Clinton responded later with little of the feistiness she has shown recently on the campaign trail, instead reverting to her earlier posture of confident front-runner, emphasizing her qualifications for the office and trying to avoid engaging her rivals.
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Clinton has met informally with the president multiple times since leaving the administration.
“If you look at the amount of doors that we’ve knocked, the contacts we’ve made, the attempts we’ve made, the effort we are putting in, that is really the basis of how we are doing as well as we are doing”, Covert said.
Sanders, an independent who often votes with Democrats on Capitol Hill, said Bloomberg’s interest in a presidential bid brought forth “one of the issues that I think galls the American people – that we’re moving toward an oligarchic form of society”.
Last night’s CNN Democratic Town Hall had laughs, friendly handshakes, respect for President Obama and the occasional swipe at the GOP.
While never criticising Mr Sanders, whose campaign is focused on pledges to redress social inequality and contain Wall Street excesses, Mr Obama praised Mrs Clinton’s experience and suggested that her messages are grounded in realism.
The expectations spin game between Sanders and opponent Clinton could be important in how the results out of Iowa and heading into New Hampshire are perceived.
Clinton even embraced the fact she draws attacks from right-wingers.
At the event, Sanders laid out the terms of his single-payer health care plan, which he says would raise taxes – but ultimately would save people money, NBC News explains.
Mr Sanders argued that his own judgment, not Mrs Clinton’s experience, is the most crucial quality. “Yes, we will”, said Sanders, a Vermont senator.
O’Malley was pushed on what his supporters should do on caucus night if – under the quirks of the Iowa process – they don’t reach a minimum level of support in their local precinct. “Don’t tell me Sen”.
Obama, who remains very popular within the Democratic Party, has said he will not endorse a candidate in the primary.
“I think that what Hillary presents is a recognition that translating values into governance and delivering the goods is ultimately the job of politics, making a real-life difference to people in their day-to-day lives”, he added. I’ve been on the front lines of change and progress since I was your age. Clinton will preserve what Obama created.
“If Secretary Clinton drops in, ask her for her view”, Sanders told a steel workers union in Des Moines.
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Though Clinton remains the Democratic front-runner in many national polls, and leads among older Democratic voters, Sanders remains far more popular among younger Democratic voters.
