Sanders, Clinton trade sharp barbs at Dem debate

Associated Press

CHARLESTON, S.C.

Eager to rumble, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders jumped headlong into Sunday night’s presidential debate by tangling over who’s tougher on gun control and sketching sharply differing visions for the future of health care in America. It was the last Democratic matchup before voting in the 2016 race begins in two weeks, with both sides intent on seizing the momentum.

Clinton rapped Sanders, the Vermont senator, for voting repeatedly with the National Rifle Association, and then welcomed his weekend reversal of position to support legislation that would deny gun manufacturers legal immunity. She rattled off a list of provisions she said Sanders had supported in line with the NRA: “He voted against the Brady Bill five times. He voted against what we call the Charleston loophole. He voted to let guns go on Amtrak, guns to go into national parks.”

Sanders, in turn, said Clinton’s assertion that he kowtowed to the gun lobby was “disingenuous” and pointed to his lifetime rating of a D- from the NRA.

On health care, Sanders released his plan for a government-run single-payer plan just hours before the debate, and used his opening statement to call for health care “for every man, woman and child as a right.” Clinton, by contrast, urged less sweeping action to build on President Barack Obama’s health care plan.

Clinton suggested that approach was dangerous — and unrealistic. She said that under Obama’s plan, “we finally have a path to universal health care. ... I don’t want to see us start over again with a contentious debate.”

Sanders countered: “No one is tearing this up; we’re going to go forward.”

The debate over gun control — an ongoing conflict between Clinton and Sanders — took on special import given the setting. The debate took plan just blocks from the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church where nine parishioners were killed during Bible study last summer. Gun control has emerged as a central theme in the race, with Clinton citing the issue as one of the major differences between the candidates.

On Saturday night, Sanders announced his support for legislation that would reverse a 2005 law he had supported that granted gun manufacturers legal immunity.

His changed position came in a statement after days of criticism from Clinton, who had attempted to use his previous vote to undercut his liberal image.

Clinton immediately cast the latest move as a “flip-flop.” Sanders said he backed the 2005 law in part because of provisions that require child safety locks on guns and ban armor-piercing ammunition. He also said he supported immunity then in part to protect small shops in his home state of Vermont.

“There were things in it that I did not like, and I was willing to rethink,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” ‘’We have rethought.”

Sanders plan for a sweeping single-payer universal health care system, an idea that Clinton has argued would undercut Obama’s signature health care law. Sanders would pay for his plan through increased payroll taxes, a health care premium and a top marginal income tax rate of more than 50 percent.

Clinton suggested earlier Sunday that Sanders would need to increase taxes on the middle class.

In an interview with Time magazine on Sunday, Sanders said that his plan would ultimately save taxpayers money by lowering their health care bills.

Sanders, meanwhile, has questioned Clinton’s liberal credentials, casting the former secretary of state as a Wall Street ally who will switch her positions for political gain. But he’s vowed to forgo negative attacks, a position that may be hard to maintain as the race intensifies.

Both candidates are competing for black voters in South Carolina, which hosts the fourth primary contest. At a party fundraising dinner Saturday night, they vowed to change criminal justice policies.

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who’s been stuck in single digits since announcing his campaign last spring, also will be on the debate stage. The evening offers perhaps his last chance to improve his standing in the race.

The debate was sponsored by NBC, YouTube and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute.

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Nancy Benac reported from Washington. Follow Lisa Lerer and Nancy Benac on Twitter at: —http://twitter.com/llerer and —http://twitter.com/nbenac

Sanders says Clinton’s assertion that he’s a tool of the gun lobby is “disingenuous” and notes that he has a lifetime rating of a D- from the National Rifle Association.