The Paris terrorist attacks, raising questions about American leadership in the world and national security, will most likely bolster Hillary Rodham Clinton’s strengths in Saturday’s debate, according to a focus group of undecided Iowa Democrats.
Of 31 participants in the group, which gathered on Friday after news of the attacks broke, 26 saw Mrs. Clinton as a stronger potential commander in chief than Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. “They see her as tough and possessing the right experience,” Chris Kofinis, a Democratic consultant who moderated the focus group, wrote in a memo. “It is fair to say that Sanders was extremely vulnerable on this issue before Paris, and that is even truer now.”
Mr. Kofinis convened the group of young Iowans, aged 18 to 35, which was not sponsored by any candidate or group, in Des Moines, where the debate is taking place. CBS News, the debate sponsor, plans to focus significantly on the implications of the attacks.
The focus group did reveal a potential strength for Mr. Sanders, who trails Mrs. Clinton by double digits in recent Iowa polls: Every one of the participants said Mr. Sanders had a “stronger message.” But the problem for him is that Mrs. Clinton, a former secretary of state, was considered far more electable, by a margin of 27 to 4.
“If someone said to me, ‘You have a message that is so powerful it’s resounding to that level, but you can’t move people over to your side,’ I would have said, ‘You’re kidding,'” Mr. Kofinis said. “It tells you how big a problem electability is for him.”
“Sanders’s challenge was already going to be significant going into the debate,” he continued, “but now he has to hit the electability and commander in chief issue, which is really difficult.”
The candidacy of former Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland, who will also be on stage, is “almost over,” Mr. Kofinis said. The focus group found him nearly invisible in the race.
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