Clinton denies shifting positions to woo votes
LAS VEGAS Hillary Clinton vigorously defended her shifting positions on trade, gay marriage and other issues as she opened the first Democratic debate Tuesday, denying that she changes her views to match the mood of voters.
“Like most human beings, I do absorb new information, I do look at what’s happening in the world,” Clinton said.
Pressed specifically on her newly announced opposition to a Pacific Rim trade deal she touted while serving as secretary of state, Clinton said she had hoped to support it but ultimately decided it did not meet her standards.
Clinton entered the debate a weakened front-runner, having spent months answering questions about her email practices at the State Department.
She’s also faced an unexpectedly tough challenge from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has energized liberals with his calls to break up big Wall Street banks and offer free tuition at public colleges and universities.
Sanders pushed back against the notion that he would face difficulty getting elected because he identifies as a democratic socialist, noting the huge crowds turning out to his rallies.
Clinton engaged directly with Sanders from the start of the Democratic contest in Las Vegas. She said pointedly said that Sanders — who has voted against major gun control legislation — had not been tough enough on gun control legislation.
Sanders defended his gun control record, and called for better mental health services, stricter background checks and closing the loophole that exempts gun shows from background checks.
Joining Clinton and Sanders on stage in Las Vegas were to be a trio of low-polling candidates looking for a breakthrough moment: former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley; Jim Webb, a former Navy secretary and U.S. senator from Virginia, and Lincoln Chafee, the Republican-turned independent-turned Democrat from Rhode Island.
Not present but eager to make his presence known, Republican front-runner Donald Trump was commenting live on Twitter.
“Who knows, maybe a star will be born (unlikely),” Trump wrote shortly before the debate was to begin.
Also hanging over the debate: the lengthy deliberations of Vice-President Joe Biden, who is weighing a late entry to the Democratic race. Debate host CNN kept an extra podium on standby just in case Biden decided to show up, but the vice-president instead stayed in Washington.