It came just days before the crucial New Hampshire primary.
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Yet as Clinton stressed her secretary of state experience and Sanders said that factor is “not arguable”, the Vermont senator noted experience is not the only point.
“I do believe that in the future, not by dismantling what we have here – I helped write that bill – but by moving forward, rallying the American people, I do believe we should have health care for all”, Sanders said. “Yes, I do”, Sanders said.
As they had at a town hall forum the night before, the two remaining Democratic presidential contenders also squabbled over the modern definition of the word “progressive”, which has become the preferred term for the Democratic left.
When it comes to his calls for broader government involvement in domestic programs, Clinton said, “The numbers don’t add up”.
Sanders fought back repeatedly, accusing Clinton of representing the political establishment during a debate that featured sharp differences over healthcare, college tuition funding and efforts to rein in Wall Street. “I am very proud to be the only candidate up here that does not have a super PAC”.
The topic of big money influencing American politics was raised by Sanders, who said it was “undermining American democracy”. But you will not find that I ever changed a view or a vote because of any donation that I ever received.
As the CNN Reality Check team has reported before, Sanders did vote against various iterations of the 1993 Brady Bill five times. “I disagree with him on a number of issues including the trade agreement”.
“I really don’t think these kinds of attacks by insinuation are worthy of you”. The debate over progressivism, he said, started when he cited a comment Clinton made at a September campaign event when she said she was “guilty” of being a moderate.
Clinton, Sanders argues, is not progressive because she voted for the Iraq war, accepted millions of dollars in campaign contributions from Wall Street and took speaking fees of $675,000 from Goldman Sachs.
Sanders claimed a moral victory in Monday’s Iowa vote, winning 49.6 percent to Clinton’s 49.8 percent, in the first vote of the U.S. election cycle having trailed as a distant second only months earlier. “It is what she said, and all that I said was there’s nothing wrong with being a moderate”.
“Instead of arguing about definitions, let’s talk about what we should do (as president)”, Sanders said. “That’s what they offered”.
The Sanders assault clearly angered Clinton, who vociferously defended herself as a progressive who gets results and has spent decades working on children’s rights and health care. This time, she battled to the narrowest of wins in the Iowa caucuses.
So it was no surprise that Clinton’s campaign was aggressively playing down expectations.
The two campaigns have even skirmished this week over why Sanders is doing so well in New Hampshire polls.
Clinton, unwilling to cede the issue to Sanders, insisted that her regulatory policies would be tougher on Wall Street than his. “It’s hard to underestimate the neighboring-state advantage in this race”. It is also the last time the two candidates will meet before the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday.
Sanders’ votes can be partially explained by his home state. By the end of the night, former Governor Mike Huckabee suspended his campaign and withdrew.
On Thursday, Clinton played up what she sees as her greater electablity in a general-election contest in November.
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“Good ideas on paper are important, but you’ve got to be able to translate them into action”, Clinton declared on the eve of the debate.
