The debate is hosted by PBS and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
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Seeking to stem Sanders’ momentum, her campaign has argued that his appeal is mostly limited to the white, liberal voters who make up the Democratic electorate in Iowa and New Hampshire.
The candidates laid out sharp differences – largely without the kind of bitter attacks that marked their last debate before New Hampshire.
“Madame Secretary”, Sanders replied, “that was a low blow”.
The debate takes place ahead of the Nevada Democratic caucuses on February 20 and the South Carolina Democratic primary the following Saturday.
Sanders said, “We are fighting for every vote that we can get from women, from men, straight, gay, African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans”. “That is beyond unspeakable”.
In a debate held just two days after the Vermont senator trounced Clinton in New Hampshire, she called for vast changes to the criminal justice system, railed against “systemic racism” and warned that Sanders’ plan to expand healthcare would risk the first black president’s signature policy achievement. She proposed an honest conversation on how to improve the plight of minority communities, building on her former boss’s efforts.
Sanders has seen a huge surge in the polls since December by hammering his mantras of economic equality, criminal justice and immigration reform and overhauling the campaign finance system. And he noted that Clinton was the only one on the stage who ran against Obama in the 2008 presidential race.
Clinton said she is proud that she has received 700,000 donations, the majority of them small contributions.
“Hillary Clinton claims that she is a ‘true progressive, ‘ and yet she has aligned herself with one of the most conservative, and controversial, members of the political establishment in U.S. history”, the memo stated. While Clinton played the aggressor in the previous Democratic debate, she is mindful of a need to not turn off Sanders’ voters, particularly the young people that are supporting him in overwhelming numbers. And she’ll be endorsed by faith leaders in Flint, Michigan, adding to the 28 ministers and 50 black mayors who’ve already expressed support. “People are not dumb”.
Clinton’s showing in the first two states has prompted a round of second-guessing within her campaign, particularly over voter surveys showing her lagging far behind Sanders on questions of honesty and trustworthiness. The country has to go against terror groups like ISIS, the former secretary of state said, not only by leading a coalition that will take back territory from the terror group, but also that we have “take on ISIS online”.
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Clinton sought to co-opt the language that Sanders has been using to refer to an economy he says rewards the rich at the expense of the middle class. Clinton said those proposals come with unrealistic price tags. A lot of good candidates.
