BERNIE SANDERS’ SECRET Service codename has been revealed and it’s pretty awesome.
At this stage of the primary process, candidates are assigned the protection usually reserved for the President and other White House staff.
The President, of course, is always referred to as POTUS by the Secret Service but other less important people get their own nickname.
Sanders has now been revealed to be ‘Intrepid’, much to the delight of his supporters.
The nickname was revealed yesterday ahead of the latest Democratic debate, the first since Sanders beat Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire primary.
The debate was held last night with Clinton denouncing her rivals’ proposals as unrealistic and costly.
Clinton, who is keen to strike a new path as the presidential campaign moves south and west, quickly went on the offensive, hammering the senator from Vermont on health care and his plan to make university education free for all.
She also sought to blunt Sanders’s criticism of her cozy ties to Wall Street and reconnect with women voters, all while emphasising her overall experience thanks to her time as secretary of state under President Barack Obama.
“I have said many times I am not asking people to support me because I’m a woman,” she said on the debate stage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“I am asking people to support me because I think I am the most qualified, experienced and ready person to be the president and the commander-in-chief.”
Their most heated clash came over health care and Sanders’s assertion that his plan for a single-payer system would save American taxpayers money.
“Based on every analysis that I can find by people who are sympathetic to the goal, the numbers don’t add up and many people will be worse off than they are right now,” Clinton said.
Continuing her assault, Clinton embraced a typical Republican line of attack to demonise Sanders, saying his plans would likely increase the size of the federal government by about 40%.
“We have a special obligation to make clear what we stand for, which is why I think we should not make promises we can’t keep,” Clinton said.
She also suggested Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, was aiming to dismantle Obama’s landmark health care program in favour of his own plan.
Sanders bristled: “I’ve fought my entire life to make sure health care is a right for all people.”.
“We’re not going to dismantle anything,” he insisted, explaining that middle-class families would pay $500 more in taxes while receiving 10 times that amount in the reduction of health care costs.
Clinton courts youth
In a bid to perhaps draw more young voters to her side, Clinton embraced one of Sanders’ trademark lines.
“There aren’t enough good-paying jobs, especially for young people, and, yes, the economy is rigged in favour of those at the top,” she said.
Sanders meanwhile landed one of his best zingers of the night when Clinton was talking about how much her proposals would cost.
“Secretary Clinton, you’re not in the White House yet,” he said.
With reporting © – AFP 2016
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