Auto Bailout Controversy: "Gotcha" Politics vs. Building Trust

In Sunday's Democratic presidential debate, just two days before Michigan's primary takes place, Hillary Clinton dropped a "gotcha" bomb on Bernie Sanders, saying Sanders "was against the auto bailout." (Clinton is also running ads on Michigan radio making the same accusation.) From the transcript of the debate:

"CLINTON: Well -- well, I'll tell you something else that Senator Sanders was against. He was against the auto bailout. In January of 2009, President-Elect Obama asked everybody in the Congress to vote for the bailout.

"The money was there, and had to be released in order to save the American auto industry and four million jobs, and to begin the restructuring. We had the best year that the auto industry has had in a long time. I voted to save the auto industry.

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"(APPLAUSE)

"He voted against the money that ended up saving the auto industry. I think that is a pretty big difference."

Sanders' reply was cut off:

"SANDERS: Well, I -- If you are talking about the Wall Street bailout, where some of your friends destroyed this economy...

"CLINTON: You know...

"SANDERS: ... through -- excuse, I'm talking."

Sanders recovered from the interruption and tried again:

"Your story is for -- voting for every disastrous trade agreement, and voting for corporate America. Did I vote against the Wall Street bailout?

"When billionaires on Wall Street destroyed this economy, they went to Congress and they said, 'please, we'll be good boys, bail us out.' You know what I said? I said, 'let the billionaires themselves bail out Wall Street.' It shouldn't be the middle class of this country.

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"(APPLAUSE)

"CLINTON: OK, so..."

There was another interruption as Sanders tried to respond, then: