Does anybody know how many debates have been made during the presidential campaign so far?
Either they are Republican, Democrat, or Libertarian Americans have already gotten dozens of televised shows with potential White House residents, the vast majority of them in English.
But the debate made in Miami on Wednesday was a peculiar one, not only due to the fact that it is the second one in Spanish –being the first one by CNN-Telemundo in Texas before Super Tuesday-, but because it was clear whom the largest network that broadcasts in this language is leaning towards.
The moderators were Washington Post’s Karen Tumult –who did a wonderful job-, and Univision’s María Elena Salinas and Jorge Ramos. The latter, you must know, has a daughter (Paola) who works on the Hillary Clinton campaign, which is a clear conflict of interest that must have excused him from participating as anchor.
Cuba, immigration, healthcare, climate change, Wall Street, college loan debt, among others, were the main topics discussed by Clinton and rival Bernie Sanders.
According to an analysis made by the Spanish television network 52 percent of the audience spoke of Sanders and the rest about the former Secretary of State. However, the most addressed line of the debate was the Senator’s sentence about climate change myth, in which he accused those denying the issue for lacking the guts to confront the fossil fuel industry.
But besides those moments for the Democratic Socialist Revolution, the whole time was in favor of the former First Lady.
Sanders was put against the wall when was asked regarding his vote against the automobile industry rescue and his rejection to the immigration bills introduced a decade ago (which in fact were also rejected by Hispanic organizations for risking immigrant workers’ integrity and the potential of turning them into modern-era slaves).
While responding the attacks from both Clinton and the Latino moderators, Sanders campaign was counter-attacking with at least a dozen of emails to argument his votes for such bills.
During the debate –perhaps in its most dramatic moment- a female undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, who identified herself as Lucía Quiej, asked candidates regarding their deportation and family reunion proposals.
Sanders did not hesitate and said he would not deport or separate families, while Clinton was not clear in the topic. After much insistence from moderator Ramos, she went on to say she would only expatriate undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes in the country.
And in the Mexican border wall –a proposal supported by Clinton in the past-, the network posted online four paragraphs to explain her twist in opinion and ran a single-sentence paragraph for Sanders.
During a debate break, reporter Mariana Atencio interviewed two young voters. The female was undoubtedly for Clinton, while the male said he was not so sure at first, but eventually "changed" his standing in favor of the former Arkansas First Lady.
Sen. Sanders was attacked again after a video of himself and former Cuban President Fidel Castro, after which the candidate tried to defend but was given little time to do so. Also, when Sanders was speaking during the debate the volume was lowered -at least- in the online broadcasting. In addition to this, reporter Enrique Acevedo’s translation was really poor, especially with the federal lawmaker.
At Univision’s webpage, most of the political analysts invited to comment regarding the debate’s outcome were seriously in favor of Clinton.
Anchor León Krauze and reporter Mariana Atencio even said Sanders was clearly the event’s looser after his Cuba fiasco.
Although the gross attempt to derail Sanders campaign among Latino voters, after the closing remarks many youngsters stood from their seats and gave Sanders a huge applause, which painted a nervous smile on Clinton’s face.
The most interesting reaction to the debate can be seen at Univision’s Facebook page. Dozens of followers had the clear idea that the network was partial towards Clinton and more negative against Sanders. No wonder why Univision Chairman Haim Saban and wife Cheryl donated Bill Clinton $2.4 million since 1992 in campaign money and another $10 million to the Clinton Foundation, according to a recent investigation by the network’s Wednesday debate partner — The Washington Post.
