As she filed her official candidacy in the state’s storied primary, Clinton reminisced about the previous three times she’d been present for that ritual: twice in the 1990s when her husband, former President Bill Clinton, ran for election and re-election, and once for her own first presidential run, in 2007. Nor will I this time. However, she has now taken a clear position on the issue, and her response may surprise you. Sanders’ shots on Clinton’s late-coming opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline & global trade pacts, just like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, have been none-too-subtle, even when he doesn’t point out her by name. “Tell me why she’s the worst person in the world”, he said. He kept up the hits Friday. night throughout a Democratic forum hosted by MSNBC in SC.
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In the first candidates’ debate, in Las Vegas, Clinton argued in favor of tougher firearm laws and accused Sanders of siding with the gun lobby.
He said that he had four children, adding, “But I think what people don’t see is I have seven lovely grandchildren who are the joy of my life”.
Clinton’s SC operation brags that it has contacted more than 142,000 unique voters since workers got on the ground in April and held 1,100 grassroots organizing events across the state. “I don’t think I could keep him away”.
Sanders also found a way to reconcile his discomfort in delivering hard-hitting, personal attacks with the reality that attacking Hillary Clinton is the only way he is going to win the nomination. “If she slows down here, and again this is the first test of African American support, she makes the voters think she’s taking them for granted”. But I’m a progressive who likes to get things done. He also chastised Clinton for approaching policy with “poll-tested triangulation”.
The announcement is one of several pieces of a criminal justice platform Clinton has rolled out in recent weeks, which has included proposals to end racial profiling, address sentencing disparities among crack cocaine offenders and ban federal employers from screening out former offenders.
“How are you holding up”, she asked Gardner, a subtle acknowledgment of the craziness that had befallen his office.
Clinton is trying to tie herself to Obama in this state – where the president remains extremely popular – but, as she regularly says, is noting that she will not be his third term.
Her comments came during a busy week of campaigning in New Hampshire and a pair of debates – among Republicans Tuesday night and Clinton, Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley on Saturday night in Iowa, their first since the field has winnowed to three main candidates.
Still, attacking Clinton on the debate stage is a risky strategy that could backfire. And so, while their gloves may be off, in the parlance of campaign reporters, her opponents are pulling their punches.
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I surmise this because if Bernie really did say “I reject the premise that I let her off the hook, these are valid questions”, then they would have printed that.
