Democrats Woo Iowa's Remaining Undecided
DES MOINES, IA— -- Exactly one week before the Iowa caucuses, all three Democratic presidential candidates participated in forum hosted in the state by CNN. They mostly faced questions from 'leaning' or undecided voters, and both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders had to respond to each others' ads. Clinton said after the sweeping montage of Sanders' fans, "You campaign in poetry, you govern in prose."
Here's five moments that mattered:
1. YOUNG SUPPORTER LEANING TOWARDS SANDERS CHALLENGES CLINTON'S HONESTY:
Repeatedly over the years, Clinton has faced low polling on honesty, favorability and trustworthiness -- and tonight a young voter, who said he was leaning towards Sanders, confronted her about it.
“I've heard from quite a few people my age that they think you're dishonest, but I'd like to hear from you and why you feel the enthusiasm isn't there,” Taylor Gipple asked Clinton, referring to the huge support Sanders has among young people.
Despite the uncomfortable exchange, Clinton launched into a lengthy, animated response, highlighting her record as a progressive. "I've been around a long time. People have thrown all kinds of things at me. And you know, I can't keep up with it. I just keep going forward,” she said, later adding with moxie, "You have to have somebody who is a proven, proven fighter. Somebody who has taken them on and won. And kept going and will do that as president. That's why I hope you'll reconsider.”
2. DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST CANDIDATE CONFIRMS (AGAIN) "YES WE WILL RAISE TAXES"
It was the sound bite no politician wants. “We will raise taxes. Yes, we will,” Bernie Sanders told CNN moderator Chris Cuomo when pushed about his Medicare-for-all, single-payer health care plan.
“There's a little bit of disingenuity out there,” Sanders continued. “We may raise taxes, but we are also going to eliminate private health insurance premiums for individuals and for businesses.”
Sanders and his campaign estimate that his plan would cost $1.38 trillion a year, and that a a family of four making $50,000 a year would save over $5,000 a year, paying less than $500 in taxes for the program, but then theoretically, no longer paying for private insurance, copays and deductibles. He would also raise income taxes for the top earners to pay for the plan.
3. BERNIE SANDERS: THE FORMER TRACK STAR
The 74-year-old senator, who would be the oldest president ever elected, took a moment to challenge the CNN moderator to try to keep up with him.
“Have a seat, senator. I'm tired following you around there,” CNN’s Chris Cuomo said after Sanders stood for a lengthy answer.
“Follow me around today, you'd be a lot more tired,” Sanders retorted (he did have four campaign events in four Iowa cities before the forum). Asked specifically about his past athletic accomplishments, Sanders was not shy.
“I was a very good athlete. I wouldn't say great athlete. Pretty good basketball player. My elementary school in Brooklyn won the borough championship,” he said, though then he seemed to fane a little modesty and add that it was hardly worth mentioning. “I did take third place in the New York City indoor one mile race...I was a very good long-distance runner. Not a great runner, but captain of my track team,” he went on making his case that he has been -- and is still -- in good health.
4. BERNIE LITERALLY STANDS UP TO HILLARY CLINTON
During the forum, CNN played a campaign ad from Clinton camp that painted her as better prepared than her opponents to be commander in chief. Sanders stood up from his chair, said Clinton was a very good person, but "this calls for a standing up response." He went on to list policy differences between himself and Clinton on Wall Street, healthcare, taxes and guns.
On guns, Sanders said "today, Hillary Clinton is running a lot of advertisements on gun issues. Interestingly enough, she's running most of them in New Hampshire, where she thinks it will work. Not running so many of them in rural Iowa."
