A few minutes after the CNN town hall for Democratic candidates ended Wednesday night, a former White House speechwriter amplified the swelling chorus of Obama alumni rallying to the cause of Hillary Clinton against Bernie Sanders.
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Clinton officials have sought to temper New Hampshire expectations for months, downplaying the significance of a win here as they look to states where she’s stronger, such as Nevada and SC.
VEGA: But now, just days away from the nation’s first primary, Clinton and Sanders both looking to the future.
Sanders’ campaign scoffed at the notion that New Hampshire voters were supporting the Vermont senator because of his New England roots.
A key factor is Sanders’s support for free college tuition, which Clinton does not support.
As part of the last-minute push here, the campaign is sending more than 100 staff from its Brooklyn, NY headquarters to New Hampshire as back-up.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke immediately after Sanders at the town hall.
BuzzFeed News asked him about it at a press conference here early Wednesday evening.
As Noam Chomsky said last week, Bernie Sanders is far from being a Marxist-Leninst in any way, unfortunately for the red-baiting Clintonites and Republicans who would love to mark him as such, but his showing in Iowa is nothing short of revolutionary and it says a lot about the current shift within American society.
Clinton has been talking about the Flint water issue on the campaign trail and in debates, saying that such a travesty probably wouldn’t have happened in an affluent community.
The gaps with Sanders persist, particularly among young voters. “To me, I would not be here tonight, I would not be running for president of the United States, if I did not have very strong religious and spiritual feelings”, said Sanders, who, if elected, would be the first Jewish U.S. president.
Listen for Clinton’s heavy emphasis on Obama’s health law, which she says she wants to build on while Sanders would switch to a government-paid health system.
Not so Emma Groenewal, who at 15 is too young to vote but canvasses for Clinton. “It doesn’t really matter if they are not supporting me, I will be their president”.
Sanders, after some hesitation, confirmed on MSNBC Wednesday morning that he would attend the debate; Clinton previously said she would participate with or without Sanders.
The exchange captured the tension that is building between Clinton and Sanders ahead of the primary. “I plead guilty”, she told the crowd in Columbus.
“Hillary will insist that while she understands and even agrees with the passion of Sanders’ supporters, she is the electable candidate and there has to be an element of pragmatism to the movement”, said Stephanie Martin, a communications professor at Southern Methodist University.
Clinton delivered an uneven performance at the event, sounding confident on policy answers and connecting with the audience when she shared moments from her personal life but stumbling on topics that have dogged her throughout the campaign, including her vote on the Iraq War and her relationship with Wall Street.
Clinton claims she’s a “progressive who wants to make progress”, a dig at what she suggests are Sanders’ pie-in-the-sky ideas. Defending the big bucks she received for paid speeches. The campaign says he is fine.
And then there is Trump, who may be the candidate most in need of a comeback after Iowa.
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“We’ve got to get back to the middle”, she told the network’s Chris Matthews.
