Bernie Sanders to highlight his disagreements with Clinton at debate

Nicole Gaudiano | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — In case voters haven't noticed, Sen. Bernie Sanders wants to make it clear that he and Democratic presidential campaign rival Hillary Clinton are very different candidates.

The Vermont independent, a self-described Democratic socialist, said the first Democratic debate Oct. 13 showed he needs to “pay more attention” to the importance of distinguishing himself from the more moderate Clinton.

When he and Clinton face off again on Saturday in Des Moines, Sanders will portray himself as more willing to take on Wall Street and better able to reform a corrupt campaign finance system, said Tad Devine, Sanders’ senior adviser. Sanders also may try to raise questions about Clinton's commitment to progressive positions Sanders has promoted for years regarding trade and the environment.

“She and I have very different points of view of on a number of issues,” Sanders told the Burlington (Vt. Free Press recently. “Also, how we came to our point of view — and when we came to our point of view — is something that I think the voters in the Democratic primary process should know about, and they will know about.”

Polls suggest Sanders’ campaign needs a new spark since the country began to “feel the Bern” in August and September. He's trailing Clinton an average 21.6 percentage points in national polls, according to RealClear Politics. In Iowa, the first caucus state, he's behind by an average 24 points, and the race has become competitive in the first primary state of New Hampshire, where Sanders had held a comfortable lead in September and mid-October.

“She would have to slip, which she’s no longer doing, for him to gain ground,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. “It’s an uphill fight for him. He may have peaked.”

Former Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee and former Virginia senator Jim Webb have dropped out of the presidential race, so Saturday's debate will feature only Sanders, Clinton and former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley.

“Hillary Clinton looks forward to the debate as an opportunity to discuss her vision for the best solutions to deal with the issues that keep American families up at night," Clinton spokeswoman Christina Reynolds said.

Fewer debate participants means there will be more opportunities for Sanders to show he's more ambitious than Clinton on immigration, education, Social Security, criminal justice reform and other issues, Devine said.

Sanders wants to stress his plan to reinstate the Glass-Steagall law that separated commercial and investment banking activities, a progressive priority that Clinton hasn't endorsed, Devine said. As the only Democratic candidate without an affiliated super PAC, Sanders will highlight the need to “stop taking money” from financial institutions’ political organizations, Devine said.

Sanders also is ready for new questions about his record on guns, which Clinton described at the last debate as not tough enough. As a 2008 presidential candidate, Clinton opposed imposing federal “blanket rules” on licensing and registration of handguns, saying in a debate, "What might work in New York City is certainly not going to work in Montana."

Her staff has since explained she was warning against rules that would bar cities and states from enacting stronger gun-safety laws than the federal government.

“If she wants to engage on that gun issue, there are a lot of statements that she made as early as 2008, when she was having quite a different tone and tenor,” Devine said.

Sanders Declares as a Democrat in N.H. Primary Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders filed papers to appear on the New Hampshire Primary ballot as a Democrat on Thursday, telling reporters his ideas are 'not radical'. (Nov. 5)

At the last debate, Sanders handed Clinton a gift by saying the country was tired of hearing about the former secretary of state's "damn emails.” He has long said an FBI investigation into her use of a private email server while she served as secretary of State should be allowed to play itself out.

Since then, the Democratic primary race has heated up.

Sanders had to fend off accusations of sexism for saying during the October debate that "all the shouting in the world” won’t end gun violence. Clinton seemed to refer to the remark in commenting at campaign events that “when women talk, some people think we’re shouting.” Sanders said he was referring to a divided nation, not to Clinton.

Sanders was back on offense earlier this month in discussing Clinton's about-face on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact (she backed it as secretary of State, then came out against it last month on the campaign trail). Consistency on the issues “does speak to the character of a person,” Sanders, who has long fought trade deals, told The Wall Street Journal on Nov. 4.

Clinton's spokesman, Josh Schwerin responded, “It’s disappointing Sen. Sanders and his campaign strategists have chosen to change direction and engage in the type of personal attacks that they previously said he wouldn't do."

Sanders has said he wants to run a positive campaign, and experts say going negative would be risky.

Most Democrats — including African Americans, Latinos, women and likely most of Sanders' supporters — have high regard for Clinton, said Democratic strategist Donna Brazile.

“Many still don’t know who Bernie Sanders is, and he should not introduce himself to undecided Democratic voters by attacking someone whom they like,” she wrote in an email.

But it’s not enough for Sanders to say he’s more progressive than Clinton, said Dante Scala, associate professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire. He must persuade mainstream Democratic voters Clinton isn't electable, perhaps by challenging her on character issues or suggesting her scandals could hurt the party, he said.

“I don’t know that he’s got the stomach for it,” Scala said. “He may decide not to cross that bridge. Once you cross it, you’re not the lovable, cranky old progressive from Vermont.”

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