Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders speaks during a town hall meeting on February 3, 2016 in Derry, New Hampshire /AFP
The 90-minute debate at the University of New Hampshire in the small college town of Durham comes three days after Clinton clinched the narrowest victory in Iowa caucus history against Sanders and five days before the first state primary in the 2016 election process.
Sanders, the 74-year-old independent senator from neighboring Vermont, leads by 20 points in the latest New Hampshire polls with a campaign that outstripped the Clinton fundraising machine in January.
While most expect the former secretary of state to ultimately win the Democratic nomination, she faces a much tougher battle than once thought as Sanders whips up passionate support among young voters with a grass-roots campaign.
Clinton sought to dilute some of Sanders’s support among left-leaning voters by presenting herself as a battle-hardened progressive who can get things done to improve the lives of struggling Americans.
“Senator Sanders and I share some very big progressive goals,” the former first lady said. “But the numbers just don’t add up from what Senator Sanders has been proposing.”
Sanders, who identifies as a democratic socialist — unique for a US presidential candidate — hammered home his opposition to what he believes is the corrosive power of Wall Street on American democracy.
He insisted that Clinton cannot claim to be both a moderate and a progressive, criticizing her for raising $15 million from Wall Street — prompting some of the night’s sharpest exchanges.
“Enough is enough,” said Clinton after listing her record on racial injustice, children’s rights and fight to widen American access to health care. “I don’t think these attacks are worthy of you,” she said.
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