Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday outlined the major areas where he could differentiate himself from Hillary Clinton if both decide to run for president in 2016.
“I think we would have a debate about how you rebuild the crumbling middle class, a debate about how you reverse climate change, a debate about foreign policy and the wisdom of the war in Iraq… a debate about trade policy, a debate about Wall Street,” Sanders said during a discussion at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
Then-Senator Clinton’s 2002 vote authorizing the U.S. to take military action in Iraq became a major vulnerability during her primary battle with Barack Obama. Obama was not in the Senate at that time, but he was an opponent of the war. The former Secretary of State wrote in her book released last year that she “got it wrong.”
Sanders, then a member of the House, voted against the authorization of force.
The populist Sanders, who has yet to decide if he would run as a Democrat or independent in 2016, would likely campaign as a more liberal candidate than Clinton and could challenge her on things like her Iraq vote and U.S. foreign policy while she headed the State Department.
His answer Monday also indicates he may look to highlight Clinton’s ties to Wall Street if the two go head-to-head in the primaries.
But, however Sanders runs a potential campaign, he promises it will be positive.
“It is not my style to trash people, and it is not my style to run ugly, negative ads,” he said.