USA presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have battled for the crucial support of black and Hispanic voters in a Democratic debate in Milwaukee that marked a shift in the primary towards states with more minority voters.
Advertisement
Early on, Sanders disputed the notion he is blocking history as Hillary Clinton tries to be the first female president. “I do not expect from someone running for the Democratic nomination to succeed President Obama”, Clinton said, saying Sanders had called Obama “weak” and written a blurb for a book slamming Obama.
Sanders responded, “Nothing that Secretary Clinton said do I disagree with”, adding, “at the end of my first term as president we will not have more people in jail than any other country”. “People aren’t dumb”, Sanders said.
Tickets to that event, sponsored by Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, were given away Thursday afternoon on a first-come, first-serve basis. It is the most amusingly obvious campaign tactic since, say, Wednesday morning, when Sanders for whatever reasondecided to meet with Al Sharpton in Harlem the day after the New Hampshire primary.
“I have no argument with anyone making up her mind about who to support”, she said about her woes wooing women voters. “That’s a promise that can not be kept”.
“The kind of criticism that we’ve heard from Sen”.
“The family right in the middle of the economy would pay $500 more in taxes and get a reduction in their health care costs of $5,000”.
Clinton worked to improve her support among women after a poor showing in New Hampshire as Sanders argued that his record on women’s issues was sound.
Sanders campaign senior adviser Tad Devine said that’s because the candidate is still introducing himself to the country, while Clinton already has a national presence.
In doing so, she took a play out of Sanders’ playbook, even using the same exact words he does, focusing on the economy, Wall Street and campaign finance.
Sanders renewed his criticism of Clinton’s campaign benefiting from Wall Street donors and a super political action committee. And he noted that Clinton was the only one on the stage who ran against Obama in the 2008 presidential race. But taken from a slightly less cynical viewpoint, a renewed focus on issues that matter to minorities is a positive development.
Both candidates also made strenuous efforts to show they appreciate economic and social problems afflicting African-American communities. Sanders said the disproportionately high rate of incarceration for black men was “one of the great tragedies” in the United States. “I think now what I’ve called for is counsel for every child so that no child has to face any kind of process without someone who speaks and advocates for that child, so that the right decision hopefully can be made”.
Clinton criticized what she called “systemic racism” in education, housing and employment.
The Rev. Al Sharpton walks with Bernie Sanders Wednesday in Harlem, New York. Both states have almost all-white populations. “We should level with the American people about what we can do”.
Clinton responded that she doesn’t want people to vote for her just because she’s a woman, but because she believes herself to be the most qualified candidate.
On foreign policy, Sanders admitted that the former secretary of state had more experience dealing with foreign policy, however, judgment was more important pointing to the fact that despite Clinton’s experience she did vote in favor of the Iraq war in 2003 and thus failing to anticipate the consequences of such interventions. “I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves”.
Advertisement
“We should be deporting criminals, not hardworking immigrant families who do the very best they can”, Clinton said.
