Clinton goes on attack against Sanders in combative presidential debate

That’s good for Mr. Sanders, obviously, as he needed more chances to take down Ms. Clinton.

Moments into the first Democratic debate not beleaguered by the presence of Martin O’Malley, Clinton laid into her remaining opponent, Bernie Sanders.

When asked about the email scandal, Clinton said: “I never sent or received classified material, it was retroactively classified”, and Sanders repeated his earlier stance on the issue that he would “not politicize it. I will not attack [Clinton] on this”, as there was a process underway.

“I think it’s time to end the very artful smear that you and your campaign have been carrying out”, Clinton said at the height of the heated debate.

They, however, offered different stances on the death penalty, with Clinton saying she supports it in extreme circumstances, like acts of terror, and Sanders contending that the government should not partake in killing. She said a leader had to “be ready on Day One”.

Hillary Clinton: “I am not making promises I can not keep”.

Senator Sanders said he would not dismantle Obamacare but would expand it, pointing to how many other countries provide universal healthcare.

“We can not be the policemen of the world”, Sanders said on the fight against the Islamic State group, adding that it must be “Muslim troops on the ground that destroy ISIS with support of a foreign coalition”. Well, some people might think, some people might think, “Yeah, that may have some influence”. “Let’s talk about why, in the 1990s, Wall Street got deregulated”. And besides, she added, Wall Street is only part of the problem. So it has been in recent days between Sanders and Clinton as their campaigns sparred over whether she was sufficiently progressive to carry the banner of the Democratic Party.

Bernie Sanders – Sanders has a big lead in New Hampshire, so this debate felt like a home game for him and he delivered.

The two Democratic candidates have their most fearsome engagement yet at Thursday’s debate.

“What I want people to know is I went to Wall Street before the crash”, she said.

Mrs Clinton, unwilling to cede the issue to Mr Sanders, insisted her regulatory policies would be tougher on Wall Street than his.

They went back and forth on how to handle health care, terrorism, Wall Street institutions, and which Democrat on the stage in New Hampshire would be a progressive in the White House. Sanders would like to have a single-payer health system rather than rely on private insurers and free public college. Sanders has cited Clinton’s previous statements that she’s a moderate, saying she can’t be both.

And she attacked Sanders’ own credentials as a progressive, bringing up his votes against the 1993 Brady bill that mandated federal background checks on gun purchases.

“I don’t think these kind of attacks by insinuation are worthy of you”, she said.

“Do I think President Obama is a progressive?”

“For very limited, particularly heinous crimes, I believe it is an appropriate punishment, but I deeply disagree with the way that too many states still are implementing it”, Clinton said. “I am 100% confident”.

In Thursday’s debate, Sanders was still finding his way in his new role as a viable presidential candidate. “And that has to change in the United States of America”, he said.

“Look we did differ”, Clinton responded. “We have to look at the threats that we face right now”.

The surprisingly strong performance by Sanders in Iowa is likely to prolong a race that Clinton entered as the presumptive front-runner.

The MSNBC moderators asked questions that the candidates were not expecting, which made the MSNBC debate much more interesting. They also will debate in April and May.