The Democrats: Hillary Clinton stepped up her attacks on opponent Bernie Sanders while hugging the political record of Barack Obama last night in the final Democratic debate before the Iowa caucuses.

In particular Clinton defended Obamacare while Sanders said he would replace it with “Medicare” for all, universal healthcare. Clinton said, “We’ve accomplished so much already, I don’t want to see the Republicans repeal it.”

Sanders replied, “That is nonsense, what a ‘Medicare for all’ program does is finally provide health care for every man, woman and child as a right.”

The big difference between the two is that Clinton promises continuity after President Obama, who is still very popular among bedrock Democrats. Sanders wants radical change, not just in healthcare, but in financial regulation and what he calls the “corruption” of the political system.

Nukedeal: President Obama described yesterday as a “milestone” in US-Iranian relations shortly after a Swiss jet took off from Tehran carrying four American prisoners to freedom and economic sanctions were lifted as a result of Iran’s compliance with the international nuclear deal.

“The nuclear deal was never intended to resolve all of our differences with Iran.  But still, engaging directly with the Iranian government on a sustained basis, for the first time in decades, has created a unique opportunity — a window — to try to resolve important issues.”

The deal has been looked upon with suspicion and derision by Congressional Republicans, and with outrage by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the deal allows Iran to become a greater threat. “What is clear is that Iran will now have more resources to dedicate to their terrorism and aggression in the region and in the world, and Israel is prepared to deal with any threat,” he said.

Obama focused on the nukes, and Iran’s dismantling of its equipment. “Whereas Iran was steadily expanding its nuclear program, we have now cut off every single path that Iran could have used to build a bomb,” he said.

Goal Line: The Carolina Panthers opened up with two touchdowns in the first 2 ½ minutes and held Seattle scoreless yesterday in the first half. 31-0. Then Seattle held Carolina scoreless in the second, but didn’t put up enough points. 31-24, Carolina.

In Denver, quarterback Peyton Manning, near the end of his career, steered the Broncos to come from behind and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 23-16.

Box Office Benghazi: Adding to the second-guessing and conspiracy theories surrounding the 2012 attack on the Benghazi consulate, the Michael Bay action flick “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” opened over the weekend. It’s a purportedly factual telling of the story.

A critical moment in the movie comes when the CIA station chief tells a security team to “stand down” rather than go rescue the consulate staff and the US Ambassador less than a mile away. Whether there was ever a “stand down” order has been a focus of Congressional investigations.

The former chief of the CIA Benghazi station chief, identified only as “Bob,” told the Washington Post, “There never was a stand-down order.” The Post quotes him, “At no time did I ever second-guess that the team would depart.” A CIA spokesman said, “It’s a distortion of the events and people who served in Benghazi that night.”

One reviewer called “13 Hours,” “a mind-numbing sensory assault.” It made a piddling $19 million for its opening weekend.

Straight Shooter: Republican candidate Marco Rubio said on CBS “Face the Nation,” that on Christmas Eve, a rare night he was actually home, he bought a gun to protect his family. Rubio said, “If ISIS were to visit us or our communities at any moment, the last line of defense between ISIS and my family is the ability that I have to protect my family from them or from a criminal or anyone else who seeks to do us harm.” So long as when he reaches for his gun he doesn’t come up with a bottle of water.

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