Bernie Sanders appears at ease at presidential town hall during which student presses Clinton: ‘I don’t see the same enthusiasm from younger people for you’

Hillary Clinton pushed back at the suggestion she is struggling to inspire young voters on Monday in a spirited encounter with students in Iowa just a week before tighter-than-expected caucuses.



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Appearing at the presidential town hall meeting at Drake University with Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley, the former secretary of state was put on the defensive by a young voter who challenged the level of excitement surrounding her campaign.

“I don’t see the same enthusiasm from younger people for you,” said Des Moines local Taylor Gipple, who described himself as leaning towards Sanders. “In fact, what I have heard from quite a few people my age is that they think you are dishonest.”

“I have been around a long time and people have thrown all kinds of things at me and I can’t keep up with it,” replied Clinton, questioning the experience of her challenger. “If you are new to politics and it’s the first time you’ve really paid attention, you go, ‘Oh my gosh, look at all of this’.”

“I have been on the frontline of change and politics since I was your age,” she added. “When I worked on healthcare back in ’93 and ’94 – and I don’t know if you were born then, I can’t quite tell – but if you had been around and able to pay attention, I was trying to get us to universal healthcare coverage.”

The awkward encounter gave Clinton a chance to highlight her experience and pragmatic approach to politics, but contrasted with a more-than-usually charming Sanders, who appeared comfortable among the young audience.

The Vermont senator had his own possibly patronising moment when he wagged his finger at a young woman who asked about his description of Planned Parenthood as “part of the establishment” and was forced to acknowledge he had phrased his response badly.

But Sanders launched into his closing argument to emphasise that while Clinton may have the experience, he had a record of judgment.

Sanders contrasted his opposition to the Iraq war with Clinton’s vote in favor of it in 2002. To Sanders, this was “the most significant vote and issue regarding foreign policy that we have seen in this country in modern history”.

He also attacked what he saw as Clinton’s closeness to Wall Street and a laggardly decision to oppose the Trans Pacific Partnership free trade and the Keystone XL pipeline.

While Sanders conceded that “Secretary Clinton was secretary of state of this country for four years. That is a lot of experience. There’s no debate about that. I was not secretary of state.” He noted: “Experience is important, but judgment is also important.”

However, he left some hostages to fortune in a general election. In an exchange that Clinton aides quickly called attention to, said he would raise taxes. “Yes, we will raise – we will raise the – we will raise taxes, yes, we will,” Sanders said when asked how he would pay for his proposed plan for universal healthcare. However, the Vermont senator insisted “we may raise taxes but we are also going to eliminate private health insurance premiums for individuals and for businesses.”

Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley, who has been struggling in the polls with the rise of Sanders, insisted he still had a chance to “upset the applecart” in Iowa.

O’Malley urged his supporters to “hold strong” on caucus night when they may get squeezed by Iowa’s complex rules which require candidates to be supported from 15% of caucus-goers in each precinct.

O’Malley also touted his record on climate change which he described as the key issue facing young people. The former Maryland governor compared the need for the United States to invest in clean energy to the 1960s effort to put a man on the moon.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley urges supporters to ‘hold strong’ during the Iowa caucuses. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/EPA

Clinton was slightly less sure-footed when asked about the ongoing controversy around her use of a personal email address to conduct official business while serving as secretary of state. She insisted that her actions were “not an error in judgment, nothing I did was wrong.” Clinton offered “not as an excuse but as an explanation,” the difficulty that it took her campaign to “get the facts” about her email server.

The town hall was scheduled rather hastily after continued criticism of the Democratic National Committee for only holding four debates prior to the Iowa caucuses, significantly less than in past years.

The four debates that were scheduled were criticized for being held at awkward times like the Sunday on a three-day-weekend and often conflicting with major sporting events. Even with the town hall held on Monday night, it still coincided with a major sporting event in Iowa and it started just as tipoff in Ames in an important basketball game between the Iowa State Cyclones and the Kansas Jayhawks.

The format also did not allow the candidates to interact with each other and they chose to focus on their favourite subjects – Clinton on foreign policy, Sanders on economic equality and O’Malley on his record as governor – in a way that may serve chiefly to strengthen existing opinions rather than convert floating voters.

Perhaps the most memorable scenes, however, will be the contrast between a defensive Clinton and an opponent who appears to be growing in confidence.

The often gruff Sanders has seemed more relaxed as the race goes on. He joked with the moderator, Chris Cuomo, about his unbuttoned suit jacket as he took the stage. “My wife told me to button my coat but I think I’m too fat, so I’m going to keep it like this,” Sanders said to laughter.

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He also sparked a round of applause when Cuomo asked him about his health. “If you were elected president, you are 75 now,” the moderator said before Sanders abruptly interrupted him. “Seventy-four,” the Vermont senator insisted with a broad smile. Afterwards, having been corrected, Cuomo rephrased the question, “you are 74 going on 75. You are close to 75.” Then, Sanders jumped in yet again: “I’m going on 75. So are you! You’re going to be 75 some day” to another round of applause .

Several times in the course of the debate, Clinton quoted former New York governor Mario Cuomo (the father of Chris Cuomo), who famously said: “You campaign in poetry but you govern in prose.” She specifically cited the phrase after being made to watch Sanders’ newest campaign ad, which features no narration, just an excerpt from the 1968 Simon and Garfunkel song America. The challenge for Clinton may be for all her policy acumen, demonstrated during the town hall, she campaigns in prose and not in poetry.