The Second Democratic Presidential Debate was held on Saturday, Nov. 14 in Des Moines, Iowa.

With the early departures of candidates Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee, there are only three candidates left in the race for the nomination: Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin O’Malley. This made the debate more condensed and, as a result, more personal.

Though questions and talking-time seemed evenly distributed among candidates, former Secretary Clinton maintained control of this debate, unwavering from her performance at the last debate. Always delivering strong answers with well backed supports for her claims, Clinton was a powerhouse of cohesive speech and strong ideals. Even when dancing around critiques of her flip-flopping on gun control policy and other topics Sanders and O’Malley tried to attack her with, she did it with such eloquence that she was applauded by an enthused crowd. Always able to defend her decisions or admit to her mistakes, Clinton portrayed herself as a candidate with nothing to hide, despite the email scandal currently being investigated by the FBI.

One of Clinton’s strongest moments may have been her rebuttal to Senator Sanders’s attack on her vote in favor of the Iraq war. She owned up to her “mistake” and quickly fired right back, bringing up how Sanders had failed to vote on legislation to prevent more guns from getting on the street. Unable to make a re-torque to caliber Clinton’s, Sanders fell short and Clinton emerged victorious. Continuing this trend of defense when needed, but always moving forward with a strong offense, Clinton was able to take charge of and essentially control the debate.

While Sanders may be the candidate the youth is looking to and the self proclaimed savior of the middle class, his capabilities as a debater are much to be desired. Senator Sanders’ overstated views on our economy and the evil that is the 1% became mundane to listen to and overruled any other opinions he may have had as they were always his focal point. Even when asked direct questions about unrelated topics he would incorporate his views on said matters. Not to say this was always unjustified. When questions of economics came up, Sanders shinned. His strongest point may have been his attack on Clinton’s financial backings from Wall Street. Sanders raised the question at how effective Clinton will be at taking on Wall Street if she is indebted to them, a question others undoubtedly had. Clinton retaliated with how the banks are well aware of her policy but that was not good enough for Sanders. He shut Clinton down and stated how he does not have a super PAC. He is 100% funded by donations from supporters and will use his unbound morals to break up the banks. This merited applause and Sanders largest win of the evening.

Interestingly enough, Maryland’s own former Governor, Martin O’Malley was the largest surprise of the evening. After his lack of involvement in the last debate, O’Malley shinned, or more accurately twinkled with a glimmer of hope that he might be able to pull out ahead, picking up a few extra points. O’Malley played the Anti-Clinton card and did everything he could to contradict her at every and any turn. Even playing off Sanders economic ideals and using his previous state of Maryland as an example of his accomplishments for reduced college tuition and raising minimum wage. While O’Malley may have earned a staggering amount of applause compared to the last debate, he was unable to present an original idea without Contradicting his fellow candidates.

The Second Democratic Presidential Debate was an enticing affair filled with twists that one wouldn’t expect. However, the final outcome was foreseen, Clinton triumphant again. While all candidates debated to the best of their abilities, Clinton is the best speaker by far and was able to cement herself again as the leading lady of the Democratic nominees.