Now the Democratic Party's 'establishment' is in trouble

Bernie Sanders scored his first victory of 2016 over Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire — before the primary.

If Sanders didn't prove he was a serious challenger to Clinton in Iowa, where just two-tenths of 1 percent of the vote separated them, he did when he appeared on the stage with her in Durham, N.H., for a party-sanctioned debate that was never supposed to happen in the first place.

It was a powerful concession for Sanders to extract from Clinton and the Democratic National Committee. They had previously rebuffed even Clinton supporters who felt the Democrats were giving up too much by letting the Republican presidential field get the debate ratings for themselves. Only six debates were originally sanctioned, with just four before Iowa. Most of them appeared on weekends or other times when they were unlikely to draw a large audience.

But Sanders had already changed the terms of the debate. The Republican presidential race has often been seen as a clash between the party establishment and Tea Party conservatives. The Vermont senator has introduced a similar dynamic into the Democratic primaries as well.