Fireworks fly as Clinton, Sanders square off face to face

However, Sanders was the one who drove hoards of new caucus-goers to the polls in Iowa, coming out with 59% of first-time caucus-goers compared to just 37% for Clinton.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are in a tug-of-war over who’s the best standard-bearer for progressive values as they road test lines of argument for the first one-on-one debate of the Democratic campaign.

At a breakfast held by Bloomberg Politics in Manchester, N.H., Robby Mook, Clinton’s campaign manager, told reporters that despite hitting all time fundraising highs in January, the Clinton campaign did not keep up with Sanders. “Sanders”, she said to applause.

She repeated what she said at last night’s town hall to say his questioning of her being a progressive saying, “It’s caused me to wonder who’s left in the democratic wing” by saying Barack Obama wouldn’t fall under “progressive” under his definition.

Mitch Crane, a Democratic party committee chair who was also watching Thursday’s debate, said he respected both candidates but was committed to supporting Clinton.

“I don’t think it was particularly progressive to vote against the Brady bill five times”, Clinton said, referring to past votes by Sanders on gun control. For the first few months of the campaign, Clinton seemed sensitive to the optics of beating up on the lovably grumpy socialist from Vermont and thus sought to get the tenor above the fray.

“Once i saw what the outcome was, i opposed it”, she said. Clinton said she did not want American taxpayers to pay for Trump’s children’s education.

Clinton interjected, saying she was amused by Sanders’ characterization: “Sen”. He’s cited her ties to Wall Street and a well-funded super PAC as evidence of her shortcomings as a true liberal champion. A come-from-behind shocker by Clinton, meanwhile, would deal a serious blow to Sanders’ plans to make this a long, drawn-out fight for the presidential nomination.

Clinton directly accused Sanders of carting out a kind of passive-aggressive campaign against her, hinting that she is somehow corrupt because she accepted corporate money. So both candidates will be going all out to sway undecided voters tonight ahead of next week’s New Hampshire primaries.

Clinton was in a stronger position eight years later to dispel the judgment critique than she was in her first White House bid.

IN CONTEXT: This has been a common mantra by Sanders, but it relies on outdated numbers. “Let’s talk about why in the 1990s Wall Street got deregulated”.

Asked at last night’s debate whether she had been “too dismissive of voters’ concerns” about her receipt of $675,000 (€609,000) in speaking fees from Goldman Sachs, Mrs Clinton said: “I think I may not have done the job I should in explaining my record”.

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

If Sanders wins, he’s hoping people believe he earned his victory in the state after a real challenge, and that it was not just handed to him on a silver platter thanks to him hailing from the neighboring state of Vermont.

Clinton signaled her determination to at least narrow the gap before Tuesday’s vote.

Obama’s second immigration executive actions are stuck in court and have not been implemented, casting doubt on whether either candidate would be able to make good on their pledge to go beyond Obama.