In the ballroom of a hotel in Manchester, New Hampshire, the three Democratic candidates took turns appealing to a raucous crowd of more than 1,000 party faithful, with Donald Trump dismissed as a “carnival barker”.
The state Democratic party’s annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner on Sunday night offered a snapshot of the battle being waged for the nomination in the early-voting state.
Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley and Vermont senator Bernie Sanders were under pressure to distinguish themselves as former secretary of state Hillary Clinton tightens her hold on the race.
“I’m not a former socialist. I’m not a former Republican. I am a lifelong Democrat,” O’Malley said, taking subtle jabs at Sanders who identifies as a Democratic socialist, and Clinton, who was a Young Republican in high school.
Sanders said it was time for a political revolution and cast himself as the outsider who can usher in a new era of “change”.
“From coast to coast the American people are crying out for change, for real change,” he said. “They are tired of the same-old, same-old establishment politics, establishment economics and establishment foreign policy. They want this country to move in a new direction.”
Sanders also reminded the room that he opposed the Keystone XL pipeline “from day one” and that he voted against the war in Iraq. Clinton only recently came out against the Keystone pipeline, and voted in 2002 to authorize use of force in Iraq, which she has since called a “mistake”.
Clinton subtly hit back in her speech.
“Some candidates may be running to make a point,” she said, a veiled criticism of Sanders. “I am running to make a difference.” The crowd erupted in applause, waving blue glow sticks distributed by her campaign.
The Jefferson-Jackson dinner serves as a major fundraiser for the New Hampshire Democratic party, and offers candidates an opportunity to pitch themselves to influential activists in a key state.
Polling shows Clinton and Sanders locked in a competitive primary race in New Hampshire, with O’Malley working to turn the contest into a three-way fight in the state. The Democratic candidates will meet again in Manchester next month for the third televised debate on 19 December.
On Sunday, the candidates also emphasized the need to eradicate terrorist groups such as Isis, which claimed responsibility for the Paris atrocities and similar attacks in Lebanon and Egypt. Since the attacks on the French capital earlier this month, the candidates have been forced to address their foreign policy platforms with renewed urgency.
Sanders said Muslim nations in the Middle East, not the US, should be leading the fight against Isis, which he described as “a struggle for the soul of Islam”.
In contrast, O’Malley said the US should “lead a concerted international effort” against the terrorist network.
Like O’Malley and Sanders, Clinton vowed to keep the nation safe from terrorists attacks while urging Democrats resist “the fear-mongers who say we are at war with Islam”.
“I take a backseat to no one when I tell you I will do whatever is necessary to protect us,” Clinton said. “But I will also do it in a way that furthers and promotes our values and makes it absolutely clear that this country of ours will continue to lead the world.”
Though they sought to differentiate themselves, the Democrats aligned in their support for Planned Parenthood and their attacks on Republicans, in particular, Donald Trump, who recently voiced support a database that tracks Muslim Americans.
In the wake of the Colorado Springs shooting, the candidates called for action, reaffirming their commitment to “stand with Planned Parenthood”.
“We should be supporting Planned Parenthood, not attacking it,” Clinton said in one of the biggest applause lines of the night.
O’Malley referred to the shooting as the “latest act of domestic terrorism”. “We cannot treat these acts of terrible violence as isolated events,” he said. “We must call them what they are: acts of intolerance, racism, and hate.”
They also joined forces in lambasting Republicans, chiefly, Donald Trump and his apparent support for a database that tracks Muslim Americans.
“I am running for president in these difficult times against vitriolic Republican rhetoric,” Sanders said.
It was again O’Malley who led with the most forceful attack, calling Trump an “immigrant bashing, carnival barker” and likening him to Joseph McCarthy, a conservative US senator who stoked anti-communist fear in the early cold war years.
“Well Donald Trump, when you start your registry of Americans who oppose your backward ideas,” O’Malley bellowed, punching each word for emphasis, “you can start with me.”
Asked after his speech if he considered Trump a fascist, O’Malley replied: “The appeals that he’s making – the sort of toxic mix of opportunism with public panic –are the same sort of appeals that have preceded fascists and fascism in the past.”
