Democratic debate heats up; Clinton, Sanders go head to head

“But this personal attack is another example of a sickness in our democracy when it is so easy for millionaires and billionaires to buy up candidates and elections”.

The new approach carries risks. But it wasn’t until the primary season was well under way that Clinton began overtly picking apart Obama’s plan, which, unlike hers, did not call for a health care insurance mandate (as President Obama would later support a mandate.) In 2016, Clinton isn’t pulling any punches.

Clinton said Friday that she has changed a great deal between her 2008 loss in the Iowa caucuses and today, telling MSNBC that she now has a “deeper sense of exactly what is going to be required” as president.

He recounted how Hillary Clinton negotiated with foreign leaders, such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin, when she was secretary of state. The candidate has made near-daily television appearances where she has challenged Sanders’ stances on health care and gun control. “She said, ‘Are you out of your mind?”

Clinton advisers and allies told the Times, on condition of anonymity, that the candidate and her husband are so alarmed by the momentum Sanders has gathered that they are questioning their data and polling teams’ voter-turnout models and analysis, wondering whether the support they’re counting on will really show up in Iowa Feb. 1.

“Yeah, of course”, Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver told ABC News. “But we won’t be negative on them”.

The campaign also plans to release a series of ads aimed at introducing Sanders to SC voters.

In a press release Saturday, Sanders backed legislation that would weaken a 2005 law protecting gun manufacturers and dealers from lawsuits when their firearms are used in crimes.

The central fight among Democrats could come down to how voters will perceive Sanders, the wispy-haired 74-year-old former mayor of Burlington, Vt., and whether they think his ideology could be a help or a hindrance.

There are several reasons why Bernie Sanders could easily be seen as the more electable candidate than Hillary Clinton, making a Bernie Sanders presidency, some believe, inevitable. Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the poll, reports CNN.com, said that Clinton is experiencing a “continuing slide” with how she is “perceived by voters who continue to say she is not honest and trustworthy”. “He is resonating in terms of the issues, but people have to know you and feel you”.

That’s down from a 25 point advantage as recently as two months ago, suggesting the race is tightening and that Sanders may be a serious concern for the Clinton camp.

After Iowa and New Hampshire, the calendar seemingly swings in Clinton’s favor.

It’s make or break time, with a little more than two weeks to go before Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses. Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. “But for him to win the nomination over the long term, he’s got to get beyond that base”.