On October 13th, Hillary Clinton delivered a great performance in the first Democratic presidential debate. Her confidence on the debate stage created positivity for the audience. Clinton produced a more convincing rationale for why she should be President. She stated, “The issue is not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get back up.” Clinton argued that her vision is to enforce change. Clinton stated, “Diplomacy isn’t about getting to the perfect solution, it’s about how you balance the risk.” In other words, finding the best solution is nearly impossible. According to Clinton, when one is the President, he or she has to create a plan that takes fewer risks. Clinton identifies herself as a progressive woman who knows how to get things done. When talking about African American racism, Clinton asserts that although the other candidates have changed their position on the issue, she has remained resolute.

When Bernie Sanders stated that the U.S. should look to other countries like Denmark, Hillary quickly refuted with, “We are not Denmark. I love Denmark, but we’re the United States of America.” Clinton also pointed out that Sanders has not been hard enough on guns whatsoever. The U.S. has faced gun problems way more than any other country due to our lack of strict gun rules. People are allowed their freedom, yet they abuse their freedom to harm others. “We have to look at the fact that we lose 90 people a day from gun violence. Over the course of 14 years, our gun related accidents have gone from 10 to 90+ per day. We have the most murder rates per year with 157,000 people.” The U.S. has the majority of the murders because we don’t have strict laws on who can handle and/or buy a gun. Although Sanders was going to give immunity to the only gun industry in America, Hillary stands against the NRA.

Moreover, Clinton took a stance on many other prevalent issues. For example, she stood up against Putin to stop his bullying. To Clinton, the U.S. needs to take a leadership position and tell Putin that he is not allowed to bomb Syrians and cause more chaos in the region when it is already tense. She defended paid leave by stating that people are in struggle, and women need to be able to have the time to raise their children. When discussing marijuana, although she did not take a side, she remarked that marijuana is very helpful medically, but the state of its recreational function remains unclear. In conclusion, Clinton debated wonderfully as she spoke for herself and even when she got aimed at, she took the heat and laughed it off. She defended her role in making a reset of relations with Russia, and stood her ground regarding foreign policy issues. Many can look forward to what else the presidential race will bring.