Sunday was the Democrats’ turn in the debate spotlight. The setting was indeed newsworthy. The host city for the CNN debate was Flint, Mich., where residents continue to deal with a toxic water crisis. The two candidates, Vermont Sen. Bernard Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, both have spoken about challenges in Flint, and issues of racial and economic fairness and accountability of government.  

After splitting wins on Saturday, and before Tuesday’s primaries, how did they do? Several Democratic-leaning analysts who weighed in favored Clinton:  

Focus on environmental injustice: “The Democrats’ focus tonight on the environmental injustice happening in Flint stands in stark contrast to the substance-free Republican debate in Detroit last week. While there are plenty of contests to go, it’s undeniable that Hillary Clinton is leading the Democratic race and is likely to be the nominee. Clinton’s debate performance tonight only reaffirmed that reality.”  

— Deirdre Murphy Ramsey, former National Press Secretary for the DSCC

Democratic debates are the only programming on television louder than the commercials.

— Jonathan Allen (@jonallendc) March 7, 2016