Clinton returned the favor at the final Democratic debate of the year, accepting an apology from Sanders when he was pressed on the disclosure the day before that his campaign had improperly accessed proprietary Clinton campaign voter data from a central Democratic database.
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Clinton repeatedly turned the conversation away from any differences she had with Sanders and O’Malley to the fact that they would all be better than any of the Republican candidates, particularly Trump – which, incidentally, is a similar line GOP candidates have used about her in their debates.
Consider that last night’s Democratic debate, one of only six, was the second held on a Saturday night and competed with holiday parties, football and a new “Star Wars” film for America’s attention. Clinton’s campaign accused Sanders’ team of stealing information used to target voters and anticipate what issues might motivate them.
A dispute over a campaign data breach intensified the battle between front-runner Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders on Saturday. Users shared Sanders’ comments on the heroin epidemic when he warned that that doctors and pharmaceutical companies need to “get their act together” and stop over-prescribing opiates.
Sanders – who opposed the 2003 Iraq invasion – disagreed, saying the United States should first seek to defeat IS but show caution over toppling governments.
Asked if he would apologize during Saturday’s debate, Sanders did, to Clinton and to his own supporters. His campaign said after the debate it had suspended two more aides.
“So, now that we have resolved your data, we have agreed on an independent inquiry, we should move on”, she said.
Weaver suggested further favoritism when pointed out that the DNC has scheduled few debates for the party candidates, and most of the debates were scheduled for the weekend, when viewership is low and any risk to Clinton can be minimized.
While Clinton’s campaign had launched to a shaky start following revelations about her use of a private email account and server while serving as US secretary of state, she rebounded in the fall and now has a commanding lead of 20 percentage points or more in most national polls.
The two leading candidates for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, joined by former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley, also clashed over gun control, an issue that has resurfaced this year after a series of mass shootings culminating in the December 2 killings of 14 people in California. O’Malley was aggressive early in seeking to play a role in the debate, repeatedly talking over moderators. But Hillary Clinton did everything she needed to do to stay ahead. “It is not Assad who is attacking the United States”.
Sanders says there should be an worldwide coalition including Russian Federation that fights the Islamic State. Getting rid of dictators is easy.
O’Malley said he would not stand for the “racist or fascist appeals” of businessman and Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Clinton contended that due to his remarks, Trump is now a major recruiting tool for ISIS.
“I recognize it is a problem”, Sanders said of the digital snooping, and admitted, “Our staff did the wrong thing”.
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All three candidates stressed working more closely with Muslim-American communities to tackle radicalism at home. Sanders has been polling well in Iowa and New Hampshire, key early-voting states, with 39 percent to Clinton’s 48 percent in Iowa and beating out Clinton 48 percent to 43.8 percent in New Hampshire.
