Hillary's debate performance leaves trail of fodder for political adversaries

Now, Republicans believe they have a new round of ammunition. Party Chairman Reince Priebus called Clinton’s remarks on 9/11 a “new low” and a “bizarre attempt to deflect attention from her ties to her wealthy donors.”

The answer was not as bite-sized or as easily weaponized as the “1960s” comment. But it made for uncomfortable headlines and evoked two of the weaknesses that Republicans like to cite to pit Democrats against their front-runner. Foreign policy was as much of a sticking point as financial donations. Thirteen years earlier, she had voted for the authority to invade Iraq from “the perspective of a senator from New York who has seen all too closely the consequences of [2001’s] terrible attacks on our nation.”

Clinton did not revisit her Wall Street remarks in an address to central Iowa Democrats on Sunday, where she was accompanied by former president Bill Clinton. And although former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley lamented her tendency to commit gaffes — “does she have to keep giving them so much ammunition?” — Democrats in Iowa who watched the Saturday debate said they were unfazed by the 9/11 flap.