by John Wagner
CHICAGO -- Democratic
presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, who’s complained about having “the kitchen
sink” thrown at him, unloaded on Hillary Clinton here Thursday night, ticking
off a series of issues on which he said the former secretary of state had taken
the wrong position.
The Vermont senator attacked
Clinton for having accepted campaign contributions and speaking fees from Wall
Street interests. And then he sharply criticized her support, as first lady and
as a New York senator, of welfare reform, free trade, an anti-gay rights bill
and the Iraq War — all measures he opposed during his long career in Congress.
The broadside came amid a
speech to a raucous crowd of more than 6,500 people packed into a basketball
arena at Chicago State University, part of a whirlwind tour in recent days of
states with primaries and caucuses next month.
Though none of the critiques
leveled by Sanders were new, his remarks were striking for both their length --
until recently he often didn’t mention Clinton at all at his rallies -- and his
tone. At a few points, the audience booed Clinton and the stances she’s taken.
“I do not receive many
millions of dollars from Wall Street or the pharmaceutical industry or other
powerful, wealthy interests in this country, and have not given speeches for
hundreds of thousands of dollars to Wall Street,” Sanders said, referring to
money Clinton received between stepping down as secretary of state and
launching her presidential bid.
In the wake of his loss to
Clinton in the Nevada caucuses, Sanders vowed he would be more aggressive in
detailing the policy differences between the two, a posture he said doesn’t
violate his long-standing practice of running positive, issue-oriented
campaigns.
Several of the differences
Sanders cited were over legislation that advanced during the years that Bill
Clinton was in the White House.
As he did earlier this week,
Sanders criticized Hillary Clinton’s support of a welfare reform bill signed by
her husband in 1996 that Sanders said “beat up on minorities and poor people.”
He also criticized the
Clintons’ support of legislation the same year known as the Defense of Marriage
Act that ensured that states did not have to recognize gay nuptials performed
in other states. Sanders called that “a homophobic piece of
legislation.”
“Secretary Clinton supported
it,” Sanders said.
He was also critical of the
Clintons’ support in the 1990s of the North American Free Trade Agreement and
other pacts, which Sanders argues have cost manufacturing jobs.
And he took aim at Clinton’s
vote in 2002 of a resolution authorizing the war with Iraq. Clinton was a
senator representing New York at the time. She has since called the vote a
mistake.
Sanders said he saw through
misrepresentations made by Bush administration officials to justify the war.
“I didn’t believe them. I
voted against the war,” he said. “My opponent, Secretary Clinton, voted for the
war.”
John Wagner is a political
reporter covering the race for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.
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