Democrats hold spirited debate ahead of New Hampshire Primary

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders gave their closing statements to New Hampshire voters at a dinner hosted by the state Democratic party. She also further positioned herself as someone who would be a defender of the Obama legacy, particularly the Affordable Care Act, which she called “a major achievement of President Obama”.

But does foreign policy even matter to those who were watching the debate and making up their minds?

“There is a reason why these people are putting huge amounts of money into our political system”, Mr. Sanders said.

But the alleged Wall Street connections have eroded her “progressive credentials”, as Mr. Sanders raises it in every speech, but never naming her. Ms. Clinton confronted him on the issue.

 Ms. Clinton pushed back against Mr. Sanders’ suggestion that she was too close to the banking industry.

When asked whether an FBI investigation into her private email server would cause problems for the former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton said she was “100 percent confident” it would not. Asked Clinton’s aim here, he said, “Success is winning… we want to make this as close as we can”.

Trailing massively behind Sanders in the latest opinion polls of New Hampshire primary, 68-year-old Clinton accused Sanders of a “very artful” smear.

Clinton retorted: “A vote in 2002 is not a plan to defeat ISIS”.

Clinton insisted they both wanted the same thing; “the disagreement is where do we start from and where do we end up”.

Bernie Sanders has caught up to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a new national poll and finds himself in a statistical dead heat with his rival, showing it’s more than just early nominating states that are “feeling the Bern”.

The New Hampshire primary, in which Sanders has a sizeable lead, is just five days away and could provide another boost to his campaign.

Clinton’s prospects are much stronger in the voting after New Hampshire, as the race moves on to states with more diverse electorates.

Clinton also offered a new campaign refrain, asking voters to “imagine a tomorrow” where liberal goals had been achieved, like raising the minimum wage. For example, while Clinton would lose to Sen. “Honestly, Senator Sanders is the only person who I think would characterise me, a woman running to be the first woman president, as exemplifying the establishment”, she said.

HORSLEY: Yeah, Clinton and Sanders have been arm wrestling for months now about who’d be the tougher sheriff to ride herd on the financial industry.

“And despite the Iowa setback, Donald Trump is way ahead of his GOP opponents”.

However, the Clinton campaign’s confidence was betrayed by a statement to supporters. Associated Press writer Scott Bauer contributed from Madison, Wisconsin.

Benac reported from Washington.