Underdog candidates ready for second showdown in Democratic debate
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Hillary Clinton has reemerged from a rocky summer with a strong lead over her two opponents for the Democratic nomination. But when she meets Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley here on Saturday for the second Democratic primary debate, her rivals will be ready to make it clear that they are still in the game.
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Sanders has spent the last two days in Burlington, Vermont, save for a quick trip to Lebanon, New Hampshire to mark Veterans Day on Wednesday, huddling with his closest aides into the night in a conference room. Sanders' senior strategist Tad Devine, who lamented after the first debate that Sanders should have devoted more time to preparing, said that the team's plan for the second debate was not entirely different. With a podium for Sanders, the team has been working to anticipate which questions are the most likely to come up and to fine tune his responses.
"I think Bernie now has got a debate under his belt," Devine said. "That's 100 percent more than he had last time."
That experience is especially important for Sanders when it comes to engaging directly with Clinton and O'Malley on stage.
"He understands now that O'Malley -- but also Hillary too -- they have no reluctance coming hard at him. He's now very aware of that. That's going to factor in," Devine said.
Sanders is accustomed to defending his proposals, often challenged as too expensive or too unpopular. Last weekend while campaigning in Rock Hill, South Carolina, Sanders went so far as to parody the response he's heard to his plan to expand Social Security benefits, which goes beyond what Clinton has promised.
"How is Bernie Sanders, the big spender, going to do this?" he said, sarcastically, to a group of Southern Democratic women gathered there for a regional meeting.
"Lift the cap!" A woman in the audience piped up, referring to the Social Security payroll tax cap, currently $117,000.
"That's right," Sanders said.
Devine said that Sanders is eager, as always, and prepared to debate the merits of his proposals on stage but that he isn't planning to throw the first punch. On the other hand, viewers -- along with Sanders and Clinton -- can expect O'Malley to continue to push the message of contrast that he's been developing over the past several weeks.
"With the first debate, we saw this is a fight that's just getting started," said Haley Morris, O'Malley's national press secretary. "The governor's really embracing that fight."
O'Malley, who registered at 5 percent in the latest CBS News-New York Times poll of likely Democratic primary voters nationwide, has been consistently tough on both Clinton and Sanders.
In contrast with Sanders' bunker-style debate prep, O'Malley is out on the trail, campaigning in Austin, Texas. On Thursday, O'Malley accused Clinton in a local interview of flip-flopping her position and tone on immigration, a charge he has also made against her when it comes to trade and gun control.
"Before one audience, she will talk about immigration reform and the need for it," he said. "Before another audience, she'll use the term "illegal immigrants" and boast about having voted to build a wall and barbed wire fence."
O'Malley has also recently raised questions about Sanders' loyalty to President Obama during his 2012 reelection campaign, bringing comments Sanders made in interviews in support of competitive primary back to life.
Sanders' aides have brushed off the accusation that he was anything but an advocate for the President, but the narrative has gained traction. And, with just three people instead of five on the debate stage on Saturday, O'Malley will have more time to "roll up his sleeves" and argue his case, Morris said.
Morris said that the campaign is looking forward to a debate that takes place in Iowa, a sentiment that was echoed by the other campaigns. In less than three months, caucus-goers in Iowa will gather with their neighbors to select their candidate and there is a sense of opportunity in reaching this all-important group.
Iowa was Clinton's first stop after she announced her candidacy in April and her campaign has invested heavily in the state, working to correct mistakes that the candidate made here during her first presidential bid.
"What Hillary is very much looking forward to in the debate is the opportunity to offer her vision for how to solve problems that keep Americans up at night," said Christina Reynolds, Clinton's deputy communications director. "It's a great opportunity to really talk about who you'll fight for, what you'll do for them and that's what she's looking forward to doing."
Reynolds added that Clinton's conversations with Iowans over the course of the campaign so far have impacted her policy positions, like her emphasis issues of mental health and addiction.
"I think you'll hear a lot of what she's heard from Iowans in what you hear at the debate," she said.
Clinton proved at the first debate, which was largely seen as a victory for her, that she was ready to counter the attacks that her opponents threw at her. More recently, at a campaign stop in Littleton, New Hampshire, a voter asked Clinton how she could be trusted given the controversies that have dogged her campaign.
"I advise you to go back and read my 11 hours of testimony," she said flatly. "I hope you enjoy it."