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             Sanders, Clinton Battle in New York Democratic Debate

   by VOA News

   Democratic presidential candidates Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and
   former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held a contentious debate
   Thursday night in familiar territory -- Brooklyn, New York ahead of
   next Tuesday's very important New York primary.

   The two had a sharp exchange in which they questioned each other's
   judgment. Sanders, who in recent weeks said he does not believe Clinton
   is qualified to be president, Thursday said that he accepts that
   Clinton has the qualifications, but questioned her judgment. He pointed
   to her support for the war in Iraq and her acceptance of campaign
   funding from banks and firms on Wall Street.

   Clinton accused the Sanders camp of churning out lies about her.
   Clinton said the people of New York voted her for the Senate twice and
   President Barack Obama named her secretary of state. She has the
   judgement, she says, but stressed what she says is Sanders' weakness on
   foreign policy issues.

   She called Sanders' concentration on her accepting large contributions
   from Wall Street a "phony attack."

   ''

   Both agreed that banks regarded as too big to fail are a risk to the
   economy and should be broken up. But they angrily squabbled over
   raising the federal minimum wage, literally shouting over one another.

   Sanders said it must be raised to $15 an hour and said Clinton is
   "confusing a lot of people," when she said she also supports a $15
   wage, but said the minimum wage should be brought up to $12 first.

   Both candidates have deep ties to New York. Sanders was born in
   Brooklyn 74 years ago and still retains his distinctive regional accent
   from the area. Clinton represented the state as a U.S. senator from
   2001 until 2009.

   Both candidates have large followings in New York, but polls going into
   Thursday night debate show Clinton with a double-digit lead over
   Sanders statewide, with at least one giving her a 17 point advantage.
   She also has a large lead in the delegate count.

   Sanders has won seven of the last eight Democratic primaries and has
   been courting minorities and young voters looking to keep the momentum
   going.
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   mocratic-debate/3286870.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/sanders-clinton-battle-in-new-york-democratic-debate/3286870.html