Bernie Sanders Defends His Patchy Record On Guns

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. talks to the media before…

Mrs Clinton – long seen as the presumptive front-runner – has seen her support wane amid questions about her trustworthiness. “Senator Sanders did vote five times against the Brady Bill”.

Hillary Rodham Clinton entered Tuesday night’s first Democratic debate a weakened front-runner, anxious to move past the controversy over her email practices and persuade voters she’s the best-qualified candidate to lead the party to a third straight term in the White House.

“I know my time has run out but in speaking of changing positions and the position on how this debate has occurred is kind of frustrating because unless somebody mentions my name I can’t get into the discussion”, Webb said.

Mr Sanders has resonated with the party’s affluent white voters but has yet to make inroads with African Americans and Latinos – key Democratic constituencies. Sanders, meanwhile, is seeking to appeal to a wider audience of Democrats beyond those who have flocked in the thousands to his events in early-voting states such as Iowa, where he is polling just behind Clinton, and in New Hampshire, where he is leading in several surveys.

Clinton will likely face questions about her using a private email account and server while secretary of state, an issue that has dogged her for months, although Republicans have been far more aggressive in attacking her over the scandal than have Democrats.

In recent days, Sanders has stepped up his efforts to draw a contrast with Clinton, casting her as a late-comer to the liberal positions he’s held for decades. When asked how her administration would differ from President Barack Obama’s, she said with a smile, “Being the first woman president would be quite a change”. Debate host CNN kept an extra podium on standby in case he made a decision to show up, but the vice president instead stayed in Washington, where he was watching the debate at his residence.

Despite the Biden speculation, the Democratic primary has lacked the drama of the Republican contest and the unexpected rise of Donald Trump. Four Americans – including the USA ambassador to Libya, died in the attack.

The CNN debate moderator then addressed Lincoln Chafee, who said, “we have to fix American credibility”. And I think what Sen. Clinton acknowledged that she had supported the deal during her time as secretary of state, even hoping that it would be “the gold standard”, but once negotiations finished she said “it didn’t meet my standards”.