Democrats to square off in final presidential debate of year

PHOENIX — The Democrats vying for the White House will square off in New Hampshire in the final presidential debate of 2015 on Saturday night.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has a commanding lead over U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.

It’s the second presidential debate of the six scheduled the Democrats have held on a Saturday.

KTAR political expert Mike O’Neil expected a wider array of issues than has been in the GOP debates.

“The Republican debate is all terrorism all the time. They are just viscerally worked up about terrorism,” O’Neill said. “I don’t expect a Democratic debate that’s exclusively focused on terrorism. They’re going to talk about economic inequality and a lot of other things.”

O’Neil said having only three candidates onstage will almost guarantee a debate that has more substance than their counterparts’ debates, which have been split into a main debate and an undercard debate. More than a dozen Republicans were seeking the nomination.

“If you’re watching the debate to see if Sanders will surpass Hillary, it’s not going to happen,” O’Neil said.

“Sanders’ support is considerable. He won’t win, but he’s a factor. I believe Sanders was never running to win, he was running to make a point and he will make his point.”

The debate can be heard on KTAR 92.3 FM starting at 6 p.m.

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