MIAMI — Bernie Sanders’ stubborn success in the Democratic primary is keeping Hillary Clinton pinned to the left. But Clinton’s campaign is insisting it’s just fine with that.

At Wednesday night’s debate in Miami, Clinton found herself once again sparring with Sanders as the Vermont socialist, enlivened by his Michigan upset, seized every opportunity to call her out for not being progressive enough.


After the rivals left the stage, Clinton’s campaign contended that they relished the chance to talk up paid family leave and community college tuition, issues once popular only on the flanks of the party that now have become mainstream.

“There are some conventional rules of politics that I do not think apply here,” said Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton’s communications director. She said the issues that are front and center in this primary are wildly appealing not just to Democrats. Rather, they’re what “the actual general election’s going to be about too. And on our side, she’s going to have offered solutions for months that people really care about.”

Come November, Clinton’s campaign and allies say, they get to be the ones talking about what another era would have called liberal or lefty ideas, and attack the Republicans, namely Donald Trump, for being the extremists.

“Nothing that they discussed today was unreasonable or so far out there. The folks that are talking about radical proposals are folks like Donald Trump,” said Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, who’s endorsed Clinton.

The former secretary of state’s camp is assigning a positive message to this new phase of the race, a prolonged primary fight with Sanders scoring enough wins to stay alive, all the while tugging Clinton to the left.

Sanders aides aren’t at all conceding that Clinton is the inevitable nominee, but they’re taking satisfaction in forcing Clinton into positions she wouldn't otherwise have taken on deportations and trade. And they’re hoping for more.

“These are great for highlighting. On the trade issue, obviously, we were able to highlight that,” said Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver after Wednesday night’s debate.

“Theres no question that by having a spirited Democratic primary, by having this conversation in these debates, it’s putting both candidates on their record on these important issues that are important for our future," added Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), who recently endorsed Sanders.

Both candidates pledged on Wednesday night not to deport children or undocumented immigrants who do not have criminal records — breaks from the White House that represent a new step in the candidates’ disagreement with President Barack Obama over immigration reform.

But Clinton firmly staked out that position only under repeated questions from Univision moderator Jorge Ramos, after being pressed on her prior refusal to state flatly that she would support a blanket prohibition on deporting children. Sanders, meanwhile, grabbed the opportunity to quickly express unequivocal enthusiasm for such deportation bans, and to knock Clinton for her initial, less-than-full-throated response.

“I don't think that the secretary fully answered your question, and I think the proof may be in the pudding,” he said, bringing up Clinton’s past efforts to discourage parents from Central America sending their unaccompanied children to the United States.

“Madam Secretary, I will match my record against yours any day of the week,” he said at the end of another contentious exchange, after Clinton brought up one of his 2006 votes.

“In 2006, Sen. Sanders supported indefinite detention for people facing deportation and stood with the Minutemen vigilantes in their ridiculous, absurd efforts to ‘hunt down immigrants,‘” she said.

The opening moments of Wednesday’s debate were largely defined by this lively, extended discussion of the candidates’ past stances on immigration. While Clinton zeroed in on Sanders’ vote against the 2007 comprehensive immigration reform bill, Sanders shot back by bringing up Clinton’s opposition to drivers licenses for undocumented migrants when she first ran for president in 2008.

“I have been consistent and committed to comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship. I think our best chance was in 2007 when Ted Kennedy led the charge on comprehensive immigration reform. We had Republican support, we had a president willing to sign it. I voted for that bill. Sen. Sanders voted against it,” she said.

The moderators also put the candidates on the defensive, showing footage of their past comments on immigration and Cuba, among other topics.

After being shown a 2007 clip in which he suggested that American wages would sink if more guest workers were allowed in, Sanders avoided the question, pivoting to say he opposed the measure because those guest worker programs were akin to slavery.

The guest workers “were cheated, they were abused, they were humiliated,” he said. “And if they stood up for their rights, they would be thrown out of the country. ... And what I believe right now is not only that we need comprehensive immigration reform. If the Congress does not do its job, as president of the United States, I will use the executive powers of that office to do what has to be done to do what President Obama did, and expand on that."

Sanders then also noted Clinton’s stance in the summer of 2014 that children held at the southern border should be sent back to “send a message.”

The immigration exchange was one of many barbed disagreements between the candidates — on topics from health care, to college tuition, to the auto bailout — on the evening after Sanders grabbed back considerable momentum with a surprising win in Michigan. While Clinton had looked to pivot to the general election after sweeping victories on Super Tuesday, Sanders’ shocking victory in the Midwestern state forced her to spend more time contrasting herself with the Vermont senator.

On Wednesday night, she insisted that while Sanders’ big ideas sound charming, she can actually execute.

“So this is a marathon, and it’s a marathon that can only be carried out by the kind of inclusive campaign that I’m running, a campaign that reaches out to everybody, a campaign that offers real positive solutions to the problems that we face, a campaign that is based on how together we can make progress, because I am a progressive who likes to get things done,” she said.

The debate also touched on the lingering email scandal that Clinton hasn’t been able to shake. An unamused Clinton bristled when Ramos asked about her exclusive use of a personal email server at the State Department, telling the Univision anchor on Wednesday night that she wouldn’t engage with his question.

“Oh, for goodness — that is not going to happen,” the former secretary of state told Ramos when he asked whether she would drop out of the race if indicted. “I’m not even answering that question.”

The exchange came near the beginning of the evening, after Clinton again defended heruse of a private email account during her four years at the State Department.

“I’m going to give the same answer I’ve been giving for many months. It wasn’t the best choice,” she said. “I made a mistake. It was not prohibited. It was not in any way disallowed. And as I have said, and has now come out, my predecessor did the same thing.”

Clinton also dodged an early question about her bruising loss in Michigan, saying only, “It was a very close race,” and, “I was very pleased by the overall outcome last night.”

After the knock-down, drag-out battle in Michigan, both campaigns have set their sights squarely on the March 15 states — with Clinton looking to net a major delegate haul in Florida and North Carolina while not letting Sanders gain too much ground in Ohio, Illinois and Missouri.

If Clinton has a big night next Tuesday, she would go a long way toward shutting the door on Sanders’ White House hopes. After last night’s contests, she leads the Vermont senator with a whopping 1,221 delegates to his 571.

Clinton is still a ways from the 2,383 delegates needed to clinch the nomination, but Sanders is miles away.

Sanders said on Wednesday night that he’s not daunted by his deficit. “I think in the coming weeks and months, we are going to continue to do extremely well, win a number of these primaries, and convince superdelegates that Bernie Sanders is the strongest candidate to defeat Donald Trump,” he said.