Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders played tug-of-war over President Obama’s heart at Thursday’s Democratic debate, with each arguing the other has been more disrespectful to the president.
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“I pledge a new and comprehensive commitment to equity and opportunity for communities of color”, Clinton said in a statement in response to her CBC PAC endorsement.
The former secretary of state sought to discredit some of the proposals that have drawn young people to Sanders, including his call for free tuition at public colleges and universities and a plan for a government-run, single-payer health care system. “Wisconsin is a battleground state – which by the way we have consistently won”, said Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chair of the Democratic National Committee.
Asked whether he worries about “thwarting history”, should he defeat a woman running for the presidency, Sanders said he thought he would be breaking barriers himself.
Clinton is likely to find herself once again on the defensive over the high-dollar speaking fees she received from Wall Street banks after leaving the State Department.
Clinton said the donations did not mean she was in Wall Street’s pocket, and noted that President Barack Obama had taken donations from Wall Street during his campaigns. Sanders used a piece from Clinton’s own book where she praised the advice and friendship of Henry Kissinger.
Mrs Clinton entered the debate under acute pressure to calm a growing sense of nervousness among her supporters after a 22-point drubbing by Senator Sanders in the New Hampshire primary election and a razor-thin win last week in the Iowa caucus.
Sanders has a tough road ahead wooing minorities, and Clinton is doing all she cannot to make it any easier. “But I do like Bill Clinton and I do like Hillary Clinton a lot, so if she ends up being the nominee, I’m planning to vote for her”.
With Sanders showing surprising levels of support among young women voters, Clinton defended her record working to empower women and said she was not seeking their vote merely because she aimed to become the nation’s first female president.
“They want the political revolution”, he said. “I listen to a wide variety of voices that have expertise in various areas”, she said.
“I have said many times I am not asking people to support me because I’m a woman”, she said.
Right off the bat she tried to spread doubt about the price tag of Sanders’ promises on key issues like health care. Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton now have a better idea of where the primary race is headed.
Sanders: “Somebody with my views, who has spent their entire life taking on big money interests, I think a Sanders victory would be of some historical accomplishment as well”.
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“Yes, the economy is rigged in favor of those at the top”, Clinton said.
