“I say this as a liberal, I would be concerned as a Democrat about the entire terrorism part of this debate”

The crux of Beinart’s argument is that Republicans offer a clearer, more decisive vision for defeating the Islamic State than all three Democratic candidates.

“The Republican line, whatever you think about it, is very clear. It’s that we left Iraq, the terrorists filled a vacuum, we retreated from the world, now they are going after us,” Beinart said. “I would be darned to listen to all three of those candidates to discern a clear Democratic line of how you’re actually going to fight terrorism. They were very vague, very non-specific, and I think they have a lot of work to do.”

The candidates offered rhetoric that balanced having a strong tone on fighting terrorism, but also cautioning that the U.S. should not be at the forefront of the fight.