Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders tangled in a fierce debate Thursday over the definition of a progressive and the direction of the Democratic Party.
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Democratic US presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (left) and rival candidate US Senator Bernie Sanders speak simultaneously at the NBC News.
The intimate setting led to some of the most heated exchanges of the campaign so far, reflecting the fierce battle for the Democratic nomination at a crucial moment: Just a few days after Clinton eked out a narrow victory in the Iowa caucuses and before Sanders appears poised to claim victory in New Hampshire.
“Well, first of all, I’m absolutely against privatizing the VA, and I am going to do everything I can to build on the reforms that Senator Sanders and others in Congress have passed to try to fix what’s wrong with the VA. There are a lot of issues about wait times and services that have to be fixed, because our veterans deserve nothing but the best”, said Clinton.
“I fully, fully concede that Secretary Clinton, who was secretary of State for four years, has more experience – that is not arguable – in foreign affairs”, he said, before making the point that judgment should also be a key determinant in deciding who should be the next commander in chief, citing her Iraq War vote from 2002. The previous Quinnipiac poll, released in late December, showed Clinton with a 31-point lead over Sanders. “I don’t know the status, but I’ll certainly look into it”, she replied. He also noted her Super PAC had taken contributions from Wall Street firms and that Clinton received big speaking fees from Goldman Sachs. More than half of the Republicans, 52 percent, said they might change their mind before they vote in their primary. Clinton seemed perfectly comfortable positioning herself as the pragmatic progressive to Sanders’ political revolutionary, but when the debate homed in on Wall Street connections, it got a bit more complicated.
She tried a new way of explaining their differences on Thursday night, and it was her best yet.
The university said Sanders and Rubio are the strongest candidates in general election matchups.
But before then, there will be at least two more debates between these two surviving candidates for the 2016 Democratic nomination. Sanders said he would lead a “political revolution”, but Clinton questioned his ability to get his proposals through a Republican-led Congress. CNN’s own national Poll of Polls from just before Iowa found Clinton at 53%, Sanders at 36% and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley at 2%.
Here’s what she at last night’s New Hampshire debate when asked if she would release the transcripts of what we are calling her “Goldman Sessions”.
Sanders accused Clinton of representing “the establishment”, while saying he represented “ordinary working Americans”. Sanders beats Trump 49% – 39%, Cruz 46% – 42%, and ties Rubio 43%-43%. Many Democrats now view Clinton’s long, and ultimately losing, primary contest with Barack Obama in 2008 as crucial t getting voters engaged in the election. Sanders again refused to go after Clinton for her email controversy.
“That is what goes on in America”, Sanders said. “We have to look at the threats that we face right now”.
“A progressive is someone who makes progress”.
“I am 100 percent confident”, she said.
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“I happen to respect the secretary very much; I hope it’s mutual”, said Sanders. Among the 507 Republicans, the margin of error was 4.4 percent and among the 484 Democrats, it was 4.5 percent.
