But both were animated when the contest turned to one of fundamental questions facing Democrats: has President Barack Obama gone far enough in his policies and if not, how far should the next president go?
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“Senator Sanders said that President Obama failed the presidential leadership test. And this is not the first time that he has criticized President Obama”.
I rearranged the order of the comments in last night’s debate to highlight the fact that this is not just the same argument, but that Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are saying the same things. Sanders replied that Clinton ran against Obama in 2008, but he got tepid applause at best for that last line, because voters recognize that Hillary Clinton was running for president in 2008, not trying to stop Obama. Long viewed as the overwhelming front-runner in the Democratic race, Clinton has been caught off guard by Sanders’ strength, particularly his visceral connection with Americans frustrated by the current political and economic systems.
Sanders’s campaign decried the spending by Priorities USA, with campaign manager Jeff Weaver saying in a statement that “it is truly unfortunate that the largest pro-Clinton super PAC has made a decision to infect the Democratic primary process with its haul of Wall Street cash”.
She also suggested Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, was aiming to dismantle Obama’s landmark health care program in favor of his own plan.
“Added Clinton, “The first speech I gave in this campaign back in April was about criminal justice reform and ending the era of mass incarceration”. “At the end of my first term, we will not have more people in jail than any other country”, he said. He explains that Sanders’ promise about the criminal justice system fails to account for problematic “details”, such as the number of Americans in state or local jails.
“We also have to talk about jobs, education, housing, and other ways of helping communities”, said Clinton, who was endorsed earlier in the day by the political action committee of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Immigration reform was also a major topic of discussion.
Responding to a question on Americas role in the world, Sanders assured that he will do everything he can to make certain that “the United States and our fearless men and women in the military do not get bogged down in perpetual warfare in the Middle East”. Clinton even used him as a shield against Sanders’ frequent attacks on her acceptance of donations and speaking fees from Wall Street.
Sanders continues to hold sway with young voters, winning by a 55 to 36 percent margin among voters 18 to 29.
David Axelrod tweeted: “Not a low blow”. Clinton said those proposals come with unrealistic price tags.
But Ellison made a point to say Clinton was “a great person and a wonderful public servant” and said she would be “one million times better than the best Republican candidate”.
Sanders didn’t put a price on his policies, but neither did he shy away from the notion that he wants to expand the size of government. On Thursday, Clinton sought to make up ground with each of those groups.
Clinton spent much of debate in Milwaukee appropriating Sanders’ positions in broad strokes, if not in detail, on issues from curbing Wall Street’s influence to righting racial injustice to expanding health care and college access.
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I fully, fully concede that Secretary Clinton, who was secretary of State for four years, has more experience – hat is not arguable – in foreign affairs.
