--- title: Democratic Debate: Clinton Fends Off Attacks description: Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley are set to debate for the last time in 2015. Looming over the forum is a data breach. canonical: https://time.com/4155432/democratic-debate-third-data-breach/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-19T13:00:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T21:44:16.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Democrats Prepare to Debate As Race Roiled Over Breach og:description: This time, Sanders is on the hot seat. og:url: https://time.com/4155432/democratic-debate-third-data-breach/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8296896d6a15cb18/6988763e0a4a22886f9c79b5/clinton-fends-off-attacks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4405 og:image:height: 2478 og:image:alt: clinton sanders debate og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Democrats Prepare to Debate As Race Roiled Over Breach twitter:description: This time, Sanders is on the hot seat. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8296896d6a15cb18/6988763e0a4a22886f9c79b5/clinton-fends-off-attacks.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hillary Clinton Fends Off Attacks At Democratic Debate > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Watch the Democratic Debate in Less Than Four Minutes [Watch (HLS stream): Watch the Democratic Debate in Less Than Four Minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/MP9tBH0u.m3u8) (4:00)  _Published 2015-10-14. In case you missed it_  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 13, 2023 9:44 PM UTCPublished: Dec 19, 2015 1:00 PM UTC  Hillary Clinton, right, and Bernie Sanders participate in the Democratic Presidential Debate hosted by ABC News at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Dec. 19, 2015. Hillary Clinton, right, and Bernie Sanders participate in the Democratic Presidential Debate hosted by ABC News at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Dec. 19, 2015. Jewel Samad—AFP/Getty Images  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 13, 2023 9:44 PM UTCPublished: Dec 19, 2015 1:00 PM UTC Hillary Clinton faced an onslaught of criticism from her rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination during Saturday evening’s debate, but neither Bernie Sanders nor Martin O’Malley delivered an attack that seemed likely to derail her frontrunner campaign. The challenges came on a wide range of topics, from her Wall Street ties and initial support for invading Iraq to her positions on gun control and age. She parried all comers, without losing her composure or committing major errors. “Maybe we can score some political points,” Clinton said of her rivals’ tough words. Instead, she focused her harshest words on Republicans, including GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, as part of a strategy to show Democratic voters that she is already ready for the general election next year. Sanders was tough on Clinton’s record, especially her more hawkish foreign policy positions. “Regime change is easy. Getting rid of dictators is easy,” Sanders said. Clinton countered that Sanders had voted for regime change in Libya. Sanders also kept hammering his anti-Establishment message against both Clinton. “It is too late for Establishment politics and Establishment economics,” Sanders said. O’Malley tried to inject himself repeatedly, picking up on the theme begun by Sabders. In doing so, he made note of the age of both Clinton and O’Malley. “Can I offer a different generation’s perspective?” O’Malley said. Later he added, “We need new leadership.” O’Malley was the more aggressive Clinton critic, taking on her support from Wall Street donors and her positions on the Second Amendment. “Secretary Clinton changes her position on this every election year it seems,” O’Malley said in criticizing Clinton’s record on gun rights. Clinton braced herself against the jabs, noting that she would get “all kinds of comments” from her rival. When O’Malley swung at Clinton’s record on gun rights, Clinton kept her composure. “I applaud his record,” she said, before adding: “I just wish he wouldn’t misrepresent mine.” She then noted that, as head of the Democratic Governors Association, O’Malley courted Wall Street donors himself. Sanders began the debate on the defensive over his campaign’s improper access to Clinton’s voter database. Sanders apologized to rival Clinton and sought to move past the drama that roiled their party for the last three days. “Yes. I apologize,” Sanders said. “Not only do I apologize to Secretary Clinton. I want to apologize to my supporters. This is not the type of campaign that we run.” [Read More: Bernie Sanders Declares War on the Democratic National Committee](http://time.com/4155942/bernie-sanders-voter-data-breach-lawsuit/) Sanders, however, continued to blame the Democratic National Committee and its data contractor. “There was a breach because the DNC vendor screwed up,” Sanders said. Clinton accepted the apology. “Obviously, we were distressed when we learned of it,” Clinton said, pointing to “tens of thousands of volunteers” who have worked to enter data. She then returned a favor to Sanders, who famously used his first debate with Clinton to shut down questions about her use of a private email server. “We should move on because I don’t think the American people are all that interested in this,” she said. Apart from the debate’s dramatic first question on the DNC data breach, the debate’s first portion was an otherwise predictable affair. Clinton faced criticism from her rivals, Sanders used every question to rally his progressive supporters and O’Malley struggled to inject himself into the conversation. The Saturday night debate was unlikely to change the contours of the Democratic contest, which so far has favored Clinton. Trump was not on stage, but he was a favorite target for the Democrats. “Mr. Trump has a great capacity to use bluster and bigotry to inflame people,” Clinton said. She said “he is becoming ISIS’s best recruiter.” Added Sanders: “He thinks a low minimum wage in America is a good idea.” And O’Malley called him “as untried and as (he is) incompetent.” **Read Next:** [_Sanders Campaign’s Breach of Clinton Data More Serious Than Disclosed_](http://time.com/4155185/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-data/) ### See Hillary Clinton's Evolution in 20 Photos  Teenager: Hillary Rodham poses in her 1965 senior class portrait from Park Ridge East High School in Illinois. AP  Law School Student: Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham pose for a snapshot at Yale Law School in 1972\. They married in 1975. Clinton Presidential Library  Mother: Clinton poses with her husband, Bill, then in his first term as governor, with their week-old daughter, Chelsea, on March 5, 1980. Donald R. Broyles—AP  Campaign Companion: Clinton celebrates her husband's victory in a Democratic runoff in Little Rock, Ark. on June 8, 1982. AP  Arkansas First Lady: Clinton is seen in her inaugural ball gown in 1985. A. Lynn—AP  Political Wife: Clinton celebrates her husband's inauguration in Little Rock on Sept. 20, 1991. Danny Johnston—AP  Dignitary: Clinton receives an honorary law degree from Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., on May 30, 1992. Chris Ocken—AP  Campaigner: Clinton speaks at a meeting during the presidential campaign for her husband in Buffalo, N.Y., on April 4, 1992. Bill Sikes—AP  First Lady: Clinton appears at the MTV Inauguration Ball at the Washington Convention Center on Jan. 20, 1993. Shayna Brennan—AP  Second-Term First Lady: Clinton attends the Inaugural Ball after her husband was sworn in to a second term on Jan. 20, 1997. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  New York Senator: Clinton speaks at a press conference with female Democratic senators in Washington on June 21, 2006. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Committee Member: Clinton listens to the testimony of Lt. General David Petraeus to the Senate Armed Forces Committee at a hearing on Capital Hill in Washington on Jan. 23, 2007. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Candidate: Clinton holds a a campaign event in Portsmouth, N.H., while running for the Democratic presidential nomination on Sept. 2, 2007. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Campaigner: Clinton speaks at a campaign stop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Jan. 2, 2008. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Secretary of State: Clinton kisses President Obama at a joint session of Congress in Washington on Feb. 24, 2009. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Witness: Clinton joins Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Dec. 3, 2009. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Witness: Clinton testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, on Jan. 23, 2013. J. Scott Applewhite—AP  Author: Clinton attends a signing memoir, "Hard Choices," at a Costco in Arlington, Va., on June 14, 2014. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Grandmother: Clinton holds her granddaughter Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City on Sept. 27, 2014. Office of President Clinton/AP  Once and Future Candidate: Clinton speaks at Iowa Senator Tom Harkin's annual Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa, on Sept. 14, 2014. Brooks Kraft—Corbis ## Transcript Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Democratic candidates for President of the United States. [ APPLAUSE ] So I would change our approach to the Middle East. We need a new paradigm in the Middle East. I think being the first women President would be quite a change. Protect the main street economy from recklessness on Wall Street. I would push to separate out these too big to jail, too big to fail banks. When millions of people begin to come together, And stand up and say, our government is gonna work for all of us, not just a handful of billionaires. I would lead, working with both parties in the Congress, and working through them in the traditional way that our Constitution says. Senator Sanders, will you say anything to get elected? I think that, like most people that I know, I have a range of views, but they are rooted in my values and my experiences. [ MUSIC ] What democratic socialism is about, is saying that it is immoral and wrong that the top one tenth of one percent in this country own almost 90 %, almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 %. We need to separate the casino speculative mega bank gambling. We have to ensure with our money Me from the commercial backing, mainly reinstating glass [ UNKNOWN ]. And that's a huge difference on this stage among us as candidates. I did. I'm with both Senator Sanders and Governor O'Malley in putting a lot of attention onto the banks. And the plan that I have put forward would actually empower regulators. Is to break up big banks if we thought they posed a risk. But I wanna make sure we're gonna cover everybody. Not what caused the problem last time, but what could cause it next time. Senator, senator- Congress does not regulate Wall Street. Wall Street regulates Congress. There's no doubt that when Putin came back in and said he was going to be president, that did change the relationship. We have to stand up to his bullying and specifically in Syria. I will do everything that I can to make sure the United States does not get involved in another quagmire like we did in Iraq. The worst foreign policy blunder in the history of this country. I believe that as President I would, not be so quick to pull for a military tool, I believe that a no fly zone in Syria, this time actually, Secretary, would be a mistake. You have to enforce no fly zones, and I believe especially with the Russian airforce in the air it could lead to an escalation because of an accident, that we would deeply regret. [ MUSIC ] Do I think that a gun shop in the state of Vermont that sells legally a gun to somebody and that somebody goes out and does something crazy that that gun shop owner should be held responsible? I don't. Is Bernie Sanders tough enough on guns? No. Not at all. I think that we have to look at the fact that we lose 90 people a day from gun violence. This has gone on too long and it's time the entire country stood up against the NRA. On the other hand, where you have manufacturers and where you have gun shops, knowingly giving guns to criminals or aiding and abetting that, of course we should take action. It's fine to talk about all of these things and I'm glad we're talking about these things. But I've actually done them. It's time to stand up and pass comprehensive gun safety legislation as a nation. [ APPLAUSE ] The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails. Thank you. I'm not taking a backseat to anybody on my values, my principles. And the results that I get. When you have 11 million undocumented people in this country we need comprehensive immigration reform. If there would be a major difference between my administration and the Obama administration it would be in the use of executive authority. In this debate we tried to deal with some of the very tough issues facing our country. That's in stark contrast to the Republicans, who are currently running for President. [ APPLAUSE ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4155432/democratic-debate-third-data-breach/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4155432/democratic-debate-third-data-breach/"},"headline":"Hillary Clinton Fends Off Attacks At Democratic Debate","datePublished":"2015-12-19T13:00:59.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T21:44:16.000Z","description":"Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley are set to debate for the last time in 2015. 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