The Democratic presidential candidates participated in a raucous debate in Brooklyn last night ahead of New York’s primary on Tuesday. In one of their most contentious debates, they challenged each other's stances on the usual topics.
The aggressive tone not heard in previous debates was woven throughout the CNN debate. Here’s Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
“Does Secretary Clinton have the experience and the intelligence to be a president? Of course she does,” Sanders says. “But I do question her judgment. I question a judgment which voted for the war in Iraq, the worst foreign policy blunder in the history of this country.”
He went on to question her support of trade agreements and connection to Super PACS. Former Secretary of State and New York Senator Hillary Clinton fired back.
“Senator Sanders did call me unqualified. I’ve been called a lot of things in my life; that was a first,” Clinton says. “And then they did say that he had to question my judgment. Well, the people of New York voted for me twice to be their senator from New York. And President Obama trusted my judgment enough to ask me to be secretary of state for the United States.”
“Sanders early on was very much on the attack. And I think he sees it as necessary to stop Clinton,” Mann says. “We hear a lot about stop Trump but Sanders is very much engaged in a stop Clinton campaign, and we saw that in his tone with his attacks on her judgment.”
That’s Chris Mann, assistant professor of government at Skidmore College.
“These candidates are getting a little testy, a little tired of each other. And I think both of them see this as a real contest which I’m not sure they were feeling that it was a real contest early on,” says Mann. “Both of them see a path to victory and we’ve gotten to the point where they’re more willing to do and say what it takes.”
The candidates spoke strongly about several topics, including the minimum wage. Clinton was asked whether, as president, she would sign a $15 minimum wage bill.
“Of course I would,” answered Clinton. “And I have supported the fight for $15.”
“I think the secretary has confused a lot of people,” says Sanders. “I don’t know how you’re there for the fight for $15 when you say want a $12-an-hour maximum minimum wage.”
Symone Sanders, no relation, is spokeswoman for Sanders.
“I think this entire debate last night was a debate about Secretary Clinton’s judgment and Senator Sanders’ vision,” says Symone Sanders.
Xochitl Hinojosa is a spokeswoman for Clinton.
“I think that what you saw last night is something that we’ve been seeing, especially the two candidates have been campaigning in New York which is, the whole line of the night is, Hillary said, ‘It’s not enough to diagnose the problem, you have to be able to solve it,’” Hinojosa says.
And she says it’s Clinton with the solutions. Hinojosa says Clinton supports raising the minimum wage from its current federal level of $7.25.
“What she’s saying is that there needs to be a minimum of a federal floor so that everybody in the United States has that and then if states want to go higher, that’s great, they should go higher. And she completely supports that,” says Hinojosa. “But she wants to get a bill passed and be realistic on what we can pass as well.”
Symone Sanders says that’s not enough.
“Incremental change is not going to cut it here. It’s okay to think big,” says Symone Sanders. “And states, again, like New York, like California, have shown that a $15 minimum wage is feasible, but it’s like Washington, Seattle, a $15 minimum wage is feasible and you can get it done.”
Professor Mann says the only new aspect of the debate was the tone, adding the debate likely won’t change what polls predict as the New York primary outcome.
“If she just keeps doing what she’s doing she will win here in New York and she will win in the battle for delegates,” says Mann. “Sanders is the one who needs to change the game and I think that’s why we saw a more aggressive tone from him yesterday but I don’t think he really did anything that really broke through and made people think about the race differently in terms of issues or her qualifications or any of those different lines of attack that he tried to pursue last night.”
An NBC 4 New York/Wall Street Journal/Marist Poll released Friday shows Clinton ahead of Sanders by 17 points among likely Democratic primary voters in New York. In an NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist Poll of New York released earlier this week, Clinton was ahead of Sanders by 14 points.
