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Candidates seek final Iowa edge in unpredictable race

For Clinton, actually, there are all kinds of ways she could fall on her face in this debate, too.

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The president added: “You’re going to dig into his [Mr Sanders’] proposals and how much they cost and what does it mean, and how does his tax policy work, and he’s subjected then to a rigour that hasn’t happened yet”. “And Bernie is completely untested against that machinery”. This year’s election has seen a crop of unusual and arguably extreme conservatives like Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Ted Cruz who have garnered surprisingly large, enthusiastic contingencies during the campaign.

The fight for younger voters harkens back to the 2008 race, when Clinton lost the youth vote to President Barack Obama. “I think Hillary came in with the both privilege – and burden – of being perceived as the frontrunner”, he said. “There is clearly a reason why 100% of the Republican attack machine effort has been devoted to Hillary”.

“[The] one thing everybody understands is that this job right here, you don’t have the luxury of just focusing on one thing”, Obama told the USA politics website, apparently in reference to Clinton rival Sanders’ overwhelming focus on internal affairs.

Over the past few weeks, Sanders has bashed Clinton’s record on Wall Street by accusing her of being in the pocket of big banks who donate to her and previously paid her speaking fees.

“I am cautious about doing anything that would disrupt the existing status quo”, Clinton said.

But the Clinton campaign should be troubled by news that a SC lawmaker-who is also the attorney for the family of a black man killed by a Charleston police officer-has switched his endorsement from Clinton to Sanders. Everybody doesn’t want to tangle with him – there’s no reason.

“I love ’em both”, he said.

But the news after the endorsement quickly became about Sanders’ comments and less about Republicans, with HRC tweeting about its “disappointment in Sanders’ attacks”.

“On the other side is Hillary, who they’ve been working at nonstop hammer and tongs for decades – about the Benghazi stuff, all that they’ve cooked and cooked and cooked”, he said.

Mrs Clinton has stressed that the party needs to pick a candidate with a “sensible, achievable agenda” who will “chart a steady course” and have a chance of reaching the White House.

The US president noted that the current gap between the approaches of Republican and Democratic presidential candidates is the widest he has ever seen.

While he does not plan to endorse in the Democratic party, Obama certainly sounded like a Clinton supporter. “We’re going to win every state if Bernie Sanders is the nominee”, he said.

Sanders is the favorite in New Hampshire, which holds its primary February 9. “So I think a lot of it is proximity, and also I think he just has more connections, and I think that’s historic as much as anything else”.

The Democratic presidential hopefuls will make closing arguments to Iowa voters Monday night during a CNN town hall in Des Moines – one week before the first-in-the-nation votes are cast at the Iowa caucuses.

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“We are proud that PBS stations will broadcast this Democratic candidate debate at such a critical time in the election cycle-on the heels of the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary”, said PBS executive Beth Hoppe in a statement.

Obama: Clinton faces 'privilege -- and burden'