Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders charged yesterday that his rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton, is digging up his record on guns because she’s feeling pressure as her lead in many polls shrinks.
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Consider what comes next: Nevada (Feb. 20) and South Carolina (Feb. 27), two significantly more diverse states than lily-white Iowa and lily-whiter New Hampshire, and two places where Clinton now enjoys massive leads in the polls.
Commenting on an unsuccessful lawsuit by victims’ families against the vendor of ammunition rounds used in the 2012 Aurora, Colo. movie theater shooting, Clinton said the suit was dismissed “because of this law, which says you can’t sue a gun maker or seller for anything”. “We do have differences”.
MCEVERS: Right. So the candidates are mixing it up on a few issues.
“I do not think the raids are an appropriate tool to enforce the immigration laws”, Clinton said.
While she has locked up the vast majority of support from party leaders and large donors, Sanders has captured the hearts of many in the Democratic base with his unapologetically liberal economic message. The most recent poll, putting Sanders within four points of Clinton, is the closest they have yet been in a national poll. Among likely Democratic caucus-goers, Clinton led 48 percent to 45 percent over Sanders in a Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist survey released Sunday.
Clinton still holds a strong advantage among black and Latino voters who play a bigger role in the primaries in late February and March. He said Sanders had credibility on the issue, but that for Clinton, the issue was relatively new.
Clinton has said she wants to expand benefits for some seniors but has not fully embraced the same proposal to pay for it.
“When it really mattered, Senator Sanders voted with the gun lobby and I voted against the gun lobby”, said Clinton last week when she called into MSNBC’s “Hardball”.
“I supported the Brady bill”, Clinton later said.
“I never thought she was a prohibitive favorite”. She said his plan would undermine the Affordable Care Act and give Republican governors power over health care.
“I think we have a real chance of winning both of those states”, he said.
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Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs said at the time that the essay was a “dumb attempt at dark satire in an alternative publication” and doesn’t reflect Sanders’ views on women. He does support President Barack Obama’s executive actions to prevent gun violence, which include mandatory background checks and closing the so-called gun show loophole, a position he reiterated on Monday.
