44% of Democrats Think Bernie Sanders Won Debate

Democratic presidential candidates on Saturday spoke harshly about big banks and vowed to be tough on the financial sector, which continues to feature in the debates for the 2016 race.

Clinton said “this can not be an American fight, although American leadership is essential”. O’Malley, meanwhile, garnered a sparse three mentions, as one might expect for a long-shot, third place candidate.

Martin O’Malley – O’Malley is the former mayor of Baltimore and governor of Maryland. For those Americans who were at home, it seemed many were watching college football, the Ultimate Fighting Championship with Rhonda Rousey or well, anything but the debate. And there again, Clinton saw the biggest spike in traffic, just about halfway through the debate.

“The business model of Wall Street is fraud”, Sanders said.

It was with that fallout in mind that Clinton took the stage in a cattle barn here on the campus of Iowa State University to speak to the Central Iowa Democrats’ annual fall barbecue. “You know, maybe they’re dumb and they don’t know what they’re going to get, but I don’t think so”, the senator continued.

She then rebutted, saying she represented both NY and Wall Street during the attacks on 9/11, and spent “a whole lot of time and effort helping them rebuild”.

When the discussion later turned to domestic issues, the volume increased and the exchanges became far sharper and personal, particularly when Sanders and O’Malley argued passionately with Clinton over money in politics and how strictly to regulate the banking industry.

Even as the field responded somberly to the deadly attacks in Paris, the debate Saturday night marked a feistier phase in the Democratic campaign.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) on Sunday took issue with Hillary Clinton’s refusal to call the terrorists who attacked Paris representatives of radical Islam.

“Over her political career, Wall Street has been a major, the major donor to Hillary Clinton”.

Clinton has a history of advocating for more robust involvement across the globe – both as a presidential candidate eight years ago and as Barack Obama’s secretary of state.

The candidates in the debate broadcast Saturday night by CBS eagerly embraced increasing U.S. engagement and called for the absolute defeat of the terrorist group in the wake of its massive terrorist attack in Paris the previous night. Kirsten Gillibrand, Clinton’s successor as NY senator, to provide 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave.

“There are people who have supported her, sometimes they agree with her on all things … and often they don’t, but they appreciate how hard she works or they find other reasons why they want to support her”, she said. “He’s raising taxes to pay for relief for middle-income and working people”, he said.