Sharp exchanges expected in fourth Democratic primary debate

It’s a real fight now.

Now, with the two neck-and-neck in Iowa just two weeks away from the caucuses there, both candidates are squarely focused on each other – and they aren’t holding back their attacks.

All 3 are aware that their performance – the final Democratic debate before the Iowa caucuses on February 1 – could have a crucial impact on who wins the state.

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders released details late on Sunday about his “Medicare-for-all” universal health care plan and how he would pay for it. YouTube is partnering with NBC News to live stream the debate over the Internet. In the past, he has said his support for the 2005 was in part an effort to protect small shops in home-state Vermont.

The new poll comes as surveys in Iowa and New Hampshire show the race tightening in the states that play host to the first two nominating contests.

Hillary Clinton denied using her daughter to attack her chief rival. The answer could set the tone for the two-week sprint to the Iowa caucuses.

Bernie Sanders announced his support for legislation that would reverse a 2005 law granting gun manufacturers legal immunity that he once supported.

Get ready for a new attack: “The Charleston loophole”.

Meanwhile, the debate’s location – just a block from the site of last year’s racially motivated church shooting – and timing on the heels of the Iran nuclear deal’s implementation could give Clinton an advantage in gun control or foreign policy discussions. The shooter from Mother Emanuel, Dylann Roof, had a criminal record that was not discovered within the three-day period.

It’s the result of the 1993 Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act.

On MSNBC Senator Bernie Sanders fired back. In the Register poll, Sanders attracts almost one-third of his support from college towns – and vastly outperforms Clinton among young voters generally. This past week she released an ad knocking Sanders on firearms, in particular his votes against a landmark bill requiring background checks for gun sales.

“Yes, that’s right”, Sanders said. “I welcome Senator Sanders moving on one of the issues he was wrong on”. That, too, is likely to be addressed by Clinton, Sanders and Gov. Martin O’Malley. Clinton’s lead over Sanders, 42 percent to 40 percent, has fallen by seven points since the last poll.

“Ted Cruz, he’s got a lot of people putting big money in, probably maybe Goldman Sachs, we’ll have to ask them”. Sanders is centering his campaign on making wealthy Americans pay what he calls their “fair share”. If you were paying $10,000 in private health insurance and I said to you, guess what, you ain’t going to pay that $10,000 and more but you’re going to pay $5,000 more in healthcare premiums, you’d be jumping up and down for joy.

Clinton has defended President Barack Obama’s health care law, arguing that it accomplished the Democratic goal of extending universal coverage and hitting Sanders on the cost of his program.

While delivering a speech to promote Hillary Clinton’s campaign in Iowa, former president Bill Clinton’s hand appears to tremble.

Sanders defended his forthcoming proposal on the same CNN program.

It’s not just the polls. In a debate last month, Clinton said she would turn to her husband for economic advice. If he is to present a long-term threat to Clinton, he must win over a broader coalition of voters who make up the party’s base. But we’re doing really well in New Hampshire.

Sanders has picked up momentum with his message and his passion – and Democratic voters like him.

Clinton has worked to make that hard.

The 1/17/16 Democratic presidential debate will air at 9 p.m. Eastern/8 p.m. Central from Charleston, South Carolina.

Asked about his priorities for his first 100 days in office, the former Maryland governor says Sunday that he would focus on efforts to boost wages, promote clean energy and enhance cities.

His polished, generational-change argument has fallen on deaf ears as the left has instead chosen a rumpled 74-year-old who seems incapable of abiding by the political establishment’s rules as its icon.

Winning Iowa remains paramount at this moment, and there is still confidence among Clinton loyalists that the ground operation there is sturdy enough to withstand the challenge from Sanders.