|
 Reflecting Sanders' rise in opinion polls, the two battled with
new urgency over who was best suited to lead Democrats in the
November election. Sanders cast himself as the outsider who would
lead a political revolution, while Clinton touted her experience and
embraced President Barack Obama's legacy.
In their last televised debate before Iowa's caucuses launch the
nominating race on Feb. 1, Clinton raised questions about the
self-styled democratic socialist's positions on Wall Street reform,
healthcare and gun control.
Sanders pushed back at every turn. He painted Clinton as a defender
of the status quo who accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in
speaking fees as a former secretary of state from Wall Street
backers.
"I don't take money from big banks. I don’t get personal speaking
fees from Goldman Sachs," the U.S. senator from Vermont said,
adding, "I have huge doubts when people receive money from Wall
Street."
 He referred to his rising poll numbers in the early voting states of
Iowa and New Hampshire, where he has pulled even or ahead of
Clinton, saying he believed he could expand his number of supporters
to include more African-American voters. He noted that when his
presidential campaign began, Clinton was 50 percentage points ahead
of him in the polls.
"Guess what: In Iowa, New Hampshire, the race is (now) very, very
close," Sanders said.
The debate followed a week of rising tension between the two leading
candidates. Sanders was noticeably more animated that in previous
debates, sometimes grimacing and shaking his head during Clinton's
answers.
Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, who lags badly in polls,
was often a bystander although he joined Sanders in criticizing
Clinton's Wall Street ties.
Clinton said she would build on Obama's agenda, accusing Sanders of
voting to deregulate the financial market in 2000 in a way that led
to the central causes of the financial collapse of 2008 that pitched
the U.S. economy into a deep recession.
Clinton tried to undercut Sanders' support among supporters of
Obama, who remains a popular figure in the Democratic Party.
"He's criticized President Obama for taking donations from Wall
Street. And President Obama has led our country out of the Great
Recession," she said.
"Senator Sanders called him weak, disappointing, he even in 2011
publicly sought someone to run in a primary against President
Obama."
HEALTHCARE SPAT
Clinton pounced on Sanders' "Medicare-for-all" plan that was
announced just hours before the debate after Clinton had criticized
Sanders for refusing to explain how he would pay for the proposal.
The former secretary of state, former U.S. senator and wife of
former President Bill Clinton said Sanders' healthcare plan would
undermine Obama's signature Affordable Care Act at a time when
Republican legislators were still trying to repeal and replace it.
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"I have to say I’m not sure whether we’re talking about the plan you
introduced tonight or the plan you introduced nine times over 20
years," she told Sanders. "But the fact is we have the Affordable
Care Act. ... We have already seen 19 million Americans get
insurance."
Sanders said he wanted to build on the Obama law by making health
insurance more affordable.
"Nobody is tearing this up," he said, referring to the program
popularly known as Obamacare. "We're moving forward."
The debate was held across the street from the Charleston church
where a white gunman killed nine black worshippers in June, and
Clinton made reference to the incident while accusing Sanders of
being weak on gun control.
She welcomed his decision on Saturday night to back a bill in
Congress rescinding portions of a law giving gunmakers immunity from
lawsuits, but said his record showed a more lenient attitude toward
the demands of the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) gun
lobby.
Sanders defended himself, saying he has a strong record on trying to
prevent guns from getting into the wrong hands and standing up to
the NRA.
Sanders supporters watching in Manchester, New Hampshire, said he
seemed more engaged than in past debates. "I thought that Bernie was
much more prepared," Chris Haigh, 66, said.
Sanders has pulled into a statistical tie with Clinton in recent
polls in Iowa, whose caucuses are the first contest in the race to
pick a nominee for the November election. He also leads Clinton in
the next state to vote, Vermont neighbor New Hampshire, on Feb. 9,
according to polls.
After those two states, the race moves to Nevada and South Carolina,
which have more diverse voting populations and where polls show
Clinton leading. On March 1, or "Super Tuesday", voters in 11
states, many of them in the South where Clinton has big poll leads,
will cast primary ballots.
(Additional reporting by Alana Wise and Luciana Lopez; Writing by
Steve Holland and John Whitesides; Editing by Mary Milliken and
Jonathan Oatis)
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