--- 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hillary Clinton Fends Off Attacks At Democratic Debate ## 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 ```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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