Democratic candidates to appear at Des Moines forum

Fighting tooth and nail against frontrunner Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, Bernie Sanders said Monday that he is no radical and that voters will embrace his agenda to end USA income inequality.

If health care coverage is one of those rights, Sanders believes the government should provide it through a single-payer system, even if that means raising taxes.

Bernie Sanders unapologetically warned on Monday that taxes would rise if he is elected President, an admission that could please his liberal base but trigger criticism from Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. “We may raise taxes but we are also going to eliminate private health insurance premiums for individuals and for businesses”, he said.

Clinton pushed back at suggestions that she’s new to the economic issues that have been at the center of Sanders’ campaign.

Clinton mentioned how happy she was that President Obama, in a Politico interview, said that she had a harder time in 2008 because, like Ginger Rogers, she had to do everything backwards and in high heels.

Earlier this month, The New York Times’ Ross Douthat argued that if Sanders wanted to really win the race, he would need to highlight – and more sharply criticize – Clinton for her Iraq War vote.

Former governor Martin O’Malley was cheered enthusiastically at the forum when he cited climate change as the top issue young people in America should be concerned about.

According to CNN/ORC poll, Clinton tops Sanders 52 per cent to 38 per cent among registered voters who are Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during a CNN town hall at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, Monday, Jan. 25, 2016.

Scarred by her own failed efforts to push through comprehensive health care reform in the 1990s, Clinton is unwilling to dive back into another sweeping legislative debate now that President Barack Obama’s overhaul is in place.

He made a veiled reference to both Sanders and Clinton, saying that neither “old ideologies or old names” will move the nation forward.

“My message to the O’Malley supporters across this state is this: Hold strong at your caucus”, O’Malley said, to cheers.

Clinton was immediately put on the defensive by a young voter who said many of his peers view her as dishonest.

Clinton acknowledged that “if you’re new to politics”, the attacks on her character may seem concerning.

Sanders – the first to sit down last night on the CNN set – was asked if Clinton was “better prepared” to be the next president. Still, Clinton holds the edge nationally, with almost 56 percent support to Sanders’ 36 percent in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos polling.

“Her strengths, which are the fact that she is extraordinarily experienced – and, you know, wicked smart and knows every policy inside and out – sometimes could make her more cautious and her campaign more prose than poetry, but those are also her strengths”, Obama said. They underscore her argument to voters that she has the most experience of any candidate in the Democratic race.

“I don’t think that’s true”, Obama said when asked whether Sanders reminded him of himself.

“This calls for a standing up response, let me shock everybody here”, Sanders said, surprising moderator Chris Cuomo by getting up for the first time to address the audience.

“I think that what Hillary presents is a recognition that translating values into governance and delivering the goods is ultimately the job of politics, making a real-life difference to people in their day-to-day lives”, he said.