MANCHESTER, N.H. — The third Democratic presidential debate opened with an apology and ended with compliments. For months, the Democratic primary contest has been a relatively civil affair — offering a tone that party leaders see as a much-needed contrast to the raucous, larger Republican field.
A day after a rancorous dispute over a breach of private campaign data by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign roiled the Democratic Party, a political truce between Hillary Clinton and Sanders largely held — even as Sanders’ aides seemed itching for a more aggressive confrontation with the front-runner.
Mindful of the grassroots support she’ll need to fuel a general election bid should she capture the nomination, Clinton accepted his apology, keeping her criticism carefully aimed at her GOP rivals — particularly businessman Donald Trump.
“I’m very clear that we have a distinct difference between those of us on this stage tonight and all of our Republican counterparts,” she said, in her opening remarks. “We have to prevent the Republicans from rolling back the progress that we’ve made.”
Clinton’s brush-off of the data-breach controversy underscores her confidence in a race in which Sanders is struggling to regain momentum as it shifts away from an economic message — the core of his campaign — to one over national security, because of terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif.
Sanders’ pledge to avoid personal attacks in favor of policy disputes has seemed to frustrate his aides.
The apparent distance between Sanders and his aides may be designed to benefit their candidate by dissociating him from the kind of political tactics that could undermine his truth-telling reputation. But it also highlights the organizational challenges Sanders faces as he tries to turn an insurgent candidacy into a campaign that can topple a world famous political celebrity with a solid double-digit lead.
Clinton has moved quickly to capitalize on the new focus of the race, touting her experience as secretary of state and casting herself as an experienced hand in a dangerous world — an argument her aides believe will play well against both Sanders and non-establishment GOP contenders such as Trump. She also tackled economic issues, emphasizing differences, not so much with her Democratic rivals as much as with the GOP.
While most polls have Clinton leading by more than 20 percentage points nationally, the contest remains tight in the crucial early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, the latter in which Sanders has an advantage as the longtime senator of neighboring Vermont. His aides believe that wins in those two states would give them momentum heading into the next contests in South Carolina and Nevada.
Sanders’ campaign has successfully turned grassroots energy into a sizable war chest, announcing last week that it had received 2 million contributions — a milestone only matched by President Barack Obama in his re-election campaign. But to turn that energy into a national victory, Sanders must find a way to expand his appeal in a race in which economic uncertainty is increasingly taking a back seat to security concerns.
