Sanders rising: To protect herself in primaries, Hillary Clinton is forced to hit hard

As the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary near, Democrats are having to face up to the fact that Sen. Bernie Sanders has created a real race between himself and Hillary Clinton.

What was supposed to be a cakewalk for Clinton has become a chance for the solidly liberal Sanders to make hay early in the primary picture.

True, it may not last. But at least for the time being, Sanders has made it a race. And that is not good for the Democrats who had hoped Hillary would ease to the nomination unscarred.

Sanders is leading polls in New Hampshire by a narrow margin and is pulling even in Iowa, where his socialist message would not appear to play very well. But it has been enough for Clinton to come out swinging, calling Sanders the true far-left liberal that he is, and thereby endangering her standing with the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.

The one thing Democrats do not want is a slugfest of the type the Republicans find themselves in.

Published in Editorials on January 18, 2016 12:31 PM