By Brett LinleySPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

For the first time this election cycle, five Democrats took the stage to debate and rally the troops for progressive values. Throughout the exchange on CNN, there were some key takeaways.

While the debate was essentially a broadcasted battle between Secretary Clinton’s coronation and Senator Sanders’s socialist insurgency, perhaps this was less than fair to the other candidates.

Of course, there are some like Senator Lincoln Chafee who likely has no viable route to the nomination. He does not have the radical ideas of Sanders to put him into the fray on an intellectual level, and on matters of principle, his record speaks for itself.

He’s flipped through two parties before registering as a Democrat. When asked to explain his vote on the Glass-Steagall Act, a poor vote in the eyes of the Democratic electorate, his response was merely that it was his first vote. This is not the way to generate enthusiasm.

Martin O’Malley supplied some pizzazz, seeming the most presidential on a superficial level. Truly, in O’Malley’s mind, he was to be the anti-Clinton in the race. Now, however, he faces the same problem as Chafee; he has no unique ideas to separate himself as a viable establishment alternative.

For all the well-tailored suits, height advantages and charisma in the world, O’Malley will likely struggle as the city of which he was mayor, in the state he was governor, continues to face unbridled chaos. While he may have ideas worth considering, he’ll have a hard time getting people to tune in.

Aside from the bland and the bad, former Virginia Senator Jim Webb provided a legitimate intellectual alternative to the big-money establishment and far-left Sandinista-enthusiasts. In his mind, the Sanders revolution is likely not coming unless Congress flips socialist overnight. With so much heightened rhetoric flooding debates, such pragmatic insight usually falls by the wayside.

Through the debate, Webb took thoughtful stances on our relationship with China, national security issues and criminal justice reform that he spearheaded as a Republican before it was popular. While Chafee’s party-jumping does not come off as particularly sincere, Webb left the GOP as they took the ill-conceived plunge into the Iraq War.

As a war hero from Vietnam, Webb has a unique perspective on our use of force throughout the world and can’t be blamed for joining the party he perceived less likely to send our servicemen and women overseas.

Webb may not, and perhaps cannot, find any viable route to the nomination. Yet, perhaps a blue-dog Democrat is exactly what a divided country needs. Instead of the anger politics of Trump and Sanders, maybe we should look to someone who purports bipartisanship and actually has the credibility and mindset to enact it.

Brett Linley is the President of the Hofstra Students for Liberty.     

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