When Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders meet on the debate stage Sunday, it will be the first time Clinton is not the runaway leader of the party’s primary. No longer the presumed front-runner, she’ll have to defend her record and show that she is more likely than her opponent to unite the Democratic Party and defeat the eventual 2016 Republican nominee.
At her peak, Clinton held a 25 point plus lead in both Iowa and New Hampshire. But now Sanders edges past her in both states, up 14 points in New Hampshire and by 5 points in Iowa.
With the shift in polling, the previously quiet race has become a battlefield. Clinton has thrown the kitchen sink at Sanders over the last week — suggesting that he’s unelectable in the general, that his policy positions are empty promises, and that he has lost his integrity.
All of those attacks will likely be repeated in Sunday night’s debate.
One of Clinton’s main criticisims of Sanders is his inexperience responding to Republican attacks, while she has decades of experience under GOP fire. She’s long argued that her GOP presidential rivals are “dangerous” candidates “who want to turn back the clock” on President Obama’s progress. She suggests that Sanders couldn’t run a competitive campaign against them.
“We need a Democratic nominee who will be able to beat the Republicans and get the job done for Americans,” she said while receiving the endorsement of Planned Parenthood on Sunday in New Hampshire. “I shudder to think about what the Republicans would do, if given the chance.”
“The larger question I think [the Clinton campaign] is trying to make is, when Sen. Sanders is scrutinized for his record, when he’s under the hot lights, how does he do?” Democratic strategist Doug Thornell asked. “We know the case that Republicans are going to make against Clinton.”
Clinton has also taken aim at Sanders policy proposals. In just the last week, she attacked Sanders for his stance on gun control, healthcare and Wall Street reform.
“If that’s the kind of revolution he is talking about, I am worried folks,” Clinton said in Iowa on Tuesday.
The former Secretary of State will almost certainly re-up her call for Sanders to release the specifics of his universal single-payer healthcare plan — something that will likely cost trillions of dollars and require a major tax hike on the middle class.
“I wish we could elect a Democratic president that could wave a magic wand and say ‘we shall do this’ and ‘we shall do that,'” she said, referring to Sanders’ ambitious policy plans while speaking to a crowd in Iowa on Tuesday — the day Sanders claimed the lead in both Iowa and New Hampshire.
Clinton’s campaign also faulted Sanders’ character, scolding him in a Wednesday conference call for running an “attack ad” that highlighted his opposition to Wall Street without mentioning Clinton by name.
But Sanders’ momentum continues to grow as he now outpolls her in head to head matchups against the majority of Republican candidates, despite Clinton’s still large lead over Sanders in national polls. Clinton’s attacks have to resonate with voters on Sunday, but she can’t appear to have lost control of the race that was once hers.
“She can’t appear that she’s panicking,” Thornell said.
Clinton and Sanders will meet on the debate stage, along with underdog candidate Martin O’Malley on Sunday night at 9:00pm in South Carolina.
