Key takeaways from Democratic presidential debate in Iowa

(AP) There was a lot of pre-debate chatter about a coming fight between Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren over Warren’s assertion Sanders told her in 2018 that a woman couldn’t be elected president. Sanders denied it, Warren didn’t press it and a substantive debate on a range of issues ensued. Still, after the debate, it appeared that Warren declined to shake Sanders’ hand.

Tuesday’s Democratic presidential debate in Des Moines was the final forum before the Iowa caucuses. During the debate, there was a brief skirmish between Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden over the Iraq war.

Elizabeth Warren has made a forceful case for a female president in the final presidential debate before primary voting begins. Warren also stood behind her accusation that progressive rival Bernie Sanders had told her a woman couldn’t beat Donald Trump. Sanders vehemently denied Warren’s accusation, which threatened to split the Democratic Party’s left flank at a critical moment less than three weeks before Iowa’s caucuses. And Sanders said of course a woman could win, noting that Hillary Clinton scored millions more votes than Trump.

The Democratic Party’s leading presidential candidates also sparred Tuesday night over Iraq, war and foreign policy.