Tuesday night’s Democratic debate offered an interesting opening look at the five candidates vying to win voter support to become the nation’s next chief executive.

As expected, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont posted the strongest showings, with former U.S. Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee trailing.

We are heartened that Sen. Sanders is in this presidential nominating contest because he never relents on his message about the massive wealth and income inequities that plague this nation.

Several times during the debate, he reminded viewers and listeners that the nation’s richest 1 percent control more wealth than the bottom 90 percent. He also noted that 57 percent of all new income is going to the top 1 percent.

We know where the majority of the African-American community and people of color fall in that divide. And until racism is curbed and justice and equity prevail in all facets, including education, job and economic opportunity and criminal justice, we know where our communities are destined to stay.

Sen. Sanders is forcing not only his Democratic rivals to address the issues of poverty and wealth in the United States, he also forces Republican candidates and all voters to think about these issues in relation to our vision for our future and the future of our children and grandchildren.

Mrs. Clinton, while smooth during the debate, seemingly has too many “evolving” viewpoints on critical issues for our satisfaction. Her ever-changing stances on the Keystone XL pipeline, trade agreements and some aspects of foreign policy shift too much and too often for our comfort.

While Messrs. Webb, O’Malley and Chafee seem to be thoughtful guys, they appear to be out of their league in this presidential contest.

We hope that they will evaluate whether they should remain in the race or return to their respective states where they perhaps can contribute to the future good.

We underscore the thoughts of Mr. Webb, who said during the debate that campaigns are full of promises and rhetoric, and then “once the election’s over, people start from scratch again and try to get things done.”

Too often, that’s the unfortunate truth. As such, we are examining closely all of the candidates to see who has the backbone to stand tall and charge ahead once elected, despite the obstacles and political quagmire that may seek to pull them down in Washington.

Another test of these Democrats is how they will perform in a head-to-head contest against a Republican opponent. How would Mrs. Clinton or Sen. Sanders do in a high-stakes race against GOP candidates Dr. Ben Carson or Donald Trump, who spoke Wednesday night to a crowd at Richmond International Raceway.

Let’s all pledge to spend time in the coming months learning about the candidates who want to succeed President Obama and examining their records.

Virginia’s Democratic and Republican presidential primaries will take place on Tuesday, March 1, 2016. And the presidential election on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, will be here before we know it.