Clinton, Sanders vigorously agree – except when they don’t

Yet Mr. Sanders hit back again, invoking Theodore Roosevelt to argue that big banks had become too predatory against average Americans and needed to be broken up. David Axelrod, one of the chief strategists who got Obama elected and now makes a living as a pundit, suggested Sanders might own up to helping sell such a tome.

The race now moves to what should be more favorable ground for Clinton in Nevada and SC, states with more black and Hispanic voters, who, polls show, have been more supportive of Clinton so far.

After a 22-points loss in New Hampshire’s primaries, Hillary Clinton will face Senator Bernie Sanders on Thursday evening in the decisive Democratic debate. He criticised Mrs Clinton’s 2002 vote to authorise the war in Iraq and her push to oust Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Some feel that Clinton finally found her message on why she is running for President of the United States, comparing this to her “I found my voice” moment in New Hampshire during her 2008 race against Barack Obama. She wants Sanders to be viewed as a dreamy Grandpa without a clue. “I was not that candidate”.

When asked whether he was potentially blocking a milestone for women by challenging Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Sanders, who would be the first Jewish president if elected, said, “I think a Sanders victory would be of some historical accomplishment as well”. “I’m not a single-issue candidate, and I don’t believe we live in a single-issue country”, Clinton said. MNN reports Sanders and Clinton will be speaking at the annual DFL Humphrey Mondale dinner in St. Paul. Clinton endorsed his police commission meant to encourage sentencing reform, and she challenged a moderator’s premise that race relations had not improved under Obama. Calling him one of the “most destructive secretaries of state in modern history” because of his actions in Cambodia that lead to the slaughter of 3 million people, Sanders said: “I am proud to say that Henry Kissinger is not my friend”. In his 2011 book “Back to Work”, Clinton said that Obama’s handling of the 2010 debt ceiling crisis made the US look “weak and confused”.

Co-moderated by PBS anchors Judy Woodruff and Gwen Ifill – the fist debate moderated by two women – the face-off between Sanders and Clinton was respectful, but did not completely lack for sparks.

“Let’s not insult the intelligence of the American people”, Sanders said. “When we talk about criminal justice reform  we also have to talk about jobs, education, housing and other ways of helping communities of color”, she said. Clinton said those proposals come with unrealistic price tags.

I can say that with some authority, having been to two Sanders speeches in New Hampshire this past week.

“And, then we have to go after sentencing, and that’s one of the problems here in Wisconsin because so much of what happened in the criminal justice system doesn’t happen at the federal level, it happens at the state and local level, but I would also add this”, said Clinton.

I fully, fully concede that Secretary Clinton, who was secretary of State for four years, has more experience – hat is not arguable – in foreign affairs.