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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMy Theory (You Know what they say about Opinions...) on Hillary, Bernie, and Marty
The Clinton camp is not really that worried about a primary challenger, but they are moderately irritated by Martin O'Malley, who seems far more willing to mount attacks from Hillary's left flank, and has the look of a comer about him. Now, as I see it, O'Malley actually has one of two aims:
1) He is aiming for a VP nod from Clinton. This is already widely believed. Or,
2) He doesn't think 2016 will be a Democratic year, but he wants to start getting his name out there for 2020.
The second is less likely given the timing, but which of the two play out actually will affect the way the races are run. if it's one, Marty will pull punches, doing just enough to make the nod seem like a peace-pipe job. If the second, he will mount an aggressive campaign from Clinton's left in order to establish his own bona fides for next cycle.
The Clinton people don't really know which it is, either, so...they recruit Sanders to play the Leftie sparring partner. With Sanders lobbing artillery from the Left, O'Malley ends up in No Man's Land, not really left enough to compete with Bernie among the progressives, and nearly identical to Clinton once she slides leftward to meet Sanders charges.
I don't think Clinton and Sanders are competing. I think they're collaborating. So, the upside for Clinton is obvious here: she neutralizes O'Malley while keeping the left interested in the contest. When Sanders throws his support to her (after South Carolina), she neutralizes the "not-left-enough" charge as well. But what's in it for Bernie? He gets the credit for pulling Clinton left, for one. He also may get a cabinet post out of it, but that seems remote.
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daredtowork
(3,732 posts)That might be a Clinton maneuver, but...
it would require Bernie to be crafty.
Bernie is genuine. He's built his entire career on that.
peacebird
(14,195 posts)
leftofcool
(19,460 posts)I don't see Clinton choosing O'Malley as her VP, although she could.
tularetom
(23,664 posts)I doubt that Sanders has any desire to be a tool for anybody's personal ambitions. He appears to be his own man. He may lose the nomination but I don't think he has entered the race in order to discredit one candidate in favor another.
SamKnause
(13,087 posts)His political history proves that.
Bernie is a man of integrity.
He is consistent to a fault.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)I could argue Bernie's complicity either way, with the affirmative being based in shrewd political maneuvering; but, the counter point could only be based on faith (i.e., Bernie's integrity).
alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)I can at one and the same time believe two things: 1) Bernie sanders is a person of integrity, and 2) Bernie Sanders sees some general political advantage in collaborating with Clinton at this point.
I don't doubt Sanders is a good man. The notion that the above theory is completely impossible because Sanders is a kind of paragon of virtue strikes me as very childish, in any case.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)Bernie's long political run is not by mistake or happenstance.
tularetom
(23,664 posts)to further another candidates ambitions.
It would totally destroy what credibility he has spent a political lifetime creating.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)
NanceGreggs
(27,813 posts)... to be "used" in any manner he would find inappropriate.
However, that does not preclude the idea that he would be willing to "use" his own position to ensure a Democratic win in 2016. In that regard, the OP's theory makes perfect sense.
alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)I said he and the Clinton camp had identified s mutually beneficial arrangement. I can believe that and still believe a) he's a man of integrity and b) he's a savvy politician.
PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)No faith in Bernie's integrity is needed.