Clinton dodges bullets by Sanders, hits out at Trump

'Trump's bigotry, his bullying, his bluster are not going to wear well on the American people,' says US Democratic presidential candidate Clinton, also criticizing her party rival Sanders, who has won a string of primariesWith the Democratic presidential nomination in sight, Hillary Clinton late on March 6 sought to repel sharp attacks from party rival Bernie Sanders, while training some fire on Republican front-runner Donald Trump.

"Donald Trump's bigotry, his bullying, his bluster are not going to wear well on the American people," Clinton said in a sometimes testy debate with Sanders sponsored by CNN in Flint, Michigan.

"I will do whatever I can as the Democratic nominee to run a campaign you'll be proud of," she said. "I don't intend to get in to the gutter with whoever they nominate."  

Nine months after launching her presidential campaign, Clinton appears close to securing her party's nomination, despite a spirited and stronger-than-expected challenge from Sanders, a self-described Democratic Socialist.

Sanders has won a string of state-wide nominating primaries over the weekend, including in Nebraska and Kansas on March 5, and won the party vote in Maine on March 6.  
   
But thanks to Clinton's victories and strong second place showings, she maintains a two-to-one lead in the number of nominating delegates.

After three months of voting, a general election between Democrat Clinton and Republican Trump seems increasingly likely.

"As of last night Donald Trump had received 3.6 million votes, which is a good number," Clinton said, remarking on the mogul's shock electoral success.

But, she added: "There is only one candidate in either party who has more votes than him, and that's me." ...