The pitchfork in new york
​referee's report card for the 9th democratic debate

April 15, 2016 - On what might have been the final debate of the Democratic primary season, Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders faced off in Brooklyn last night. While they sparred over many issues at hand, the overarching theme of their debate was summed up nicely by Sanders. He said that he was promising profound changes to American government while Clinton was arguing for more incremental changes. Voters in New York will decide for themselves on Tuesday which vision is more to their liking. 

As always, ​Ballotball.com was there playing referee. We didn't pick a winner--you, the voter, should decide that for yourself. But we DID help keep the bout civil by calling penalties in real time. You can follow along by reading the debate transcript and the penalties that are written up below.

The Contenders

hillary clinton

current delegates - 1,790 (2,382 to win)

Pledged delegates: 1304
Superdelegates: 486
75%
3 penalties

Failure to answer: Former Secretary Hillary Clinton was asked why she still refuses to release the transcripts of her paid speeches to Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street institutions. Specifically she was asked whether voters should interpret her failure to disclose the transcripts as an admission that there is something politically damaging in them. Clinton said she would release her transcripts if all other candidates would do the same, but did not answer the substantive portion of the question.

Failure to answer: Senator Bernie Sanders asked Clinton directly if she would support a tax on carbon in order to prevent climate change. Clinton talked about her clean energy plan before pivoting to attack Republicans for failing to confirm the Supreme Court nominee and acting as an obstruction to President Obama’s agenda. It seemed clear that she had no intention of responding with a yes or a no to the question.
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Failure to answer: Once again, Sanders asked Clinton a direct question. This time it was whether or not she supported raising the cap on taxable income. Once again, she did not want to answer directly a question posed by her competitor and so gave an answer that could be interpreted many different ways. She said she would make the rich pay into the social security trust fund and tax passive income like investments. But she never specifically stated whether or not the cap on taxable income would be changed.

Bernie sanders

​Current delegates - 1,113

Pledged delegates: 1075
Superdelegates: 38
47%
2 penalties

Failure to answer: Sanders was asked for one specific decision Clinton made as Senator that demonstrates she was influenced by Wall Street campaign donations. He stated that he introduced legislation to break up the banks while she was giving paid speeches to Goldman Sachs, but didn’t specify any votes that prove that Clinton has been corrupted by donations.

​Failure to answer: Sanders was asked how, as president, he would promote American businesses around the world when he spends so much time criticizing corporations for being corrupt and fraudulent. Sanders responded by saying that some corporations do act appropriately but then he launched into a lengthy criticism of Verizon and GE for outsourcing jobs, not paying their fair share of taxes, and refusing to negotiate with striking workers. This was an answer to an entirely different question.

The Penalties

With the NBA season heating up, we've instituted some new basketball rules for the debate.

Candidates can receive a foul for the following infractions:

  • Failing to answer a question
This one is pretty self explanatory. Candidates might have a good reason to avoid the question, but this is a debate and if you're not here to answer the questions, then it's just a televised press conference. 

  • Failing to stay on topic
For instance, in an earlier debate, Lindsey Graham was asked about his opinion on the right of bakers to refuse to cater a gay wedding. He responded: "Whether you're the wedding cake baker or the gay couple or the Baptist preacher, radical Islam would kill you all if they could."

  • Candidates can receive a technical foul by comparing their opponents to the Nazis.
​​This rule might be controversial due to the innumerable times Donald Trump's opponents have compared his xenophobic policies to Nazism. However, going back to the first debate, we, at Ballotball, have held a zero-tolerance policy towards Nazi comparisons. We flagged Lindsey Graham for comparing ISIL to the Nazis, and we were watching Governor Mike Huckabee closely after he compared President Obama to the Nazis after he agreed to the Iran nuclear deal (this didn't happen during a debate, so no penalty was issued). The reason for this rule is threefold:
  1. Nazi comparisons are lazy. If you'd like to compare Donald Trump's ban on Muslims entering the country to a historical precedent, why not try McCarthyism, or the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, or the Jim Crow south? Instead, people always grab the low-hanging fruit of the Nazis to make their point.
  2. Nazi comparisons ignore the fact that there are still Nazi parties alive and well in many countries. They have not receded to the dustbin of history and currently have at least one member sitting on the European Parliament. 
  3. This is a debate. And nothing shuts down a debate faster than a Nazi comparison. It is our strong opinion that such comparisons send all parties to the barricades and prevent anyone from actually communicating. Disagree strongly, and make your case the best you can, but leave the Nazi metaphors at home, please.