2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumA DISHONEST campaign: 17 Hillary memes the media just won’t stop pushing — or factcheck
SALON
by Corey Robin
1/26/16
...snip...
1. Clintonite McCarthyism
....As was true of McCarthyism, its not really Sanders communism or his socialism that has got todays McCarthyites in the Democratic Party worried; its actually his liberalism. As this article in the Times makes clear:
Some third party will say, This is what the first ad of the general election is going to look like, said James Carville, the longtime Clinton adviser, envisioning a commercial savaging Mr. Sanders for supporting tax increases and single-payer health care. Once you get the nomination, they are not going to play nice.
A Sanders-led ticket generates two sets of fears among Clinton supporters: that other Democratic candidates could be linked to his staunchly liberal views, particularly his call to raise taxes, even on middle-class families, to help finance his universal health care plan; and that more mainstream Democrats would have to answer to voters uneasy about what it means to be a European-style social democrat.
Raising taxes to pay for popular social programs: That used to be the bread and butter of the Democratic Party liberalism. Now its socialism. And thatnow its socialismused to be the bread and butter of Republican Party revanchism. Now its Democratic Party liberalism.
....snip....
9. The Establishment
After Human Rights Campaign and Planned Parenthood endorsed Clinton, Sanders said they were part of the establishment. Clinton and her supporters made a big to-do of it. But this response from Garance Franke-Ruta was the most sublime:
Bernie remarks a reminder how left economics & new social movementscivil rights, womens rights, gay rightshave always been uneasy allies
Garance Franke-Ruta (@thegarance) January 20, 2016
No, not really.
Back in 1985, that old dinosaur of a socialist Bernie Sanders was signing a Gay Pride Day Proclamation on the grounds that gay rights were civil rights.
Back in the 1990s, while the Clintons were supporting DOMA and dont ask, dont tell, that old dinosaur of a socialist helped lead the opposition to both policies on the grounds that they were anti-gay.
And throughout his career in the Senate, Sanders got consistently higher ratings from civil rights organizations than Clinton did while she was a senator.
The only thing this whole episode is a reminder of is how poorly journalists do their job.
To read on the other 15 ways we're being punked~
http://www.salon.com/2016/01/26/this_is_a_dishonest_campaign_17_hillary_clinton_memes_the_media_just_wont_stop_pushing_or_factcheck/
beam me up scottie
(57,349 posts)Speaking of forgetting everything: David Brock, the man who called Anita Hill a little bit nutty and a little bit slutty, now says black lives dont matter much to Bernie Sanders. Brock is described here as a top Clinton ally who runs several super PACs aiding her candidacy. Only in this country could such a charlatan make these sorts of claims and get away with it.
Another pundit trope is that Sanders is not popular among women. There is a gender gap in this primary, in fact, but its not only the one you may have heard about. According to the latest USA Today poll:
There is a gender gap as well and not the one that favors Clinton among baby boomer women. Men under 35 support Sanders by 4 percentage points. Women back him by almost 20 points. The possibility of breaking new ground by electing the first female president apparently carries less persuasive power among younger women than their mothers generation.Stone is ready to support Clinton, though she prefers Sanders. Hes actually talking about breaking up the big banks and helping income inequality, she says, and given that Im currently unemployed, income inequality is pretty important.
A fact that apparently has caught the Clinton campaign completely off-guard:
Mrs. Clinton and her team say they always anticipated the race would tighten, with campaign manager Robby Mook telling colleagues last spring that Mr. Sanders would be tough competition. Yet they were not prepared for Mr. Sanders to become so popular with young people and independents, especially women, whom Mrs. Clinton views as a key part of her base.
RiverLover
(7,830 posts)Each one is, though, unfortunately.
Such a bizarre election cycle, & such clear propagandizing from our media. It's physically painful how they're trying to manipulate US.
beam me up scottie
(57,349 posts)It's only going to get worse too, they really upped the game this past week.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Both the media and the Clintons.
The media is acting like shills for the 1%.
That Town Hall was a disgrace. The takeaway was "tax hike to pay for big government".
RiverLover
(7,830 posts)b*stards.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)I've heard a lot about how keen Iowans bullshit detectors are, hope Clintons
haven't discovered some secret jamming device to disable their bs detectors.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Betty Karlson
(7,231 posts)all women are going to vote for me, because of gender (and 9/11 too, probably!)
The arrogance...
RiverLover
(7,830 posts)manufactured by money for more corrupt govt.
Betty Karlson
(7,231 posts)But I admit I'd like to see a woman become president of the United States. Maybe Ms. Turner will be vice-president under Sanders, and then go on after he has served his terms?
RiverLover
(7,830 posts)eom
Betty Karlson
(7,231 posts)I'd love to see her leading the nation, but I don't mind her being a star of the legislative body from a place where she doesn't have to campaign more than once every six years, and can serve an unlimited number of years...
RiverLover
(7,830 posts)Not matter where she serves, she's a blessing.
AzDar
(14,023 posts)andrewv1
(168 posts)after Hillary softball Pitcher Como finished the Town Hall Debate.
With post pundit coverage, corporate water carriers Lemon & Borger & the bunch spouted their usual rhetoric about Sanders to make us believe we had just watched something else then what we had seen.
navarth
(5,927 posts)Charming. Cuomo threw softballs just like I thought he would.
RiverLover
(7,830 posts)You have a stronger stomach than me. I can't watch corporate 24 hr news channels anymore. Too many years as a younger person who bought into the spin. I appreciate informed people like you though, who are strong enough to watch & report that blatant spin to people like me!!
Thanks andrewv1!!
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)You don't let the presumed bad attitudes of others dictate what you do.
Sure, Republicans think mentioning taxes or characterizing any kind of effort toward the common good as socialism are magical death blows to any candidate.
But for starters, Dems don't pick policy or candidates based on fear of what Republicans will say, and for another, times are changing.
It's also maybe the worst argument Hillary could make.
Hillary's still in the lead for the nomination, but if we're supposed to choose based on ugly things Republicans will say in the general, no Democrat anywhere would be subject to the fury and slander Hillary Clinton will face from the other side. They regularly frame her as evil incarnate. They hate her like no other, and are convinced she is just a few dozen more hearings away from disgrace and possible incarceration.
We need to choose our candidate based on who we like, not on trying to anticipate what the Republicans will say.
(HINT: They won't like anyone we nominate).
RiverLover
(7,830 posts)They're going to trash any Dem candidate. I'd rather have a candidate worth defending against them than one who sounded like them in the primaries.
Not much to fight for.