Clinton, Sanders look to build on debate performances

“In a partisan crowd you could see how that would work out, but I don’t think Mrs. Clinton’s been forthcoming and I think she has created a problem for herself by not being forthcoming”, Bush said Wednesday night while campaigning in New Hampshire.

Clinton apologized for her decision once again during the debate.

Podesta said he did not know whether Biden would run, but said it was time for Democrats to move beyond this period of speculation and focus on electing the party’s strongest nominee to run against Republicans.

A day after aggressively defending her long public service record and contrasting it with that of Sanders, the Vermont senator who has excited Democrats’ liberal base, Clinton remained in Nevada, talking to local media in the early voting state. Clinton’s email controversy was expected to be her toughest hurdle – the opportunity for her four opponents to chip away at her credibility and judgment.

Clinton aides insist the former secretary of state isn’t taking the Democratic nomination for granted.

Sanders, a self decribed socialist, did not back down when asked if he was capitalist.

Tuesday, Clinton put a lot of the doubts to rest.

“What I did was allowed by the State Department, but it wasn’t the best choice”, she said. She referenced Republicans a dozen times during the two-hour debate, even putting the party alongside the Iranians and National Rifle Association on a list of enemies she was proud to have made.

“That is a test for GOP”, he added, questioning who in the party can attract voters in Ohio, Colorado, Virginia and other general election battlegrounds. The email issue has shadowed her rollout of numerous policy positions and has hurt her standing with voters.

At the same time, she refused to go along with Sanders’ call to break up Wall Street banks, reiterated her support of the Patriot Act, and said she would not hesitate to use military force if necessary, at times obliquely criticizing President Barack Obama’s White House and, by proxy, Biden for failing to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin and for doing too little about the civil war in Syria.

“It’s always the Republicans or their or their sympathizers who say, ‘You can’t have paid leave, you can’t provide healthcare, ‘ they don’t mind having big government to interfere with a woman’s right to choose and to try to take down Planned Parenthood”, Clinton said to an ovation.

“He didn’t handle himself well on guns or on foreign policy”, said Brad Bannon, a Democratic strategist in Washington.

“I’m feeling really lucky in Las Vegas”, Clinton joked after visiting a union training facility.

On the contentious issue of gun control, Americans overwhelmingly support expanding background checks for ownership, a proposal Clinton touted in the debate. Prior to last night, the highest-rated Democratic presidential primary debate on cable was CNN’s January 2008 Los Angeles debate, which averaged 8.3 million viewers.