. Yes, Obama got on board for same-sex marriage and moved our country forward in combatting climate change. But what about his grand plans for curbing special interests in Washington? He did very little. The banks are bigger than they were in 2008 when the economy tanked and Obama simply wasn’t experienced enough to take on the powerful interests in our government. He also oversaw the job-killing trade agreements that hurt the middle class of this country immensely. Sanders, on the other hand, is an experienced public servant who has been taking on the powerful interests in our government since day one of his career. Sanders represents the promise that Obama didn’t keep. Clinton might think that positioning herself alongside Obama might help her with the Democratic base and African-American voters, but I don’t think it will be enough.

According to most pundits, this debate was the “Bernie Sanders debate”. No one in the media is saying that Sanders necessarily lost, but of course there were the usual suspects who said things along the lines of, “Clinton was great as usual”, “She’s such a great debater”, “Sanders fails to make a dent”, and, “Clinton hits Bernie”. However, almost everyone agrees that this debate was a lot about Bernie Sanders, mainly due his recent surge. As I pointed out earlier, Sanders is still not well known to most of the country. This is because of biased media coverage, but mostly because the majority of people don’t start paying attention to the primary until Iowa and New Hampshire are decided. I call everyones attention to google search trends during the debate. Bernie Sanders was the most searched candidate in every state. This shows that people are just getting exposed to Sanders and they are interested. This is why Sanders won the debate. The only way Sanders can pull off this upset is if he can make a large dent into Clinton’s African-American support and survive in the south. Voters in the south and around the nation are just starting to find out who he is and what he stands for. As with the latest trends in this primary election, the more voters are exposed to Sanders that more likely they will support him. This debate was a great showcase of who Sanders is and what he stands for. As people look him up and see that he is a consistent, compassionate, and loyal public servant the polls will move. 14 days till Iowa…let the Revolution continue to roll.