20 Great Moments From the Democratic Debate

By Tessa Stuart, Rolling Stone

15 November 15

Martin O'Malley called Donald Trump an "immigrant-bashing carnival barker," while Clinton noted she's a child of the Sixties

BS News' John Dickerson opened the second Democratic debate in Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday with a moment of silence for the victims of terrorist attacks in Paris, setting the tone for a debate that included an increased focus on matters of terrorism, foreign policy and national security, thanks to a last-minute change by the network.

The switch was not immediately and universally embraced by the campaigns — an unnamed representative for a rival campaign even accused a Sanders aide of throwing a "a little bit of a fit" in reaction to the proposed changes. In the end it didn't make much of a difference, not just because the change gave Sanders and O'Malley the chance to call Clinton's foreign policy misjudgments into question, but also because no one was watching anyway since this debate had been scheduled in the TV ratings equivalent of Siberia.

1. "I have said the invasion of Iraq was a mistake." -Hillary Clinton, who voted in favor of the Iraq War

2. "That was one of the worst foreign policy blunders in the history of the United States." -Bernie Sanders on the Iraq War

3. "I don't think we're at war with Islam. I don't think we're at war with all Muslims. I think we're at war with jihadists." -Hillary Clinton on the term "radical Islam"

4. "I'm not that much of socialist compared to Eisenhower." -Bernie Sanders, referring to the tax rate under the 34th president, which was more than 90 percent for those with an income over $400,000

5. "It is not a radical idea to say that if a person works 40 hours of week, that person should not be living in poverty." -Bernie Sanders on raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour

6. "I support a $12 national federal minimum wage… [some] places can go higher." -Hillary Clinton

7. "We need to stop taking our advice from economists on Wall Street." -Martin O'Malley, referring to economist Alan Krueger, who backs a $12 minimum wage

8. "You'll never hear this from that immigrant-bashing carnival barker Donald Trump: The truth of the matter is net immigration from Mexico last year was zero." -Martin O'Malley

9. "I don't think taxpayers should be paying for Donald Trump's kids to go to college." -Hillary Clinton on Sanders' plan to provide free college education for all Americans

10. "We were proud of them on graduation day, but we'll be proud of them every month for the rest of our natural lives." -Martin O'Malley on the debt he's incurred sending his children to college

11. "The Cold War is over." -Bernie Sanders on the titanic cost of maintaining America's nuclear arsenal

12. "I agree completely. I couldn't have said it better myself." - Hillary Clinton, after Bernie Sanders repeated his assertion that voters had heard enough about her "damn emails"

13. "I think, after 11 hours, that's pretty clear." -Hillary Clinton on whether Democrats can be sure that "another shoe" will not drop as the FBI continues to investigate her emails

14. "Why, over her political career, has Wall Street been the major campaign contributor to Hillary Clinton? Maybe they're dumb and they don't know what they're going to get, but I don't think so." -Bernie Sanders

15. "Break. Them. Up. Reinstate Glass-Steagall" -Bernie Sanders on big banks

16. "Bernie is right, we need to reinstate a modern version of Glass-Steagall." -Martin O'Malley

17. "I just don't think it would get the job done." -Hillary Clinton on Glass-Steagall

18. "With all due respect, I think it's safe to say that Baltimore is not now one of the safest cities in America." -Bernie Sanders to Martin O'Malley

19. "People all over this country — not you, Secretary Clinton — are shouting at each other" -Bernie Sanders, clarifying his comments on gun violence, lest they be misinterpreted

20. "Well, John, I come from the Sixties." -Hillary Clinton responding to moderator John Dickerson's question on student activism