Clinton and Sanders squared off Sunday night at a CNN Democratic debate in Flint, Michigan – the site of a water crisis that has led both to call for federal involvement – ahead of Michigan’s Tuesday primary.
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CARLOS BARRIA/REUTERS Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders pose onstage at the start of the debate. It was serious, thorough, informed and informative.
The candidates devoted considerable time to the water crisis in Flint, which got scant attention from Republican candidates when they debated last week in Detroit.
So tonight’s debate was most notable for the way that two qualified candidates well-versed in the nuances of public policy were able to debate each other on the minutiae of the differences in their stances.
“If everybody had voted the way he did, I believe the auto industry would have collapsed, taking 4 million jobs with it”, Clinton, the former secretary of state, said of Sanders.
“We have the momentum”, Sanders said in a statement released after the Kansas Democratic Party announced he had won.
The Sanders campaign dubbed Clinton “outsourcer-in-chief” because she for years supported the Obama administration’s 12-nation trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which she now says she opposes, and because of her husband President Bill Clinton’s free-trade legacy including the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Sanders suggested that Clinton was talking about a “Wall Street bailout where some of your friends destroyed this economy”.
Clinton won Louisiana by 48 points, where the Democratic electorate was expected to be majority African-American, continuing her sweep of Southern states she began on Super Tuesday.
Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks during the debate, sponsored by CNN.
“You are speculating – I don’t think that’s going to happen”, Sanders said.
Sanders had an advantage in ME; he had already won in New Hampshire and Vermont, two nearby Northeastern states. Clinton attacked Sanders on his belief that gun manufacturers should not be held liable for the actions of someone who acts criminally with a weapon, which Sanders responded to in a relaxed manner standing behind what he has previously said.
I know the state of MI has a rainy day fund for emergencies…. Mr. Sanders has said he voted against the legislation because it bailed out Wall Street billionaires. MI officials are investigating the extent to which lead poisoning has harmed the residents, including children, amid reports of severe rashes, developmental issues and other health problems consistent with lead poisoning.
The “emergency managers” in Flint who authorized and implemented the city’s switch to Flint River water were appointed by Snyder.
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The debate took place against the backdrop of the Flint water crisis, and both candidates said Mr. Snyder should step down immediately.
