On the heels of a loss in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton came out in attack mode against Bernie Sanders in the PBS 2016 Democratic debate in Milwaukee on Thursday evening.
“Secretary Clinton, you’re not in the White House yet,” said Sanders.
“His government would be 40 percent bigger,” Clinton answered for Sanders to the question, “how much bigger would the federal government be under his presidency.” Sanders defended himself asking what economic she was consulting in coming up with her numbers — either way, the claws are out and the battle is on for the hearts and minds of American Democrats.
They are really making clear their different points of view.
They both want to make college affordable but they differ on how quickly that can be accomplished. Sanders wants public education to include tuition-free college. Clinton took a more bureaucratic route pointing out how difficult it would be to get individual states and governors to pay for it on day one of his new administration.
Paying a silent yet obvious reason many women support her for president, the female vote has been a cornerstone of Hillary’s camp. Thursday evening, the candidates had the opportunity to address the issue of gender-based preferential treatment.
Clinton brushed it off when confronted with Madeline Albright’s comments about women who don’t vote for women going to hell. She said, “I’ve spent my life working so that women can make their own choices, even if that choice is not voting for me.”
“A Sanders victory would be of some historic accomplishment as well,” said Sanders. “I’m asking people to vote for me because I’m the most experienced,” rebutted Clinton, “not because I’m a woman.”
“I’m asking people to vote for me because I’m the most experienced,” Clinton added, “not because I’m a woman.”
Another shocker came from the moderators’ question, “do some white Americans have the right to feel resentful?”
Clinton took the question first, basically saying that white coal mining families, particularly those white families without much education do need ‘special help’. She promised she would try to deliver that help as president.
Sanders blamed trade policies for taking away jobs, which means taking away benefits and pensions.
Over the course of the night, the two candidates sparred over immigration, Wall Street, and foreign policy but the biggest fireworks came over the wars in the Middle East.
In her own way, Clinton tried to defend Muslims in America saying how we need to befriend our fellow Muslims because they are more likely to know what’s going on when it comes to national security.
“American Muslims are on the front line of our defense,” she said, “they are more likely to know what’s happening in their families and their communities, and they need to feel not just invited, but welcomed within the American society.”
However, that just reminded me of 2012, when many conservative pundits tried to link Clinton’s most trusted aide, Huma Abedin, to the Muslim Brotherhood. Sanders didn’t touch that one with a ten-foot pole. Instead, he called Clinton out for her vote to invade Iraq in 2002.
This Iraq vote burn stings a little less in 2016, especially because President Obama was also guilty of voting for the Iraq war. Clinton replied, “I do not believe a vote in 2002 is a vote to defeat ISIS in 2016.”
In their closing remarks Clinton went for the jugular saying, “the kind of criticism that we’ve heard from Senator Sanders about our president I expect from Republicans, I do not expect from someone running for the Democratic nomination to succeed President Obama.”
Overall, Clinton edged out Sanders with her undeniable experience in foreign policy as Secretary of State. Sanders came off narrow-minded on the issues as he repeated the same Democratic Socialist one-liners against the rich and privileged.
Chloe Sommers is the Executive Editor of the Never Daunted Radio Network. You can reach her on Twitter @ChloePalma