Paris Attacks Alter Democratic Debate - And Maybe Entire Race; Do You Believe This Event Should Alter Any Dem or Rep Debate/Race?

2015-11-14T14:51:42-05:00

""Last night's attacks are a tragic example of the kind of challenges American presidents face in today's world and we intend to ask the candidates how they would confront the evolving threat of terrorism," said CBS News Washington Bureau Chief Chris Isham. "

Though I do agree that this event should be a part of any Dem/Rep debates, do you feel it will or should significantly alter the discussions and/or the race for the Presidency?

DES MOINES, Iowa - The terrorist attacks in Paris have dramatically changed the outlook and focus of Saturday night's Democratic presidential debate. And they could very well alter a Democratic race largely defined by economic and social issues.

The debate, beginning at 9:00 pm ET and airing on CBS, will take place in the shadow of Friday's attacks, which killed at least 129 and left 352 others wounded according to French authorities. France has declared a state of emergency and ISIS has claimed responsibility for the deadliest attacks on the country since World War II.

And it's shifted the focus for tonight's discussion, according to the debate sponsors.

"Last night's attacks are a tragic example of the kind of challenges American presidents face in today's world and we intend to ask the candidates how they would confront the evolving threat of terrorism," said CBS News Washington Bureau Chief Chris Isham.

Isham said that moderators would still ask about a broad range of topics. "We will also ask about other issues, such as healthcare and the economy, but we felt that it was important, given what happened and given the severity of what happened, to refocus the questioning somewhat."

CBS Executive Editor Steve Capus Friday night tweeted that the terrorist attacks in Paris "require important questions for the candidates."

That could benefit the sole Democratic candidate with extensive foreign policy and national security experience - former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. And it could hurt the two others without it - Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley.

Indeed, top Clinton campaign strategists told NBC News that they expected a focus on the Paris attacks could very well put Sanders and O'Malley on their heels.

Sanders had been sharpening his attacks against Clinton -- suggesting that her controversial email practices are fair game and even appearing to question her character.

"If her email practices foiled public-records requests or compromised classified information, those are 'valid questions,'" Sanders told the Wall Street Journal this week. And noting some of Clinton's issue reversals -- like her newfound opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade accord -- Sanders told the paper that consistency on such issues "does speak to the character of a person."

Meanwhile, O'Malley, who remains stuck in the low single digits in most public polling, has been searching for a breakout moment -- something he didn't get in the Democratic first debate.

Friday's terrorist attacks in Paris came after a series of incidents involving the fight against ISIS and the civil war in Syria.

The Oct. 31 downing of a plane en route to St. Petersburg, Russia after taking off from Egypt has raised concerns about airline security, as the British government and some congressional Republicans have said the crash was likely an act of terrorism. (U.S. government officials have not confirmed the plane's downing was terrorism, but also haven't ruled out that possibility.)

On Friday morning, U.S. and British officials said they believed that an airstrike had killed Mohammed Emwazi, a member of ISIS who had beheaded Western hostages in videos that were seen all over the world. Later on Friday, there was a mass shooting in Paris, although many details about it remain unclear.

Thus far in the Democratic presidential race, national security and terrorism issues haven't been a top focus for Democratic voters.

According to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, just 4 percent of Democratic primary voters said that foreign policy and the Middle East is the top issue that will decide their vote, while just another 2 percent said terrorism was.

By contrast, 40 percent of Democratic voters said the economy was their top concern, 21 percent responded with social issues and 15 percent singled out Social Security and Medicare.

NBC News' Perry Bacon contributed to this report

Paris Attacks Alter Democratic Debate - And Maybe Entire Race

Friday's terrorist attacks in Paris will alter Saturday's Democratic debate, and maybe a race so far defined by social and economic issues.

Response by MSgt Curtis Ellis made Nov 14 at 2015 2:57 PM

2015-11-14T14:57:20-05:00

Personally, I hope not. While I do understand the magnitude of what happened in Paris, and my heart goes out to all who have been affected by this event, I don't want this event to overshadow the discussions and issues to be addressed (by Democrats or Republicans) that we still have here in this country, nor do I want this event to be used as an excuse to circumvent issues...

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 14 at 2015 3:23 PM

2015-11-14T15:23:05-05:00

MSgt Curtis Ellis Yes, because our POTUS has gone out of his way not to criticise Muslim Terrorism.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 14 at 2015 3:26 PM

2015-11-14T15:26:34-05:00

If the attack alters the debate than we will be granting another victory to the terrorists.

There are bad people who do bad things and we need to continue addressing that, however we also need to be careful not to divide the world into us and them based on geography or religion. No one suffers more at the hands of Islamic extremists than Muslims.

Response by SSgt Christopher Brose made Nov 14 at 2015 4:12 PM

2015-11-14T16:12:37-05:00

I think it is a symptom of a serious problem if it significantly changes any candidate's position. This is not an "evolving threat," it is the very same threat by the very same people that have been doing this kind of shit for decades.

Response by COL Ronald Diana made Nov 14 at 2015 4:34 PM

2015-11-14T16:34:26-05:00

No, this change should not affect the upcoming Presidential race. Hopefully there will be some change in the demarcate debates and the lame street media begin to ask Bernie, Hillary and Marty some very tough and straight forward questions versus the softball types that they normally ask.

Response by SGT Francis Wright made Nov 14 at 2015 9:28 PM

2015-11-14T21:28:27-05:00

The only reason this event is changing the Democrats mind. Is because ISIS is not cooperating with their plans. Because we the people are not going to tolerate hostiles coming into our country.

Response by TSgt John Temblador, PI, CIPA made Nov 14 at 2015 9:59 PM

2015-11-14T21:59:25-05:00

NYPD Cops Went Undercover as ‘Muslims’ http://libertyfirstnews.com/nypd-cops-went-undercover-as-muslims-heres-what-they-found/

NYPD Cops Went Undercover as ‘Muslims’ & Here’s What They Found…

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 16 at 2015 7:06 AM

2015-11-16T07:06:19-05:00

The Republican established candidates (include Rubio), will be very excited on this topic.

Response by LCpl Stanley Frieze made Nov 16 at 2015 7:16 AM

2015-11-16T07:16:57-05:00

I did not get the chance to wwatch the dbate, and probably would not have wwatch even if I was able to. The current administration has soured me and I am not liking any of the Democratic candidates. I can't say aa I fell that it should not have been addressed, but the fact of the matter is this administration should have already taken care of this. Had they stood up and shown some backbone this could have already been done with. I'm going Republican this time. I'm tirtired of the lies that ar being shoved down our throats, and I'm not even listening to them anymore.

Response by Capt Walter Miller made Nov 16 at 2015 7:32 AM

2015-11-16T07:32:10-05:00

Yeah it should alter the race.

The only presidential candidate with any foreign policy props whatsoever is independent Jim Webb.

Besides graduating from Annapolis at the top of his class, being first in his class of 243 lieutenants at the Basic School, being a platoon and company commander and winning a Navy Cross, Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts in Viet Nam, he was a committee general counsel, congressional staffer, official in the Defense Department, SecNav and senator, he is a NY Times best selling author, has the screenwriting credit for "Rules of Engagement" and he even has a bleeping EMMY.

But the thing that is so awesome is that he resigned as SeNav in protest of what the SecDef asked him to do. It blew me away at the time. Who does that? The story is that the SecDef Carlucci asked him to misrepresent facts to the Congress. He laid it on Carlucci at the time. Awesome. Specifically he was asked to misrepresent the usefulness of a new class of Navy warships.

Senator Webb is exactly what we need.

The fact that he is polling at 1% or whatever is on the American people, not him.

Walt

Response by SSgt Alex Robinson made Nov 16 at 2015 8:04 AM

2015-11-16T08:04:59-05:00

They have shown they really don't care about the citizens of the United States. They would rather welcome people who may wish to do us harm them listen to the electorate of the United States. sadly almost all politicians forget that they work for us we are not here to take care of their needs.

Response by PO3 Steven Sherrill made Nov 16 at 2015 9:07 AM

2015-11-16T09:07:12-05:00

MSgt Curtis Ellis this is the new world we live in. No longer are we going to only face overt, nation state enemies. Enemies will be among us. They will be a part of our communities right up until they strike. Absolutely it is fair game for this to be a major topic of discussion. How do you balance the rights and freedoms guaranteed by our constitution against the need for national security? So far the answer from both Mr. Bush and Mr. Obama has been to trample liberty. Let's see if we can find a president who seeks a way to combat radicalism, maintain national security, and not trample the rights which everyone on Rally Point fought for in some manner.

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 16 at 2015 9:23 AM

2015-11-16T09:23:21-05:00

Well, if a presidential candidate does not address this or have a plan to try to deal with it, why in the world would we consider him/her.

Note: denial of the problem is not a viable option.

Response by PO3 Sherry Thornburg made Nov 16 at 2015 11:30 AM

2015-11-16T11:30:12-05:00

Foreign affairs is part of a president's job. It needs to be discussed in debates. Many years ago the U.K. uncovered a pacifist running for Prime Minister by asking questions about the country's security against Russian attack (cold war era). The question was what would you do if . . . His answer was basically nothing. The English people would survive the evasion and learn to live with it. He lost by a landslide.