Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Clinton camp on Sanders: 'What kind of a campaign is that?'
http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-dem-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-tone-debate-221328Clinton's chief pollster Joel Benenson stoked the ire of Sanders boosters on Monday afternoon during a CNN interview in which he remarked that any future debate participation on the part of their campaign would depend on the "tone" set by their opponent. Later in the day, press secretary Brian Fallon called the Sanders campaign's letter over the weekend calling for a debate in New York a "stunt" for attention.
“I think what Joel was getting at a couple of things — we had a process whereby we were talking about adding additional debates," senior Clinton adviser Karen Finney told CNN's "New Day" on Tuesday. "That seemed to be working just fine. And then we see this kind of stunt, as Brian Fallon pointed out yesterday, they send this public letter about let’s — you know, demanding a debate. At the same time, we see reports about how they’re doing polling on new lines of attack on Hillary Clinton."
"And so it just felt like — hold on, here — you don’t get to set the terms and conditions around when or where we debate," Finney continued. "We’ve had a process. Let’s stick to that process rather than public stunts, particularly at a time when you had said at the beginning of this campaign, ‘I don’t do negative attacks.’ I think at one point Sen. Sanders also said, ‘I’m not really into polling.’ Well now it’s all about polling and how to attack Hillary Clinton? What kind of a campaign is that?”
“I think what Joel was getting at a couple of things — we had a process whereby we were talking about adding additional debates," senior Clinton adviser Karen Finney told CNN's "New Day" on Tuesday. "That seemed to be working just fine. And then we see this kind of stunt, as Brian Fallon pointed out yesterday, they send this public letter about let’s — you know, demanding a debate. At the same time, we see reports about how they’re doing polling on new lines of attack on Hillary Clinton."
"And so it just felt like — hold on, here — you don’t get to set the terms and conditions around when or where we debate," Finney continued. "We’ve had a process. Let’s stick to that process rather than public stunts, particularly at a time when you had said at the beginning of this campaign, ‘I don’t do negative attacks.’ I think at one point Sen. Sanders also said, ‘I’m not really into polling.’ Well now it’s all about polling and how to attack Hillary Clinton? What kind of a campaign is that?”
All these created tempests! The Sanders campaign should be very careful what it wishes for and how it proceeds in NY. NYers know and LIKE Hillary. NY is also a closed primary. These tactics can backfire.
21 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
a bit later in the article.
In the interview on CNN on Tuesday, host Alisyn Camerota challenged Finney on the reasoning behind their reluctance to participate in more debates, pointing out that most campaigns often point out their opponents' negatives as the election season progresses.
“I’m all for that, but don’t then say, set a standard at the beginning of the campaign and say one thing and then decide you’re going to play it another way just because," Finney answered. "And by the way, I think this is an important point — if we have a debate in New York, I can guarantee you Hillary Clinton would do very well. Not just because she does well at debates, but because this is a state that knows her well, knows that when she says she’s gonna do something she gets it done.”
Pressed on why the Clinton camp would not be moved about debating in New York, Finney reiterated that "the point is less about do we agree or disagree about ‘should we debate in New York?’ and more about ‘Let’s talk about the tone of this campaign’ and again, let’s talk about we had a process by which we were talking about debates.
“I’m all for that, but don’t then say, set a standard at the beginning of the campaign and say one thing and then decide you’re going to play it another way just because," Finney answered. "And by the way, I think this is an important point — if we have a debate in New York, I can guarantee you Hillary Clinton would do very well. Not just because she does well at debates, but because this is a state that knows her well, knows that when she says she’s gonna do something she gets it done.”
Pressed on why the Clinton camp would not be moved about debating in New York, Finney reiterated that "the point is less about do we agree or disagree about ‘should we debate in New York?’ and more about ‘Let’s talk about the tone of this campaign’ and again, let’s talk about we had a process by which we were talking about debates.
Bernie's campaign is sounding and acting more and more like the campaign of any other politician. Whoodda thunk?
Watching a train wreck in process is more interesting to most humans than listening to reasonable people who are discussing real issues of importance.
To me, those viewership figures suggest that most Dem viewers have already made up their minds between Hillary and Bernie, which may be yet another bad sign for Bernie. 
I will be SOOO glad when all this primary stuff and nonsense is over with. 
