Throughout their campaigns, Sanders and Clinton have argued that the lead-contamination water crisis in Flint, Michigan, is emblematic of broader injustices in America. On Sunday night, the presidential candidates meet to debate these issues in the city itself—just two days before the state’s Democratic primary, which polling suggests is Clinton’s to lose.
The stakes for the Flint population are even higher. In the last week, the city has seen its first contaminated pipe removed and been visited by 20 congressional Democrats including Nancy Pelosi, while GOP senators held up millions of dollars in Flint aid tied to an energy bill. Tonight there is no doubt that its residents—and those of other cities facing similar economic and racial inequality—will look to Sanders and Clinton to offer not just sound bites, but solutions.