MSNBC’s Democratic debate is lowest rated of the season

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are now running neck-and-neck for the Democratic presidential nomination, with the Vermont senator lagging only two percentage points behind his White House rival, a nationwide poll showed on Friday.

“I am 100 percent confident”, she said.

Clinton received 44 percent of support while Sanders can boast about 42 percent, his highest support in any national poll to date. “But that’s not the whole story nine months before Election Day”, he said.

Until this week, Clinton’s Wall Street ties were a nuisance; her key strategy against Sanders was to try to show she could match his liberalism.

When broken down among gender lines, Sanders has a 10-point lead with men and Clinton has the same advantage with women. “It is fair to say, Senator, that in your definition, as you being the self-proclaimed gatekeeper for progressivism, I don’t know anyone else who fits that definition”.

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

Mr. Sanders’ line of attack focused on the big vulnerability Ms. Clinton is trying to overcome – her connections with big banks and companies that have paid her millions in campaign donations and speaking fees.

CLINTON on Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal: “I said that I was holding out that hope that it would be the kind of trade agreement that I was looking for”.

Clinton called Sanders’ sweeping proposals on health care and education “just not achievable”, while Sanders countered that Clinton was willing to settle for less than Americans deserve.

“Enough is enough. If you’ve got something to say, say it directly”, Clinton scolded. She was also able to pin Sanders as a candidate who doesn’t see the big picture, instead focusing on one or two issues. “I don’t know the status”.

In an election where voters are frustrated with the political system, Sanders has tried to turn Clinton’s backing from party leaders into a knock on her candidacy.

“I’ve got their number”, she said, “the Wall Street guys”. She championed her “distrust and verify” approach to Iran, saying Sanders was more eager to engage. “I fully, fully concede that secretary Clinton, who was Secretary of State for four years, has more experience”, he said.

Fiorina has appeared in previous undercard debates in recent weeks, but since Monday’s Iowa caucuses, many of those with whom she’d shared the stage have suspended their campaigns.

“I don’t hear anybody asking Bernie Sanders for transcripts of some speech he made for a labor union”, he told host Andrea Mitchell on “MSNBC Live.” We never said, never said that somebody, a newspaper endorsed us that did not.

Sanders grudgingly acknowledged that President Obama is a “progressive”, but it came after a long windup, full of caveats and exceptions, suggesting his hand may have been forced by the president’s 90 percent approval rating among Democratic primary voters.