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By Matthew Rusling
WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and frontrunner Hillary Clinton dominated Tuesday night's nationally televised Democratic debate. But while Sanders came out swinging, he is unlikely to beat Clinton for the party's nomination for the 2016 presidential race, experts said.
While just a few months ago, Clinton was considered the uncontested candidate to clinch her party's nomination, Sanders has been making waves in the media and drawn large crowds to his speeches. The populist Sanders -- a self-proclaimed "Democratic socialist" -- draws his popularity from a rise in anti-establishment sentiment among voters nationwide.
But despite a sudden burst of public interest in Sander's brand of anti-Wall Street, anti-establishment rhetoric, it is not easy for him to take the nomination from Clinton, experts said.
Indeed, in the Democratic Party, Clinton carries much weight with minorities -- a sizable chunk of the party's rank-and-file -- her resume as a former senator, secretary of state and first lady is formidable, and her brand is instantly recognizable.
And her husband, former President Bill Clinton, is known as one of Washington's most talented fund raisers, and she will easily outspend any rivals.
Moreover, while Sanders resonates with the Democratic Party's left wing, his stance as a Democratic socialist will hurt him in the long run, experts said.
And perhaps most importantly, Sanders trails Clinton by 18 points, according to Real Clear Politics' latest polling average.
"Sanders's major victory has been to shape the agenda. The fact is that the candidates were responding to the major theme he has been fighting for, but Clinton has a much stronger organizational structure in place and in the end is much more capable of building broad coalition," said Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University.
"His strength is he has true conviction, ideological clarity and heart. His weakness is that he is a single issue candidate and overall too far to the left to win the overall delegate count," Zelizer said.
Indeed, Sanders' main issue is what he says is the growing gap between the have and the have-nots in the United States, which he said he aims to fix if elected president.
The Brookings Institution's senior fellow Darrell West told Xinhua that Clinton was the clear winner of the debate.
"She came across as very confident and knowledgeable in her grasp of the issues. None of her opponents were able to dent her lead in the national polls," West said.
"Sanders helped himself with progressive voters but it is hard to see him expanding his reach beyond those voters," he said.
Experts said voters appreciate Sanders' clear message and emphasis on ways to help the middle class regain prosperity and have a fairer shot. Sanders has also shown much energy and an ability to connect with progressive elements within the Democratic Party.
Zelizer added that the debate was a win for the Democratic party overall.
"They put on a debate that revolved around substance and makes the GOP (Republican Party) look bad by contrast," he said.
