Clinton, Sanders spar over health care

Hillary Clinton targeted Bernie Sanders’ electoral appeal with some of her strongest language yet in a debate on Sunday night, seizing on Mr. Sanders’ recent policy shifts on universal healthcare and gun control to try to undercut his image as an anti-political truth teller.

Ms. Clinton also repeatedly aligned herself with a former political rival, President Barack Obama, as she sought to portray her current one, Mr. Sanders, as a fringe candidate who did not stand with Mr. Obama on major issues such as Wall Street regulation. Mr. Sanders, in turn, gave no quarter as he criticized Ms. Clinton as dishonest in her attacks.

‘Medicare for all’

With Mr. Sanders gaining on her before the February 1 Iowa caucuses, Ms. Clinton cast herself as the defender of Mr. Obama’s record and Mr. Sanders as playing into Republican hands with proposals like replacing the Affordable Care Act with a single-payer plan, which Mr. Sanders describes as “Medicare for all.”

“We’ve accomplished so much already,” she said. “I don’t want to see the Republicans repeal it.”

“That is nonsense,” said Mr. Sanders, who pushed back sharply throughout the night. “What a ‘Medicare for all’ programme does is finally provide healthcare for every man, woman and child as a right.” He added that 29 million people still lack health insurance.

Ms. Clinton was pointed in her critiques of Mr. Sanders but relatively restrained in tone and words as she sought to raise doubts about what many liberals see as Mr. Sanders’ greatest virtues: his integrity and consistency on policy issues. She chose not to accuse him of “flip-flopping” on gun control bills as she had earlier on Sunday, but rather said at the debate that she was “pleased” he had “reversed” himself. For Ms. Clinton, it was enough to note Mr. Sanders’ changes in policy: by doing so, she raised doubts about his consistency, but stopped short of eviscerating his positions and potentially alienating a restless liberal base that largely favors Mr. Sanders.

Her tactics left Mr. Sanders appearing frustrated at times, such as when he called her “very disingenuous” on his gun record, or when he sighed audibly and rolled his eyes upward as she implicitly questioned his principles on healthcare.

When Ms. Clinton pushed on his healthcare plan, which she said would “tear up” the President’s signature achievement, he shot back: “No one is tearing this up. We’re going forward.”

The competition to claim Mr. Obama’s political mantle was the dominant theme of the night, given that the Democratic race has become so close in Iowa and New Hampshire.