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 At a CNN town hall meeting, Sanders argued that his own judgment,
not Clinton's experience, is the most crucial quality for the next
commander-in-chief. Clinton, in response, evoked President Barack
Obama, saying when he selected her to be secretary of state he gave
approval to her judgment.
"You have to have somebody who is a proven, proven fighter," Clinton
said.
Anxious to put down a threat from the democratic socialist, Clinton
faced the challenge of convincing Democratic voters not to be swayed
by Sanders' populist rhetoric and to stick with her despite a clamor
for candidates outside the political establishment.
The town hall at Drake University lacked the feel of a normal
debate. It featured separate appearances by Sanders, former Maryland
Governor Martin O'Malley and Clinton and all three took audience
questions at the event.
Clinton was more animated than usual, raising her voice to make
points, and Sanders made the audience laugh with some jokes. The
overall tone was polite, in contrast to a more rancorous fourth
debate between the three last week.
COMPARISON ON VOTING RECORD
Sanders cited Clinton's 2002 Senate vote to authorize the Iraq war
and her prior support for the Canada-to-Texas Keystone Pipeline as
evidence that her experience is misguided. Clinton has shifted her
position on both issues, while Sanders opposed both from the start.
"Experience is important but judgment is also important," he said.
Sanders also defended his call for raising taxes to fund a
"Medicare-for-all" program, U.S. infrastructure and tuition-free
college education.
"We will raise taxes. Yes, we will," said Sanders, a Vermont
senator. But he said the money would actually save money for
families because they would no longer pay health insurance premiums.
Clinton has been making the case that her time as secretary of state
and a senator from New York, make her more experienced. But on the
town hall stage on Monday, she pushed back at Sanders' judgment
argument by evoking Obama, who remains popular with Democratic
voters and was critical of her Iraq War vote when the two competed
in 2008.
"[Obama] ended up asking me to be secretary of state," Clinton said.
"It was because he trusted my judgment and we worked side by side
over those four years."
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Clinton, who lost the Democratic primary to Obama in 2008, was for
months the clear front-runner to be the party's nominee this time
around, but opinion polls have showed a surge of support for Sanders
in recent weeks.
She argues that while Sanders' goals on issues such as social
inequality are laudable, some are unobtainable and he lacks the
experience to tackle a wide range of issues.
"When you're in the White House you cannot pick the issues you want
to work on, you've got to be ready to take on every issue that comes
your way, including those you cannot predict," Clinton told the
Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines on Monday.
Clinton also went to great lengths at the town hall to criticize
Republican front-runner Donald Trump, particularly for insulting
minorities. "He started with Mexicans, he's now with Muslims," she
said.
Clinton got some much-needed praise from President Obama in a
Politico interview published on Monday, exactly a week before Iowans
hold the nation's first nominating contest for the November 8
election.
While never explicitly criticizing Sanders, whose campaign is
focused on pledges to redress social inequality and contain Wall
Street excesses, Obama praised Clinton's experience and suggested
several times that Clinton's messages are grounded in realism.
"(S)he’s extraordinarily experienced — and, you know, wicked smart
and knows every policy inside and out — (and) sometimes (that) could
make her more cautious, and her campaign more prose than poetry,"
Obama said.
(Editing by Mary Milliken)
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