--- title: Hillary Clinton Argues Bernie Sanders Can't Get Things Done description: A fight between pragmatism and idealism. canonical: https://time.com/4189795/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-attack/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-22T04:03:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:55.709Z article:section: Politics og:title: Clinton's New Attack: Sanders Can't Get Anything Done og:description: A fight between pragmatism and idealism. og:url: https://time.com/4189795/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-attack/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte6b0e665698ec4fc/69887a1c5f570ff3fcb1f4ba/hillary-clinton-iowa1.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, speaks during an event in Indianola, Iowa, U.S., on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Clinton's New Attack: Sanders Can't Get Anything Done twitter:description: A fight between pragmatism and idealism. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte6b0e665698ec4fc/69887a1c5f570ff3fcb1f4ba/hillary-clinton-iowa1.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Clinton's New Line: Sanders Won't Get Anything Done > Sponsored content. 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In early voting states like New Hampshire, the hard work of winning elections is often decided by volunteers on the ground._ by [Sam Frizell / Iowa City, Iowa](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell / Iowa City, Iowa Jan 22, 2016 4:03 AM UTC  Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, speaks during an event in Indianola, Iowa, U.S., on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016. Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, speaks during an event in Indianola, Iowa, U.S., on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016. Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images by [Sam Frizell / Iowa City, Iowa](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell / Iowa City, Iowa Jan 22, 2016 4:03 AM UTC Bernie Sanders is a shill for the [gun lobby](http://time.com/4183978/democratic-debate-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-guns/). Bernie Sanders is trying to dismantle [healthcare](http://time.com/4183856/bernie-sanders-middle-class-taxes-health-care/). Bernie Sanders is inexperienced on foreign policy. Those are all [criticisms](http://time.com/4183625/democratic-debate-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/) Hillary Clinton has thrown at the Vermont Senator in recent weeks, like so many strands of wet spaghetti, as she looks for something that sticks to quell his populist revolt. Now in Iowa, Clinton is workshopping one more attack, painting Sanders as a starry-eyed [idealist](http://time.com/4184135/democratic-debate-charleston-analysis/) incapable of acting on his ambitious agenda. In a day of campaigning on Thursday in snowy Iowa, Clinton questioned Sanders’ ability to form coalitions and pass legislation in Congress, accusing him of being out of touch with reality. “In theory, there are a lot of things to like about his ideas,” she said at an event at Simpson College, in Indianola, Iowa. “But ‘in theory’ isn’t enough. A president has to deal in reality.” “I am not interested in ideas that sound good on paper but will never make it in real life,” Clinton said. Clinton focused much of her fire on Sanders’ plan for universal healthcare, a single-payer system which would work like socialized healthcare in European countries in Canada and is well-liked among many progressive voters in Iowa. She drove hard into Sanders’ record in Congress pushing for healthcare plan, saying he had been unable to move the ball forward on the plan because it was impractical. “Sanders has been in Congress for 25 years. He’s introduced his healthcare bill nine times. But he never got a single vote in the House or a single Senate co-sponsor. Not one,” Clinton said. “Now he has a new plan,” she continued. “You hear a promise to build a whole new system. but that’s not what you’ll get. You’ll get gridlock. And an endless wait for advances that will never come.” **Read More:** [_Sanders Talks About Winning the White House_](http://time.com/4188073/bernie-sanders-winning-white-house/) Clinton has risked alienating progressives by attacking Sanders, who is viewed favorably by a large majority of Democrats in Iowa, even among those who support the former Secretary of State. She and her allies’ attacks in previous weeks have sparked criticism on the left, particularly when her daughter, Chelsea, said Sanders was trying to take “millions of people off their health insurance.” Clinton’s critique of Sanders is similar to the one she used against then-Sen. Barack Obama in 2008\. During that election cycle, Clinton similarly said that hope and change were not enough, and that Obama would have to deal with harsh realities of a partisan Congress. “I could stand up here and say: let’s just get everybody together, let’s get unified,” Clinton said in February 2008\. “Maybe I’ve just lived a little long, but I have no illusions about how hard this will be.” On Thursday, Clinton seemed to attack Sanders’ methods while embracing his values. “I care about making a real difference in your life. Senator Sanders and I share many of the same goals but we have different records and different ideas about how to drive progress,” Clinton said. Iowans at Clinton’s are noticing her criticism of Sanders and taking cues. “I’m a diehard progressive liberal. Do I wish we could have Medicare-for-all? Of course. But I understand that it’s not realistic and that won’t happen in our modern political climate,” said Scott Arnes, 28, who campaigned for Clinton in South Dakota eight years ago. “I think Hillary’s approaches to universal healthcare are far more achievable and that’s why I support her.” Clinton’s attacks on Sanders have intensified as the race as drawn closer in Iowa, where the two Democratic candidates are tied neck-and-neck, and in New Hampshire, where Sanders is outpacing her operation. In the mid-afternoon on Thursday as Clinton was preparing for an organizing meeting in Vinton, Iowa, CNN published a poll showed Sanders eight points ahead of her in Iowa. The Clinton campaign is trying to make the race about two choices: Clinton, the effective progressive, and Sanders, the candidate who will over-promise and under-deliver. And by not attacking Sanders’ ideas but instead criticizing his methods, Clinton can avoid angering his supporters. “She’s not anybody who’s got some wide-eyed idea that just as president she’ll be able to stomp her fast and make people change or do anything,” said Joan Peck, an engineer said after attending a Clinton’s organizing event in Vinton, Iowa. After the latest poll was released, Sanders’ campaign released a statement accusing her of peddling “establishment politics and establishment economics.” “At a time when Secretary Clinton’s lead is evaporating in Iowa we understand why her campaign is panicking and saying absurd things,” said Sanders’ spokesman Michael Briggs. Sanders, meanwhile has harped on Clinton’s several-hundred-thousand-dollar speaking fees from large banks after serving as Secretary of State, suggesting that she is in the pocket of Wall Street power players. The Clinton campaign’s attacks on Sanders have had an all-hands-on-deck feel to them. As she sharpened her barbs against Sanders from snowy Iowa, her aides back on the East Coast held a conference call with blasting Sanders’ for saying in the Democratic debate on Sunday that the United States should move quickly to “normalize relations with Iran.” **Read More:** [_Full Text of the Fourth Democratic Debate in Charleston_](http://time.com/4183952/democratic-debate-full-text-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/) Clinton policy advisor Jake Sullivan and press secretary Brian Fallon questioned Sanders’ judgment for his statements on the Islamic nation which has sworn to destroy Israel. “I think it would be particularly hard proposition for a Democratic nominee to defend against a Republican next fall,” said Fallon. “It is the very caricature that Republicans like to put forward of Secretary Clinton and President Obama.” As the race gets more heated, Sanders’ advisors say that Clinton is getting scared of major losses in Iowa, and that is why they have decided to launch With 1 days before the caucuses, many voters in Iowa remain undecided. Clinton’s campaign is trying to draw clear battle lines: between Clinton, the workhorse candidate who knows what it takes to pass legislation and enact an agenda, and Sanders, the show-horse candidate who would quickly be stymied by a Republican Congress. And even if Iowa voters are buying the distinction, they’re not always leaning toward Clinton. “Sanders is promising us things that people on the far left have wanted forever,” said Conor McDonald at the Clinton event in Indianola, who said he was undecided but leaning toward Sanders. “It’s a race between the pragmatist and the idealist.” ## Transcript [00:00] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [00:04] 30 days to the primary, every second counts. We're [00:08] hoping that this will prove our tenacity and we're willing [00:12] to not only go out here and knock on doors, but knock [00:14] on doors in awful weather because That's how strongly [00:18] we feel about this campaign. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [00:37] Three weeks to go now until the first votes are cast in [00:40] the 2016 presidential race. But the bigger surprise [00:42] right here, Sanders is closing in on Hillary Clinton. [00:45] Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders deadlocked. [00:47] Sanders is out for And that has her campaign admitting [00:50] they are nervous. [ APPLAUSE ] People [00:55] hearing the message directly from the senator is [00:57] wonderful, but we can't have a rally every day. The [01:00] conversations that matter to me are the ones that are [01:02] happening between individuals. Because at the end of [01:05] the day, that's what wins an election. If they're home. [01:08] [ SOUND ] I [01:12] think the best I ever did was 61 houses. And I think I [01:16] got 7 commit cards. Which was pretty good. We've had [01:20] a big push in the past 60 days. My job is not [01:24] to convince people to change their vote, I'm just there [01:28] to give them information. Hi. Hi. Mr. Thorner? [01:33] And also, it's to inform people what day the Primary is [01:37] on. Should be, here. [ SOUND ] [01:47] I remember, I think it was about six years ago now, [01:50] there was one. Disheveled crazy looking guy on floor of [01:54] the Senate who gave a 10 and a half hour filibuster [01:58] about how stupid the Bush tax cuts were. And I [02:01] remember seeing that, being like, this dude is the only [02:04] dude in the Senate with guts and this is exactly what I [02:07] believe in. And I started following a little bit more [02:10] about who is he was and everything I heard him say, I [02:13] agreed with and loved. Like everything. Well, we're just [02:14] out here for Bernie, because we believe that he's one [02:18] of the most different candidates. That can really [02:20] revolutionize- This is the grind, yes, this is where it's [02:24] won. Those are the most effective and persuasive ways [02:27] of talking to voters. All right, whose next? Yesterday [02:31] alone we knocked on 17, 000 doors. Watch the ice. [02:36] One day, 17, 000 doors. We're from the Bernie [02:39] Sanders campaign and we were just wondering if you [02:41] were planning on voting in the primary on February [02:44] 9th. [ INAUDIBLE ] Hilary in the primary. Definitely. [02:47] Wonderful. Be voting for both of you. Great. Leaning [02:50] strongly in her favor? I'm still not sure. I love Bernie [02:54] Sanders. Most of us do Who are in this part of the [02:57] country. But there's some drawbacks, too. I'm torn- [03:00] She's a woman with very strong convictions just like [03:03] Bernie- That I admire. And she's stuck to them, but [03:07] now she's moderated them to say well, I can meet the [03:10] Republicans halfway. And I don't know what will [03:14] happen if Bernie can't meet them halfway. I'm not sure [03:18] that he would Even have a chance of [ CROSSTALK ] [03:21] Yes, yeah. That's what I'm really worried. The worries [03:24] that people have about his electability should have [03:28] really disappeared by now. All these people that no [03:31] other candidate would get should come out and vote [03:34] for them Bernie's got those people. And people that [03:37] haven't voted in 20 years. And I've seen them in the [03:39] office making calls. I've seen them stepping up and [03:42] doing stuff. And I think Bernie talks the talk and walks [03:45] the walk. One of the reasons that I'm really [03:50] For Hilary is because of the Affordable Care Act and I [03:53] think she will not only keep it, but improve on it. I've [03:56] had breast cancer, my husband's had prostate cancer, [04:01] my son has treatable epilepsy. She's just right on for [04:05] people from birth to death. If we get that win by three [04:09] points or five points or whatever, it's gonna be us on [04:12] On the ground making that difference, creating that [04:15] margin, and that's what it's about. Doing it three [04:19] times this week, because we're getting close to the [04:22] wire. I definitely will do it the remainder of the [04:25] Saturdays and possibly some of the Sundays. Then I [04:29] have said that I'll come in two nights a week to make [04:32] calls Bye. [ LAUGH ] See if [04:37] we could get the dogs to vote, we'd be doing really [04:39] just right. 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