Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., explained Wednesday afternoon that Hillary Clinton’s poor showing in the polls in New Hampshire is because the Democratic front-runner is fighting a tough battle against the “liberal wing of the Democratic Party.”
Her comments came after MSNBC’s Chuck Todd asked her whether Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ success in the Granite State can be attributed to the fact that he serves a neighboring state.
“I think, you know, Hillary has not only been up against Bernie Sanders and the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, but she’s also been up against all of those candidates who have been running on the Republican side who have been hitting her for years now since they’ve been in this race,” the Clinton surrogate said.
Todd pressed her for clarification, “Do you consider yourself a member of that liberal wing of the party?”
“I consider myself a good Democrat who represents all the people of New Hampshire, and that means you may not have one position on every issue, and I think that’s where most people are who have to make decisions on critical issues to get things done,” the senator replied.
Clinton has fought hard in the Democratic presidential primary to convince voters that she is the true champion of progressive policies, and has batted down criticisms that she only pretends to be liberal so as to win the party’s nomination.
“I hope we keep it on the issues, because if it is about our records, hey, I am going to win by a landslide on Tuesday,” Clinton said Wednesday, referring to the New Hampshire primary next week.
Her campaign said elsewhere Wednesday on social media, “This shouldn’t be a debate about who gets to define “progressive”—it should be about who will get real results for American families.”
“An important part of being a progressive is making progress. From health care to fighting inequality, Hillary’s record speaks for itself,” the account added. “Hillary’s not running to make a point—she’s running to make a difference. She’ll keep doing that.”
Sanders has, for his part, maintained that it is he who has consistently supported left-wing policies, and has accused Clinton of changing her positions multiple times so as to appear liberal.
The Vermont lawmaker said Tuesday in Keene, N.H., that it is, “very hard to be a real progressive and to take on the establishment in the way that I think has to be taken when you become dependent as she has through her super PAC and in other ways on Wall Street or drug company money.”
Clinton has in years since she left the State Department accepted approximately $3 million in speaking fees from Wall Street heavyweights, including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank and UBS.
Asked whether he thinks Clinton is a progressive, Sanders, a longtime opponent of the financial industry, replied, “Some days, yes … except when she announces that she’s a proud moderate and then I guess she’s not a progressive.”
His remarks comes nearly a year after Clinton told supporters in Columbus, Ohio, “You know, I get accused of being kind of moderate and center. I plead guilty.”
Some other days… pic.twitter.com/7SjQdgiiQr
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) February 3, 2016
Clinton has latched on to some of Sanders’ pet issues, including going after the banks, income inequality and free tuition for students, while maintaining that she is both a moderate and a progressive.
