“This is a “believe in the possibilities we can do together” kind of campaign”.
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Neither campaign has any paid staff or an official presence yet in Wisconsin, but a fundraiser for Clinton says it is now “off to the races” to be ready for April 5.
While it may be smart politics for Clinton to hold Obama close in the primary where democrats still find him highly popular the long-term fallout is already worrying some democrats who believe the fight with Sanders may pull Clinton too far to the left for the general election, if she wins the nomination.
After the Democratic debate on Thursday night in Milwaukee, advocates for Clinton in the spin room had a definite Wisconsin focus and included Baldwin and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.
After an event in Reno, Sanders said Clinton’s tactic of casting him as a single issue candidate was “stunning” and that he thought the Clinton campaign was coming “unraveled”.
Some of the sharpest exchanges came over the role of money in the political system.
Lewis’ appearance was a continuation of Clinton’s efforts to woo black voters, which has intensified following her 22-point loss to Sanders in last week’s New Hampshire primary.
Clinton sought to put Sanders on the defensive early when he was asked how much more government would cost under a Sanders Administration. “But for Senator Sanders, it’s part of his answer for everything”.
“In my view, the government of a democratic society has a moral responsibility to play a vital role in making sure all our people have a decent standard of living”, Sanders said.
Clinton, who has cast herself as the rightful heir to Obama’s legacy, accused Sanders of diminishing the president’s record and short-changing his leadership. They can do it, we can do it.
“And I think once I’m in the White House we will have enough political capital to be able to do that”.
Sanders does, in fact, have positions on a host of issues, including climate change, criminal justice and trade, but Clinton’s campaign argues that his routine pivot at debates and in town halls is to economic issues and Wall Street, not the substance of the issue.
“We have to be focused on doing everything we can to build on the progress that President Obama has made”, Clinton said.
Perhaps encouraged by New Hampshire, Sanders is now aggressively going after the black vote. Clinton was hardly helped when, during a campaign event, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright scolded younger women who didn’t support Clinton by using an oft-repeated line: that women who don’t support each other are destined to a “special place in hell”. But that conclusion began to melt during a heated debate in which Sanders nailed Clinton on taking $675,000 from Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs for three speeches over an 18-month period.
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Though he declined to accuse Clinton directly of being bought, he quipped: “Let’s not insult the intelligence of the American people”. Sanders, Clinton said, was insinuating that “if you take donations from Wall St you can’t be independent”.
