Luke Skywalker
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Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders field questions from moderators Lester Holt and Andrea Mitchell during the Democratic debate hosted by NBC News and YouTube on on Jan. 17, 2016 in Charleston, S.C.(Photo: Andrew Burton, Getty Images)
With just two weeks until the voting starts — and contests in Iowa and New Hampshire that are too close to call — the days of we-can-still-be-friends deference are over for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
At the Democrats’ final debate before the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, Clinton portrayed Sanders as a friend of the NRA and the gun rights lobby, noting their forum in Charleston was taking place just a block from the Emanuel AME Church where a mass shooting last year left nine worshipers dead. Sanders accused her of being “very disingenuous” about his record.
They clashed not only over guns but also on health care, Wall Street regulation and campaign finance. The tone has gotten tougher and the attacks more personal since their first debate last fall, when Sanders had reassured Clinton<span style="color: Red;">*</span>he was “sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails” and the two shook hands.
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Now, some Clinton partisans say she only belatedly has begun hammering the Vermont senator for proposing a health care program she argues would undo the Affordable Care Act.
For his part, Sanders attacked the former secretary of State as beholden to Wall Street interests that have contributed millions to her candidacy, part of a “corrupt” campaign finance system that he says has contributed to growing economic inequality in America. He accused of her of spreading “nonsense” about the impact of his proposal for a single-payer health insurance plan that he calls “Medicare for all.”
In some ways, the Democratic campaign is mirroring the Republican one. With a smaller field and two candidates now neck-and-neck in the early states, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz at the sixth GOP debate last Thursday dropped their unofficial non-aggression pact and began blasting one another on everything from Trump’s “New York values” to Cruz’s constitutional eligibility for the presidency.
In the Democratic debate, sponsored by NBC and YouTube, Clinton was confident and in command of the details, especially when the topic turned to foreign policy. She repeatedly sought to tie herself to President Obama, who has a 90% approval rating among South Carolina Democrats.
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But it was Sanders who seemed to be defining the agenda, calling for boldness on progressive causes while Clinton was more likely to cite what would be realistic. Energized and emotional, Sanders repeated his call for a “revolution” that would transform the country.
Both claimed to be the stronger candidate in the general election.
“We’re running ahead of Secretary Clinton in terms of taking on my good friend Donald Trump,” Sanders declared — citing polls, just as his good friend Donald Trump is prone to do. Clinton noted she had been the target of a new ad of a super PAC aligned with GOP strategist Karl Rove, which she has argued is a sign it assumes she’ll be the nominee.
Also participating in the debate was former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley, lagging in single digits and often struggling to break into the conversation. He pitched himself as “a new generation of leadership.”
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USA TODAY's 2016 Presidential Poll Tracker
The latest polls in Iowa and New Hampshire show that it’s possible Sanders could beat onetime front-runner Clinton in both states, with repercussions on the rest of the primaries that are impossible to predict. In a Des Moines Register/Bloomberg News poll released last week, Clinton led Sanders among Iowa Democrats 42%-40%. In New Hampshire, the RealClearPolitics average of recent statewide polls put Sanders 6 points ahead.
Two hours before the debate began, Sanders released details Clinton had demanded about how he would finance his health care proposal, including by a new tax on employers and households. On Saturday, he sought to defuse another line of attack by Clinton, announcing he would support legislation to remove liability protection for gun makers and dealers. That’s a reversal from his past position.
Sanders argued that a single-payer system would work better and cost less than the Affordable Care Act. Clinton called the ACA “one of the great achievements of President Obama, of the Democratic Party and of our country.”
The next time Clinton and Sanders meet face-to-face, their arguments and their appeal will have been tested not only by pollsters but also among voters. The next Democratic debate is set for two days after the New Hampshire primary, when the results of the first two contests may well have changed everything.
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