Professor Garcia-Castañon Weighs in on Democratic Presidential Debate

Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Photo of Marcela Garcia-Castanon at a beach

NBC NEWS -- “This debate showed that candidates cannot simply focus on class or economic opportunities when speaking to increasingly diverse voters. These voters live in a nation that doesn’t always recognize that ‘Black Lives Matter,’ or that undocumented immigrants are underserved and vulnerable,” says Marcela Garcia-Castañon, an assistant professor of Political Science at San Francisco State University.

“... Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders dominated the debate. Clinton’s well-polished responses, however, were undercut by her sometimes stilted delivery and sidestepping of questions. Her response on whether undocumented immigrants should receive health care focused instead on helping only undocumented youth, tapping into perceptions of deserving versus undeserving immigrants. This is a detrimental position to take when attempting to enact comprehensive immigration reform.”

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