{"id":19235,"date":"2016-01-18T11:00:52","date_gmt":"2016-01-18T19:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=19235"},"modified":"2016-01-18T11:00:52","modified_gmt":"2016-01-18T19:00:52","slug":"the-4th-democratic-presidential-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/18\/the-4th-democratic-presidential-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"The 4th Democratic Presidential Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

I know my opinion will be very unpopular among fellow progressives, but since I\u2019m not a Republican with my head in the sand or somewhere smellier, I\u2019ll deal with an unpleasant truth, rather than pretend it does not exist.  Hillary Clinton clearly won last nights Democratic Presidential Debate.  Often by distorting facts, she kept Bernie on the defensive for the entire night, so the debate focused on his perceived shortcomings far more that on the actual issues themselves.  I have the complete video and transcript, so you can judge for yourselves.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\"0118debate\"Hillary Clinton targeted Bernie Sanders\u2019s electoral appeal with some of her strongest language yet in a debate on Sunday night, seizing on Mr. Sanders\u2019s recent policy shifts on universal health care and gun control to try to undercut his image as an anti-political truth teller<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Clinton also repeatedly aligned herself with a former political rival, President Obama, as she sought to portray her current one, Mr. Sanders, as a fringe candidate who did not stand with Mr. Obama on major issues<\/strong> like Wall Street regulation. Mr. Sanders, in turn, gave no quarter as he criticized Mrs. Clinton as dishonest in her attacks<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

With Mr. Sanders gaining on her before the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses, Mrs. Clinton cast herself as the defender of Mr. Obama\u2019s record and Mr. Sanders as playing into Republican hands<\/strong> with proposals like replacing the Affordable Care Act with a single-payer plan, which Mr. Sanders describes as \u201cMedicare for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve accomplished so much already,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to see the Republicans repeal it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is nonsense,\u201d Mr. Sanders said. \u201cWhat a \u2018Medicare for all\u2019 program does is finally provide health care for every man, woman and child as a right<\/strong>.\u201d He added that 29 million people still lack health insurance.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Clinton was pointed in her critiques of Mr. Sanders but relatively restrained in tone and words as she sought to raise doubts about what many liberals see as Mr. Sanders\u2019s greatest virtues: his integrity and consistency on policy issues.<\/p>\n

She chose not to accuse him of \u201cflip-flopping\u201d on gun control bills as she had earlier on Sunday, but rather said at the debate that she was \u201cpleased\u201d he had \u201creversed\u201d himself.<\/p>\n

For Mrs. Clinton, it was enough to note Mr. Sanders\u2019s changes in policy: By doing so, she raised doubts about his consistency, but stopped short of eviscerating his positions and potentially alienating a restless liberal base that largely favors Mr. Sanders.<\/p>\n

Her tactics left Mr. Sanders appearing frustrated at times, such as when he called her \u201cvery disingenuous\u201d on his gun record<\/strong>, or when he sighed audibly and rolled his eyes as she implicitly questioned his principles on health care\u2026 [emphasis added<\/em>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <NY Times<\/a>><\/p>\n

I agree with Bernie that Hillary\u2019s tactics were disingenuous, but the problem is that, unless someone is thoroughly well educated on the issues, they won\u2019t realize that.<\/font><\/p>\n

Here is the complete video.<\/font><\/p>\n