Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders met in Milwaukee tonight for a debate sponsored by PBS and hosted at the University of Wisconsin. This is the first debate being held after the New Hampshire primary which Sanders won by a 22 percent margin. As a result, this debate has a lot riding on it before the Nevada Democratic caucus coming up on February 20.
Thursday, February 11, 2016
PBS Democratic Debate
Location: UW-Milwaukee in Wisconsin
Moderators: Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff
Candidates: Clinton, Sanders
Here is the complete video of the debate:
Report from Yahoo News:
Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders battled over healthcare and Wall Street in a debate on Thursday, with Clinton accusing Sanders of misleading Americans on his healthcare plan and making promises “that cannot be kept.”
In a sixth presidential debate that featured several sharp exchanges but a more sedate tone than their last meeting, Clinton said Sanders’ proposal for a single-payer, Medicare-for-all healthcare plan would mean dismantling Obamacare and triggering another intense political struggle.
“Based on every analysis I can find by people who are sympathetic to the goal, the numbers don’t add up,” Clinton told Sanders. “That’s a promise that cannot be kept.”
Sanders said he would not dismantle the healthcare plan known as Obamacare and was simply moving to provide what most industrialized countries have – healthcare coverage for all.
“We’re not going to dismantle anything,” Sanders said. “In my view healthcare is a right of all people, not a privilege, and I will fight for that.”
Sanders repeated his accusation that Clinton is too beholden to the Wall Street interests she once represented as a U.S. senator from New York, noting her Super PAC received $15 million in donations from Wall Street.
My feeling about this particular debate is that the content is now wearing thin having just two candidates debate seemingly similar topics time and time again. Bernie Sanders delivered some usual attacks connecting Hillary Clinton to Wall Street. In a similar and familiar manner, Clinton painted Sanders as too progressive to accomplish anything as president. They agreed on a lot, especially when it came to criminal justice reform, though they diverged, as expected, on other topics as well.
There is likely a large portion of the audience that may be new and tuning in after the New Hampshire primary. In that regard, I think both candidates did a fairly good job of presenting themselves to more Democratic voters as they begin to focus on the 2016 primary process.
