Thursday night’s Democratic debate was the first of this race to feature just two podiums. The showdown between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders heralds a new, and more evenly-matched, phase just days before the New Hampshire primary.
Whereas Sanders has increasingly engaged Clinton since the first debate in October -- a trend roughly paralleled by his rising poll and fundraising numbers -- Clinton had largely kept her focus on the Republicans. That changed on Thursday, when Clinton -- who narrowly won last week’s Iowa caucuses and trails Sanders in New Hampshire polls by double digits -- directly addressed her rival a record 26 times.
