Hillary should have went after Bernie the way she went after Trump yesterday

[Renew Deal]

She would have been rid of him a long time ago if she aggressively made the case against him. His supporters couldn't be more pissed off anyway.

If there is a fault with her primary campaign it's that she was too soft on Bernie.

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. You're joking, right?

No way should Bernie Sanders be seen as a Donald Trump.

[Renew Deal]

4. I didn't say that

[TheCowsCameHome]

9. She has more brains and class than that.

Your OP post is pathetic, actually.

[Renew Deal]

11. Good to see that you're in board for the GE

[Agschmid]

61. +1

[auntpurl]

2. I disagree.

Hillary's played this masterfully throughout. She never needed to attack Bernie. She's been ahead since the beginning. Besides, Bernie is not a threat to all human life the way Trump is (other than in that I've never thought Bernie was electable, which would lead to Trump if Bernie had gotten the nomination).

[Cheese Sandwich]

3. She tried but it didn't stick because Hillary lies too much

[Renew Deal]

5. I'm sure you have an example

[Cheese Sandwich]

10. yes several

[Renew Deal]

12. I see that

[Marr]

25. Grab a sandwich and settle in.

[Renew Deal]

26. Ah yes, debunked right wing BS. A favorite of Sanders supporters.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/may/20/fact-checking-hillary-clinton-lying-13-minutes-str/

[rock]

32. Right you are

Anybody who is convinced by that video is, let's be kind, a low information voter.

[aikoaiko]

65. Politifact did not call that video rightwing BS.They provided more contect to her changing positions

They described most of the claims in the video as being half-flop or full-flops by videos and let the readers decide what the changing positions are.

"Our Flip-O-Meter ratings are not value judgments on changed positions, which some say demonstrate flexibility and ability to compromise and others say are born from a lack of conviction or political expediency. The video, for instance, describes them as a lie."

[think]

36. "The Most Disingenuous Attack on Bernie Yet"

Hillary lies about Sanders' vote on an omnibus spending bill and claims he was instead voting for the CFMA.

Gary Gensler, a former Goldman Sachs partner, was a member of Bill Clinton's administration when he helped create the CFMA and push for it as well as other Wall Street deregulation. Gensler is now Hillary's chief economic adviser.

After the GOP and Bill Clinton agreed to sneak the CFMA into the omnibus spending bill, Bill signed it into law.

The CFMA was helped drafted by

Wednesday, 20 January 2016 00:00
By The Daily Take Team, The Thom Hartmann Program | Op-Ed

If you watched Sunday's Democratic debate, you learned something interesting about Bernie Sanders: he voted for the Commodities Futures Modernization Act, something Hillary Clinton was all too eager to point out when the two of them got to talking about Wall Street reform.

~Snip~

The CFMA had been shoved into an omnibus spending bill at the last minute as part of a deal between Republicans and President Bill Clinton, and because this was a time when, you know, Congress actually did its job, Sanders bit the bullet and voted for the whole package - CFMA included - to keep the government open.

~Snip~

During his time at the Treasury, Gensler had pushed hard for Wall Street deregulation and even helped write the CFMA, something now-Senator Bernie Sanders found unacceptable. And so Bernie moved to block Gensler's nomination. Sanders explained his actions during an appearance on Democracy Now.

~Snip~

So what's Gary Gensler - the guy who promoted the CFMA - up to today? Oh, you know, nothing big. He's just the chief financial officer of the Hillary Clinton campaign.

Yep, that's right, the CFO of the Hillary Clinton Campaign!

Read more:
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/34497-the-most-disingenuous-attack-on-bernie-yet

[Renew Deal]

39. He voted for it

Bernie found reasons to vote against the Brady bill 5 times. He could have voted against this one too if he objected.

[think]

42. It was an omnibus spending bill. Did you forget that part? Bill Clinton and the GOP put the CFMA in

it. Did you forget that part also?

Bill Clinton signed it into law. Did you forget that part?

The guy who helped create the CFMA is Hillary's chief economic adviser. And you forgot that part too.

Pathetic how you will portray half truths to make shit up.

[Renew Deal]

44. Saying he voted for it is not a half truth

It's a whole truth. He. voted. for. it.

[think]

47. It was distorting what he voted for. Sanders voted for the omnibus spending bill. But keep on making

stuff up. Hillary likes it when you peddle her dishonest crap....

[think]

54. The CFMA creation points right back to Bill Clnton & Hillary's economic adviser & they blame Bernie

It's amazing the gall some people have....

[Yurovsky]

57. Birds of a feather...

I don't think honesty and integrity are common traits amongst the corporate flock.

Her negative numbers WRT trustworthiness are no accident or misunderstanding. Americans have seen her & Bill in action for decades, and they've drawn that conclusion based on their observations.

[YouDig]

6. She could have, and it would have destroyed him easily, but then the Berners would be even more

angry than they already are. She was in a nuanced situation. It was basically asymmetrical warfare. Bernie could do whatever he wanted, because he was never going to win so he didn't need Hillary's voters. But Hillary needed his to beat Trump.

[NCTraveler]

7. Agree and disagree.

She ran are very considerate primary campaign. It's probably the correct approach considering her dominant position from start to finish. She really had Sanders put away from the start.

I think her decisive victory shows she did what was necessary.

[beachbum bob]

8. probably in hindsight, hillary could had brought up some of bernie's glaring problems..

to her credit she pretty much ignored bernie...possibly waiting for the media to look at this guy....under a vetting process and they didn't...

10 minutes with google...easy to find some issues with bernie and his record....and believe me Trump and the media all have the same info and a simple ad campaign would give trump a double digit victory over bernie

[Jitter65]

13. She really doesn't need to. She has the heart and head in the right place. People know that

they won't admit it.

[mythology]

14. No because Sanders isn't a danger to the country/world

I think Sanders is naive on foreign policy, and Clinton is a bit hawkish, but Trump would be a fucking disaster on the order of Bush the younger.

[ibegurpard]

15. She did

[mmonk]

16. LOL. Her campaign can't use the same tactics on Trump

as she did on Bernie because Trump really is racist and misogynistic and his followers really are primarily violent white males so that effect won't work.

[hellofromreddit]

17. That would destroy her

It would obviously piss off Bernie's supporters, but it would dishearten most of her own. The last thing Hillary needs to do is weaken her own base.

[Bluenorthwest]

18. What a daft theory this is. What I say is that she spent years being way too soft on Trump

Let's face it, she and Bill have legitimized Trump by attending his events and socializing with his family during the decades when some of us have been protesting Trump nonstop.
Active, organized protests against Trump go back to the 1980's. Our progressive elders protested Trump's father over the same racist policies my generation protested him for. Bill and Hillary laughed at his wedding but others got dragged away by the cops for trying to warn the rest of you years in advance not to play with Donny.

LGBT and other minority activists have targeted Trump for my entire adult life and yet most in our Party acted like he was some great guy, slapping back and having a cocktail with him.
We all make our choices.

[hootinholler]

19. I wish she had

I was hoping she would.

If she had, Bernie would have it all locked up with PD now.

[seabeyond]

20. Democrats do not do that to Democrats. Now, Independents running as Democrats have no qualms

attacking, falsely accusing fellow... er, Democrats.

[chascarrillo]

40. You don't think that tying Sanders with white supremacist militas was attacking him?

Hell, that was worse than anything Clinton said about Trump yesterday - someone who is a fascist and has significant fascist support and has fascist delegates.

[seabeyond]

59. WTH? No one did that, but ya, Sander supporters sure like to make shit up. WTF are you talking about

[azurnoir]

68. No today's new democrats have the 'help' do it for them

why get your own hands dirty when there are so many willing to dig in the dirt

[texstad79]

21. She played it just right IMHO

She needs 75 to 80 percent of Bernie's voters to beat Trump and according to the polls is on target there.

Attacking Bernie excessively would have alienated more of his supporters.

[frylock]

22. Her surrogates in Congress and media lackeys have tried for a year.

Where the fuck have you been?

[liberal from boston]

58. Go Bernie

Hillary ran a nasty campaign against President Obama & sadly also against Senator Sanders. Remember the lies, smears about Bernie's Civil Rights History, absurd attacks on Bernie's accepting Pope Francis invitation to Vatican Economic Conference, lies about voting record, snide comment about Bernie's grandchildren, etc. President Obama acknowledged Hillary has problems. I will write in Bernie's name & vote blue down ticket. Hillary's aggressive hawkish foreign policy is why I will not vote for Hillary.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

23. too bad every attack they floated against bernie failed, huh?

All that oppo research and they couldn't come up with a single thing that stuck

[Renew Deal]

24. Which attacks?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

45. guns, healthcare, his accomplishments in the senate,

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/03/10/this-hillary-clinton-attack-on-bernie-sanders-makes-no-sense/

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/pat-garofalo/articles/2016-01-13/hillary-clintons-bizarre-attack-on-bernie-sanders-health-care-plan

https://next.ft.com/content/9ffe8a46-02ba-11e6-99cb-83242733f755

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/clinton-sanders-taxes_us_564bcbbfe4b06037734ba1bd
Hillary Clinton Attacks Bernie Sanders’ Progressive Agenda
Why is she talking like a Republican?

Not to mention all the crap about his writings and work history, his wife all brought up on this board over and over

[Renew Deal]

46. Those were before her biggest wins in February and March

So I think they worked just fine.

[jzodda]

27. I am glad she didn't do that

I do support her but Bernie is a good man.

I would not like to watch her trying to tear him down like that.

Also I have to say it. She wouldn't be able to because he is RIGHT on many many issues.

[emulatorloo]

28. No! Democrats should not attack each other like that.

Bernie and HRC have many of the same positions.

[leeroysphitz]

29. Oops. n/t

[Agnosticsherbet]

30. That would not work. Sanders own move to a more aggressive campaign style

has hurt him. I consider it one of the two big mistakes made by Sanders campaign, which cost him the nomination.

[emulatorloo]

37. Well said.

[Gothmog]

31. There is a great deal to go after but we need party unity which is why Clinton is using kid gloves

The Clinton campaign has been treating Sanders with kids gloves to make reconciliation easier. VOX had a good article on the potential lines of attack that Sanders would be exposed to if Sanders was the nominee. http://www.vox.com/2016/2/3/10903404/gop-campaign-against-sanders One of the more interesting observations in the VOX analysis is the fact that Sanders have been treated with kids gloves compared to what Sanders would face if he was the Democratic nominee. I strongly agree with the VOX's position that the so-called negative attacks against Sander have been mild. Form the article:

I have no interest in litigating any of these attacks here. Like any Democrat elected president in 2016, Sanders wouldn't be able to get much done, but he would block attempts to roll back Obama's accomplishments and have a chance to fill a few Supreme Court vacancies.

When Sanders supporters discuss these attacks, though, they do so in tones of barely contained outrage, as though it is simply disgusting what they have to put up with. Questioning the practical achievability of single-payer health care. Impugning the broad electoral appeal of socialism. Is nothing sacred?

But c'mon. This stuff is patty-cakes compared with the brutalization he would face at the hands of the right in a general election.

His supporters would need to recalibrate their umbrage-o-meters in a serious way.

The attacks that would be levied against Sanders by the Kochs, the RNC candidate and others in a general election contest would make the so-called attacks against Sanders look like patty-cakes. The GOP and Kochs are not known for being nice or honest and as the article notes there are a ton of good topics available for attack. Raising taxes is never a good campaign platform (Just ask President Mondale). The GOP would also raise the socialism and age issues if Sanders was the nominee.

Again, I agree with the VOX position that so far, Sanders has not been subject to negative attacks close to what the GOP would use against Sanders and the attacks against Sanders if he was the nominee would be brutal. I urge Sanders supporters to read the VOX article to start to get a feel for what real negative attacks would look like.

[Gomez163]

33. She is stlll hoping for their votes after the primaries.

It is a vain hope. Most of the Sanders supporters I see here are dead enders who never will vote for Hillary. It is rare I see one that says they will vote for Hillary

[BeyondGeography]

34. He was never a serious threat to win

If he were, you would have seen a different campaign with plenty of fireworks. She's in a better position to deal with him now that she never really went after him. She has handled it appropriately.

[BootinUp]

35. Might turn out to be a miscalculation, but I still think she did the right thing. nt

[Scootaloo]

38. Wow. Spitting on Clinton for going after Trump. I called it, but I'm still a little surprised.

[krawhitham]

41. I wish she had too, then he could have responded in kind and she would have lost very quickly

It is easy to attack when you have the moral high ground, like she does on Trump


She did not on Sanders, and it would have ended her campaign. A large part of Sander's charm is he is not an attack dog, it is also why he lost

[Renew Deal]

43. Except when he calls her "unqualified" and "evil"

Maybe just a small attack dog?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

50. She would have been cutting off her nose to spite her face.

[AgingAmerican]

52. She tried and failed

She reacted to Sanders and now she is reacting to Trump. If she doesn't run on issues, Trump runs away with it.

[Starry Messenger]

53. No!

What do they call that? Disproportionate response?

Her ground game was what won this election. Everything else on the part of her opponent was dazzle camouflage.

[highprincipleswork]

55. You're only fooling yourself. Bernie's ideas are well-founded and his support strong. That's why

we like him, or even love him, want him to keep fighting, and are with him for as long as he chooses to be in there.

His ideas have to be listened to by the Democratic Establishment, or this Party will keep losing the majority of seats in House and Senate and will continue to lose its brand.

[bvf]

56. Manglage. A sure sign of something.

[Agschmid]

60. Nah, no point.

[MineralMan]

62. I disagree. She would gain nothing from that.

She has turned to the General Election at this point, and is no longer doing primary campaigning, except insofar as her attacks on Trump benefit her in the remaining primaries.

She would never have benefited herself by attacking Sanders. So, she didn't do it to any significant degree. She's too smart for chump moves like that, I think.

[blackspade]

63. That would have been a gift to Sanders....

[bjo59]

64. Bernie's favorability ratings far outstrip those of both Clinton and Trump. Clinton knows

that "thumping" Trump does not invite a backlash. "Thumping" Bernie Sanders would cost her and she knows it. The only thing she has to thump Bernie on is his political record and his policy positions. She does not want to come out and call attention to the fact that she does not agree with his policy positions. In fact, when put under pressure, she usually says she agrees with them (although you and I both know that she does not).

[Blue_Tires]

66. There's no need, she's winning even without it...

[DebDoo]

67. She can't go after Bernie because tgat would open the door for him to respond in kind. And she knows

She can't handle that.

[Logical]

69. Another Hillary fan still stirring up the shit. FFS, stop it already. Are you stupid? nt

[joshcryer]

70. The petulant BOBers would never unify...

...the kids gloves are on. Mind you Sanders has been easy on Clinton as well. So it's easy to see how this ends.

[Matt_R]

71. Clinton did not need to attck Sanders personally.

She used her surrogates (other politicians) and her superpac supporters to attack Sanders. Oh and sanders still received so many more votes than anyone expected.