Sanders-Clinton debate heats up, but remains “clean”

Focused on trade, Wall Street influence and more

FLINT, Mich. — Coming off a weekend in which Bernie Sanders won Maine and Nebraska, while Hillary Clinton took Louisiana, the Democratic presidential debate went down Sunday without the mention of either candidate’s “privates.”

Both candidates aggressively debated over trade, Wall Street influence and more.

Clinton accused Sanders of turning his back on the auto industry, while Sanders countered that Clinton’s friends on Wall Street had “destroyed this economy.”

Neither discussed the size of their …

The two often disagreed and interrupted one another, but the tone was more about the issues, than the Republican debate in Detroit three days earlier that focused on personal attacks, insults and even sexual innuendo. 

Sanders said at one point, “We are, if elected president, going to invest a lot of money into mental health and when you watch these Republican debates you know why.”

Both Sanders and Clinton had a good laugh at that.

Right now, Clinton has collected around 660 delegates, while Sanders has about 480 in a race to 2,383. Other media reports will show Clinton with over 1,000 delegates, including superdelegates. At this point, that number is inconclusive, because superdelegate votes are fluid – they can change. Superdelegates will not vote until the convention.

At Sunday’s debate, Sanders and Clinton made a case for being the best candidate to defeat GOP front-runner Donald Trump in a November matchup.

Clinton fired first that she was getting more votes than Trump in the primaries.

Sanders pointed out he was doing better than Clinton when pitted against Trump.

Sanders, who argued with considerably more edge than in past debates, pounced early when Clinton spoke about a need to keep jobs from shifting overseas.

“I am very glad that Secretary Clinton has discovered religion on this issue,” he said, then went on to criticize her past support for trade deals that he maintained had “disastrous” consequences.

Clinton, too, took the offensive early on but more often found herself fending off Sanders’ criticisms.

In her most pointed thrust, she said Sanders had voted against a 2009 bailout of car-makers, adding, “I went with them. You did not. If everybody had voted the way he did, I believe the auto industry would have collapsed, taking 4 million jobs with it.”

Sanders countered that the money for the auto industry was part of a larger bailout package for Wall Street, adding, “I will be damned if it was the working people of this country who have to bail out the crooks on Wall Street.” He referred to the overall package as “the Wall Street bailout where some of your friends destroyed this economy.”

Ultimately, President George W. Bush and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson agreed to provide $23.4 billion for the auto industry from the federal bailout money for the financial sector.

Sanders also took direct aim at the former secretary of state’s paid speeches to Wall Street banks and other financial companies. She promised to release transcripts of her private remarks only if all her opponents – Democratic and Republican – did the same.

“I’m your Democratic opponent, I release it,” Sanders said, throwing imaginary speech transcripts into the air. “Here it is. There ain’t nothin’. I don’t give speeches to Wall street for hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

The debate started on a more conciliatory note, with Clinton joining Sanders in calling for Michigan’s Republican governor to resign over his handling of the Flint water crisis.

An emotional Sanders said he felt “literally shattered” by the toxic tap water in Flint and renewed his call for Gov. Rick Snyder to resign.

Snyder quickly tweeted that “political candidates” will be leaving Flint and Michigan in a few days after the state’s primary but he is “committed to the people of Flint.”