Sanders holds up his record, hits Clinton's

Sen. Bernie Sanders made the case Saturday night that he has a long history of holding up liberal ideals, even when doing so wasn't popular.

At Iowa Democrats' Jefferson Jackson dinner, Sanders mentioned several "forks in the road," in which he parted with public opinion and stood up for his principles. He swiped at front-runner Hillary Clinton several times without ever mentioning her name.

Sanders pointed to his early opposition of the Iraq War, his opposition to the Keystone XL Pipeline and his opposition to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman. He said too few Democrats opposed that legislation and that now some are trying to "rewrite history" by claiming that they supported one anti-gay law to prevent even worse legislation from being passed.

He pointed out his opposition to international trade agreements, specifically the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which he said "is not now, nor has it ever been the gold standard of trade agreements." That line was a direct reference to Clinton's 2012 comment that the Trans-Pacific Partnership "sets the gold standard" of trade agreements. Clinton has since said she opposes the agreement.

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FROM THE EVENT

QUOTE: "Just to remember about eight years ago, all of the political experts talked about how another Democratic candidate for president just couldn’t win. He was unelectable. Remember that guy? What’s his name? Oh, it’s President Obama."

BEST MOMENT: Sanders surprised the audience when he waded into the bleacher seats during a brief intermission. Sanders and his wife, Jane, crossed the metal barriers that separated the table-and-chairs dinner guests from the less expensive seats.

AUDIENCE REACTION: Cheers from Sanders' supporters drowned out the Vermont senator's introduction to the stage. Standing on their feet, audience members often interrupted his speech with applause as they spun small blue glow sticks and waved signs.