2016-01-17

Dem Debate LIVE, 2016 Election, Twitter, YouTube, Trump vs Sanders?



NBC News-YouTube Democratic Debate LIVE:  "Scheduled for Jan 17, 2016 - Join NBC News’ Lester Holt, Chuck Todd and YouTube creators Connor Franta, Marques Brownlee, MinuteEarth and Franchesca Ramsey as Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley debate in Charleston, South Carolina."  Pre-Debate coverage begins at 8pm ET with the actual debate scheduled to start 9pm ET [time converter].

WSJ: "... On Tuesday, Monmouth University had her [Hillary Clinton] trailing Bernie Sanders [@BernieSanders, berniesanders.com ] by 14 points in New Hampshire. Quinnipiac had her down by five in Iowa. The Des Moines Register poll has her ahead there, but by only two points. The Iowa caucus is still two weeks away, but if Mrs. Clinton’s campaign isn’t sinking, it’s obviously struggling."

Domain Mondo doesn't usually cover US Presidential politics, but in this year of the IANA transition, it is worth keeping an eye on the 2016 Presidential race which has become interesting, apart from any possible IANA impact, due to  the surge in the Trump (Republican), and Sanders (Democrat) campaigns, respectively, as well as the impact digital and social media are having on the race, the electorate, and the candidates--clear winners thus far are Twitter and YouTube--even NBC has conceded to the cord-cutters and is streaming the Democratic debate LIVE tonight via YouTube (video above).

Donald Trump, although never having held elected office, is no stranger to the American electorate. He has been running a self-funded, low-budget campaign, with lean staff, a Twitter account (and other social media accounts), and a website at donaldjtrump.com (his organization reportedly owns 3000+ domain names, more info here and here). At first, some thought Trump was using his "run for President" as some kind of publicity gimmick and he would withdraw once things started to get serious. They were wrong. In spite of some of his earlier, more controversial comments, it's now become apparent Trump is serious, and increasingly it looks like he may become the Republican nominee--note the recent headline in Vanity Fair-- "It’s Becoming Harder to See How Trump Can Lose." If he does get the GOP nomination, "how and why Trump" will be a topic for pundits, historians, and political scientists, for years to come. The first caucuses are in Iowa (Feb 1), while the first primary election is New Hampshire (Feb 9) where Trump clearly leads in the latest New Hampshire polls. On the Democratic side, Clinton could win the Iowa caucuses only to lose to Sanders in New Hampshire where he leads in the latest polls.

A turning point in the Republican race may have occurred last week in South Carolina:

Video above: Cruz and Trump debate "New York Values" January 14, 2016

That was a real "knock-out punch" Trump delivered. In political parlance, Trump "went for the kill" and left Ted Cruz, a Princeton and Harvard debater, speechless, and politically speaking, bloodied and bruised, if not mortally wounded. Even the Cruz "birther" issue has started to gain traction, read this. The fallout from Cruz's attack and Trump's counter-punch reverberated across social media:


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