Clinton Attack Dog Claire McCaskill Implies Democratic Candidate Bernie Sanders Is A Communist

[Segami]

Jonathan Martin @jmartNYT

McCaskill WIELDS A KNIFE: GOP is nice to Bernie because "they can’t wait to run an ad with a hammer and sickle"

http://www.nytimes.com/

Alarmed Clinton Supporters Begin Focusing on Sanders’s Socialist Edge

~snip~

“Here in the heartland, we like our politicians in the mainstream, and he is not — he’s a socialist,” said Gov. Jay Nixon of Missouri, who is term-limited and working to elect a Democratic successor. “He’s entitled to his positions, and it’s a big-tent party, but as far as having him at the top of the ticket, it would be a meltdown all the way down the ballot.”


“The Republicans won’t touch him because they can’t wait to run an ad with a hammer and sickle,” said Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, a supporter of Mrs. Clinton’s.


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/20/us/politics/alarmed-hillary-clinton-supporters-begin-focusing-on-bernie-sanders-socialist-edge.html

[global1]

1. I've Lost All Respect For McCaskill...

I used to like her but comments like that are just uncalled for. Hillary must have promised her a cabinet position.

[Segami]

4. And who's shaping her politics?...

"...Senators Manchin and Heitkamp will join Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Chris Coons (D-DE), Tom Carper (D-DE), and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) as Third Way’s Honorary Senate Co-Chairs..."

http://thirdway.org/newsroom/press-releases/senators-manchin-and-heitkamp-join-third-way-as-honorary-senate-co-chairs

[Rybak187]

12. Not a surprise at all

[merrily]

6. She's said he's a Socialist and she also said he is not a serious candidate because--wait for it--

he wants to increase "entitlements."

Riiiight, Senator McCaskill. Wanting to raise Social Security really makes someone unelectable. Nailed it!

[bread_and_roses]

28. So now Ds are attacking "entitlements???????" How Republican of them!

First health care, now "entitlements" - that Republican code word for "welfare" - or any sort of "fare" or even fair - to the working class and poor - ESPECIALLY those black and brown people - you know??????????????

This is beyond despicable - using racist code words and attacking programs that have been supported by Democrats for generations now.

But then, wasn't Obama was complicit in that Simpson-Bowles commission that was designed to convince Americans that Social Security was too "rich" for our seniors and we all had to accept higher ages and deep cuts? The one that thankfully people saw right through and sent packing?

So no surprise here.

[merrily]

32. Obama pledged to "reform" entitlements before he took office.

[cannabis_flower]

39. Don't forget..

How Bill Clinton "reformed" welfare

"it will hurt millions of poor children by the time it is fully implemented. What’s more, it bars hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants—including many who have worked in the United States for decades and paid a considerable amount in Social Security and income taxes—from receiving disability and old-age assistance and food stamps, and reduces food-stamp assistance for millions of children in working families."

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1997/03/the-worst-thing-bill-clinton-has-done/376797/

[bread_and_roses]

47. I never, ever forget the Clinton "welfare" deform

I knew then the suffering it would cause - I worked in human services - and have seen it multiplied and multiplied since, making the lives of poor women and their children even more desperate and awful than they already were, and turning "social services" offices into nothing but gatekeepers trying to keep as many people as possible "off the roles" no matter the human cost.

[Segami]

52. Back in April, Robert Scheer talked to DemocracyNow about it....

[enid602]

67. AFD

Then why did more poor families leave the ranks of poverty during this period than in any period of US history? Was it maybe because Welfare Reform was accompanied by an increase in EIC, allowing poor mothers to earn far more than when on welfare? And if Aid to Families with Dependents was such a good idea, why isn't Bernie proposing a revival of it? AFD was a keystone of FDR's New Deal. Why isn't Bernie proposing it? Given your argument, wouldn't that be what Bernie feels POC really need?

[PatrickforO]

114. If you've actually read the original law and its reauthorization,

you would know that it was written for the specific purpose of reducing the welfare rolls and 'to encourage marriage.'

Now, it seemed to work during the nineties and aughts because the economy was generally OK. Sure, Clinton's signature NAFTA was causing us to hemorrhage good jobs, which were being offshored in the hundreds of thousands, and those jobs - the good kind, the kind with pensions that you could raise a family on - were being replaced with lower paying service jobs.

But TANF people still found jobs because basically they get a letter that says their benefits will be cut if they do not try and find work, OR instead engage in 'volunteer' labor to 'earn' their welfare benefit. So they come in and get jobs.

But those jobs are fragile, and single mothers are economically and systematically brutalized in this nation. If you're in the first quintile of earners, what that means is that you literally cannot afford to eat nutritiously, you cannot afford to own a car and you spend the lion's share of your miniscule 'entitlement' on housing. So you get a job and try and 'make it.'

The problem is that you're a sick child away from losing your job because the kind of shitty job you can get without training is the kind of shitty job that fires people who get sick or whose children get sick. Or, your car might break down if you own one, because you can't afford maintenance on it, and then lose your job.

And if you get a raise, you might have to start paying more than that raise for your childcare which we don't adequately subsidize. And, hey, what can make your children more safe and well-balanced than being raised by people who make minimum wage?

So you know, you sound pretty right wing with that post. TANF sucks - it's a shitty program that isn't good for our economy because it has NO provision for any training, so it ends up being a revolving door. And Republicans keep cut, cut, cutting everything non-military like child care subsidies, Perkins and Pell monies - everything but subsidies for the corporate socialists in big oil and contracts for the MIC.

As to your question about why more poor families left the rolls, that trend reversed with the recent 'great' recession, when the rolls came back bigger than ever, illustrating how fragile demand for goods and services really is in our capitalist utopia. And, don't forget that some people have 'timed out' - there IS a five year lifetime limit now on TANF benefits.

And yet those we elect to uphold our interests routinely spend over a trillion a year on war, death drones, 'boots on the ground' in quagmires like Afghanistan, and domestic spying and 'security.' They don't give a shit about our interests, enid, just their profits.

That's why I'm so fervently for Bernie. He doesn't think that wanting to use OUR tax money to help Americans instead of forever wars is an extreme political position. He actually cares about our kitchen table issues, like shitty, rationed healthcare, and shrinking Social Security.

As to POC, isn't that a bit racist? Because the average person on (gasp) welfare (shudder) is WHITE. Did you know?

[enid602]

136. eic

I take it from your post that Bernie is not proposing a reinstarment of AFD. That was , after all my question.

After reading your post, I am impressed by the need to Increase income level eligibilty for EIC, especially given the likelyhood of minimum wage increases. Congress votes on this each year. A minimum wage increase will be meaninglesd if earnets lise the EIC benefit.

[Trajan]

115. I've been reading your posts ....

Not sure which party you belong to... I'm hoping you're not a Democrat ...

In any case - gone ...

[Punkingal]

133. For crying out loud...

That poster is a democrat, unlike many of our so-called elected democrats.

[bread_and_roses]

138. See PatrickforO's response below and -

Not to mention that even in the 90's there were plenty of studies showing how devastating this "reform" was for many families. Not a few simply "disappeared" - they weren't "on the rolls," they could not be reached by phone, they seemed to have no address .... (this was for follow-up studies I read about then - don't ask me for links, it was twenty years ago and to be honest, I'm not going back and re-researching what I researched then and saw then in action (I was still in human services) and have seen continually since. )

I could tell you story after story .... I have intimate knowledge of the system both before and after Clinton, and it was a scam and a sham and caused untold hardship, despair, pushed people into desperate situations, a factor in "child neglect" when desperate parents let their kids come home to an empty house because they had to work and couldn't afford child-care, on and on I could go.

So don't babble talking points at me. I happen to know what I'm talking about.

[arcane1]

153. It was never about policy. Policy was simply a means to an end, and can change any time.

The curtains are being pulled back big-time lately.

[draa]

10. It's the entire Party.

Not just one or two people but nearly the entire lot. I've never seen a more shameful display by Democrats in my life.

I was too young to remember the 68 Convention but we could be coming to that if Sanders is the clear winner but somehow denied the nomination (super delegates go for Clinton though she's behind).

There's a real possibility of that as well because from reports I've read Bernie only has 16 supers delegates(or so) and Hillary is over 100. She's set it up to win regardless if they want to use it.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

18. ^^^This!^^^

[cannabis_flower]

44. Do you think?

that some of the super-delegates might change their allegiance if Bernie wins and it might not go that way?

[Tom Rinaldo]

62. Some could, sure

Some may have signed on early for Clinton because they always assumed she would win, Hillary asked for their support, and they saw no good reason not to give it to her then. Having said that many would probably join an Anybody But Sanders push at the convention if they could pull one off.

[KoKo]

121. MSNBC Reporter said McCaskill and other Dems up for Election are worried

about the "Down Ticket" results for her and other Dems up for re-election or election if Bernie keeps surging and wins the election. I thought she made a good point although it doesn't excuse McCaskill whom I've never liked. It definitely explains the panic from the Dem insider PTB making statements like Ed Rendell and Harold Ford have made about either Biden or Kerry coming in. They refuse to acknowledge how bad off the party is because of Time Kaine followed by DWS and lack of Obama's team building the party after he won.

[JRLeft]

58. Shit like this makes me want to switch to independent.

[tazkcmo]

55. Being from KC

I never had any. Her lone qualification was, "She isn't a Republican.".

[Fawke Em]

56. I never much had any.

She was always to bricks shy of being a Republican load.

She's so far right on many issues, that she might be more of a RINO than a DINO.

[enid602]

60. McCaskill

Are you doubting McCaskill's sincerity when she points out how the Republicans will react to a Sanders candidacy? You don't think the Republicans will do this? More of the 'Republicans will greet Bernie with flowers and sweets' crap? Get real.

[Tom Rinaldo]

77. I am doubting her judgement and ultimately her character

Had she said that Republicans will attack Sanders as being too far left of the mainstream to elect, I would not say her own attack reflected negatively on her character. Republicans may put up an ad with a communist reference - that would be Republican framing of someone who stands for much that a majority of Democrats support. No Democrat should do that for them under any circumstances.

It would be like having Sander's campaign chair saying that if Democrats nominated Hillary Republicans would air ads with Monica Lewinski's blue semen stained dress in them.

As to judgement, FDR was called a commie too. More recently we let the Right scare Democrats into believing that being called Liberal was a political kiss of death. We gave virtually free reign to letting Republican define government as the enemy. We didn't use the popularity of Medicare to our own advantage during the last health care debates. We have left the Democratic brand to become "we are not as crazy as those other guys". That is not how we prevail.

[enid602]

83. bern

Bernie did talk about Bill's indiscretions in the last debate. Right to Hillary's face. He even repeated that he thought Bill's actions were disgusting. Right to Hillary's face. Clearly, he's not above using the right's plan of attack.

[Tom Rinaldo]

86. If you reread what I wrote

I said that had Claire's attack against Bernie been that Republicans will cast him as too far left for the mainstream, that would not have been out of bounds. Few argue that Bill's sexual behavior in the oval office was not deplorable - but it does not define the accomplishment's of his presidency. Sanders was very clear in defending Hillary from being smeared over a poor judgement made by Bill.

[enid602]

92. bern

And then repeating that it was disgusting. Right to her face.

[1monster]

105. And she was vehemently nodding in agreement during that whole segment. I

liked Bill Clinton, and I thought the whole Repuglican effort to play "gottcha" was dispicable. But there is no dening that Bill's behavior showed gross I'll judgment at best.

[enid602]

143. disbelief

And after he hurriedly said all that, his LAST statement was that Bill's actions were disgusting, as if Bernie has the moral authority to make such a statement, given Jane's hijinks at Burlington College. Hill's look was one of total disbelief. She walked away from him after the debate. I would have done the same.

[roguevalley]

181. yeah.

The college thing is equal to bill fucking someone who was an intern in the oval office while his wife's office is nearby. Then lying about it. Then sending her out to lie for him knowing full well he was guilty when he did and not having the balls to tell her up front that he did a bad thing. He let her walk out and try and defend him when he was flat guilty. How is that love? he didn't protect her from her basic impulse there and somehow that's the same?

[enid602]

185. bern

His crime was adjudicated. She lawyered up after being called on the carpet. Bernie has no moral authority to dicuss his rival's spouse's sins.

[Akamai]

134. The word Bernie used was "deplorable" rather than disgusting.

[roguevalley]

180. It was disgusting what he did but he hasn't discussed it beyond that and has halted

questions with his unwillingness to go there. What was he supposed to do? It was disgusting. He didn't go further and that's fine with me,

[Fawke Em]

123. Did you not watch the last debate?

He didn't repeat it to her face - Andrea Mitchell did - and Bernie said questions like that annoy him. Then he went on a tirade about how the media pulls these stunts in trying to get Democrats to attack one another.

If anything, Claire should be taking notes from Bernie about how to treat fellow Democrats.

[DUbeornot2be]

144. And...

...he only did so because he was asked a question about having been asked another question about it. Bernie didn't bring it up initially either time.

That is quite different than "using the right's plan of attack."

Of course, accusing him of doing so in this instance really is "using the right's plan of attack."

Fucking projection...

[Dustlawyer]

79. It will fail when they do. The MSM will have to cover Bernie vs. Clown Car winner and

even more people will learn what he stands for. Bernie will shred Trump or whoever. Hillary is Bernie's toughest opponent by far, but she is the poster child for the election corruption that people are tired of. We no longer wish to live under corporate rule!

[hobbit709]

107. And just how many hearts and flowers do you think Hillary will get from the repukes?

[Armstead]

163. You mean the GOP will distort and demonize a Democratic politician? Whoda thunk it?

I didn't know they do such things.

Gosh do you think they might (shudder) do the same to Clinton if she is the nominee?

[MBS]

64. Uncalled for, indeed.

I've lost respect for her, too.

[KittyWampus]

96. Why? You disagree & think Republicans won't use Bernie's SOVIET FLAG to torpedo him?

All they need to do is find a photo of his office with that flag.

Talking about it is supposed to make it magically go away?

[GeorgeGist]

127. McCaskill already has ...

and she's supposed to be a Democrat.

Think about it.

[Armstead]

164. Anyone who responds to a Hammer and Sickle in 2016....

would never vote for any Democrat in the first place. Hell they probably won't even vote for a Republican, unless it's Trump or Cruzzer.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

119. Wow... amazed you had any respect for McLack-skill to begin with.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2016!!!

[roguevalley]

179. I never respected her and she is just a tool for HRC to use. HRC hates her for the

remark during impeachment that she would not allow her daughter to be alone with bill clinton. She is as low class as it gets.

[Duckhunter935]

2. they are getting desperate

She was the Clinton's surrogate that they used to use socialist as a derogatory dig against Bernie last year.

[Warren Stupidity]

3. Yeah because like Republicans are going to line up to vote for Clinton.

Oh and McCaskill, fuck off with the red-baiting.

[Segami]

5. Bring out the time-tested boogeyman.....

HE'S A RED COMMY......RUN!..............what a pos!

[Donkees]

7. Mouseland!

[Segami]

9. Thanks for posting!

I completely forgot about Mouseland. It definitely fits today's Democratic Party narrative.

[thesquanderer]

48. I had never seen that. Thanks for posting. (n/t)

[Oilwellian]

162. Excellent video. Here's another -

Loved the message you can't kill an idea in Mouseland. The same message that runs through V for Vendetta, a message the common people have been fighting for, throughout history. Another battle the people have been fighting for is keeping hope alive. This is an excellent piece that laud's our fighting spirit.

[Donkees]

174. Shadow Puppets is a Masterpiece! Thank you!

Please post it again on the video forum.

[Armstead]

165. This is brilliant...You should make it an OP

[Donkees]

175. Re: Mouseland

It's from a thread that appalachiablue posted about Tommy Douglas:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1280&pid=97131

[restorefreedom]

68. +1000 nt

[KittyWampus]

97. Clinton has withstood every Republican attack and come out stronger.

Bernie has not. He sure doesn't have the temperament to deal with it. He gets agitated and huffy all the time.

[Warren Stupidity]

108. Ah so she is doing him a favor by being a red baiting

asshole. Interesting. So you are, I'm sure, in favor of Sander's campaign using all the rightwing bullshit available to attack Clinton, as that would be a huge help.

[EdwardBernays]

8. She's pulled a Chelsea

ugh

[Ken Burch]

11. McCaskill would probably call THIS guy a Red:

(after all, HE supported national health insurance).

[Sherman A1]

17. Precisely

He also had a fitting comment about real Democrats vs. the ones that are less so, getting the votes of the Democrats.

[Enthusiast]

27. Yooge plus one!

[Kalidurga]

13. IIRC the last time Claire attacked Bernie he got a couple points bump in the polls.

[Gene Debs]

103. Would somebody please tell me what the hell "IIRC" means?

[Trajan]

111. If I Recall Correctly .... nt

[Gene Debs]

131. Ah.

[Segami]

14. Ed Shultz explains Claire McCaSHILL back in August,

Larry Cohen, Chair for the Democracy Initiative, and Ed Schultz discuss Sen. Claire McCaskill's comments earlier this summer saying Sen. Bernie Sanders is too liberal.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

20. I can't watch right now as I'm at work ...

But please tell me Ed was on Bernie's side.

[Segami]

21. Ed was on Bernie's side to the power of ten....

[Fantastic Anarchist]

45. Thank you!! That's good news!

Fantastic! Thank you for the information, Segami!

[ybbor]

24. Rec'ing to watch later

[JDPriestly]

35. Great. Thanks for posting.

[INdemo]

157. McCasshill made this terrible statement on Hillary's behalf

And Hillary should issue an apology to Bernie Sanders and any of Hillary supporters that agree with McCasshill should leave DU now because you are not Democrats and you need to join your friends over at the Freepers site.

[bowens43]

15. this is typical of hill and her minions

as it becomes more and more apparent that hill's chance of getting the nomination is slipping away expect the shrieking, screaming, lies and innuendos to increase. They are becoming unhinged and this goes all the way to the top. Watch hill, watch the condescending grin listen to the pitch of her voice as she attacks those who dare think she is not the best candidate.....

[Segami]

16. We can kiss the presidency goodbye

if Hillary wins the Democratic nomination.

[TIME TO PANIC]

101. Yep, there will be such a backlash if she wins the nomination. n/t

[Sherman A1]

19. Careful Claire

He may just be the Democratic Party Nominee and then you may need to eat some of the words you have been spouting......

[KingCharlemagne]

98. Or she will do a John Conally and switch party affiliations :) - nt

[Mnpaul]

22. Another corporate Dem

sounding like the tea party

[demwing]

23. With red-baiting Dems like McCaskill

Who needs a GOP?

[StandingInLeftField]

29. I'm jumping in here to reply to a poster who's on my ignore list.

No, he's saying that the Dems are doing the GOPs job for them, as any good person from the Borough would understand (as I'm sure you do...)

Thanks, demwing, for pointing this out!

[PowerToThePeople]

135. Neoliberals and GOP

are the same political party, and it does not represent the vast majority of the nation's population.

[brooklynite]

25. You're saying the Republicans won't attack him on that basis?

[JDPriestly]

41. Of course they will. And Republicans will respond to that argument.

But Democrats and Independents will think about what he is saying and the terrible income and wealth disparity in our country that has grown so ominous over the past twenty years and consider the source.

Look.

Employees have a very different relationship with their work and their employers than they did 25 years ago. A lot of work now is from the get-go temporary. Unions are fewer and weaker than they were 25 years ago.

It's every working person on his or her own now. We don't get raises like we used to. Seniority guarantees nothing. As we age we become less employable in general. (There are exceptions that get a lot of attention.) And at the younger end of the career, it is hard to get that beginning job. A lot of even college grads are expected to work a year or so WITHOUT PAY AT ALL as interns or at minimum wage before they can start a career.

College is expensive, but the only jobs you get without it are menial labor because our trade policies have decimated our industry and you can only get industrial jobs in certain areas of the country.

The economic outlook for working people is bleak. Starting or maintaining a mom and pop store is really tough in this age of Walmart and its competitors.

I do not consider myself to be a socialist at all, but I lived in Europe and I realize that a lot of what Bernie is talking about is the norm in the developed, civilized world.

The 2008 crisis set so many people back. I have friends whose children are not making enough to live anywhere but in a van or at home. I have friends who lost their homes and businesses in 2008, are too old to start over and are really unable to recover. The statistics may look OK, but when you get down to the individual stories, people are still having a tough time. Wages have not risen over the past 30 years like they did before.

Just growing the economy, which is Hillary's primary answer to our economic problems, is not enough. We have to have some sort of approach that spreads the wealth and allows normal people to improve their living standards. We have to have some system that insures that older people who now live longer than in the past can survive in dignity.

Hillary's proposals are half-measures. It is going to take the nation working to heal itself to bring us back to a modicum of unity and deep prosperity. Obama has done a good job in many respects, but the economy is weaker than it looks, and people really feel it.

Hillary is not offering the hope and solutions we need. Trump is a bigot, a fool and also offers no hope or solutions for ordinary people other than blaming that other guy over there.

Bernie is calling people to work together. And people are responding to that call. I think he is the voice and the hope of the moment.

If we don't go for Bernie, we go for bitterness, selfishness and disunity. That will not lead us to a better place. It will not make us a better country. As I see it, Bernie's socialism is not the problem. Rather the lack of empathy and idealism of the other candidates with the possible exception of O'Malley is the problem. As for O'Malley, he is a good man, but his time has not yet come.

Feel the Bern! It's really the only choice out there for this time and this place.

[Ed Suspicious]

63. +1

[Art_from_Ark]

88. +2

[Ed Suspicious]

61. How did Democrats react to Republican haranguing over Obama's socialism?

[brooklynite]

76. They were able to point out that Obama didn't call himself a Socialist.

[Ed Suspicious]

78. We're creative people. We can figure out a way over this seemingly unclearable hurdle.

Why are you a red baiter? Do you think Bernie is a dangerous commie pinko?

[Uponthegears]

112. Total

Hogwash.

Obama never defended himself by saying "I never said I was a socialist." He with the loyal Democratic Party behind him said "Look at my proposals, NOT at labels."

HE didn't have members of his own party joining in the BS.

Claire and Jay sound like they're trying to revive the Dixiecrats. Strom Thurmond is rising from the grave.

[liberalnarb]

89. You fear them too much, give them too much power.

Yes they'll attack him on that front, but they cause problems when people give them attention.

[Enthusiast]

26. McCaskill is dead to me.

[Javaman]

30. LOL so hillary's crew has sunk so low to red bait people. nt

[fredamae]

31. McCaskill? Hahahahahahahahahaha

The Wild Musing(s) from the Corporate Republican Wing of the Dem Party hahahahahahahahaha
McCaskill ain't helping the situation

[razorman]

33. The Republicans would be foolish to say anything now.

HRC is doing the work for them.

[babylonsister]

34. If Clinton's position is so strong, why

are they bringing up this, which has nothing to do with anything? What happened to all those issues she's so concerned about?

[mmonk]

36. For Claire.

[INdemo]

37. This is disgraceful

this Woman needs to be called on this comment. We should all call,send email or whatever to have this in front of the ethics committee. This is over top. If the Hillary supporters,especially those here directly from her campaign you need to let this woman know that this comment is over the top.
If the Clinton campaign is this desperate than Hillary is going to lose.
This is something Karl Rove would have orchestrated or Dick Cheney or Liz Cheney.
This is a Republican style strategy and for any Clinton supporter that agrees with this than you should be ashamed. should be ashamed

Jonathan Martin from the NYT is nothing but a Republican hack. He is formally from the National Review,and the New Republic and has written other flattering articles for Hillary praising her.

so another Republican that loves Hillary

[sufrommich]

38. Oh come on,that not what she's implying

at all. A better headline would be "Claire McCaskill states the obvious",of course that's what the GOP would do.

[shawn703]

40. I think being able to correctly identify Bernie's ideology is an intelligence test.

[fbc]

42. Get with it Claire! We've been making those photoshops for months now!

And they seem to inspire people.

[Sunlei]

43. true, like with the years & years & years of birther crap. republicans will wait.

[pengu]

46. After the way Nixon handled Ferguson he needs to just go away

[Jefferson23]

49. What's her logic here? The GOP will not distort and lie about Clinton too or that those

smears about Clinton are more palatable and easier for Democrats to refute
in the GE?

Like the poll on how trustworthy Clinton is? Like the Benghazi smears?
The GOP always makes shit up, doesn't matter who it is.

What does McCaskill have to say about how Bernie polls against any
Republican running? I guess she wants to skip that conversation.

[hughee99]

50. A little morning poutrage.

Certainly reasons not to like Mccaskill, but she's right that the gop would run "communist" ads against Sanders.

[Ed Suspicious]

66. And we don't care what Republicans think. We're all commies to the puke hive.

[hughee99]

128. But we do care what voters in the general election think

And if the republicans can create a message (accurate or not) that gets them votes.

[democrank]

51. Nice hatchet job, Claire.

Bernie Sanders is a DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST, a specific type of Socialist that he has defined many times.

The "hammer and sickle" crap is just more of the same absurd put-down we constantly hear from the Corporate Democrat wing of our party. They`re the Status Quo cheerleaders who think the party belongs to them and their handlers and contributors, sort of how Republicans think they own the notion of patriotism. They`re smugly content and see anyone raising a message of disapproval as an unwanted boat-rocker who needs to be silenced.

Just sit back for a minute and think about Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and the effort she has put into the Corporate Wing`s carefully-scripted coronation. Bernie is rocking that big party boat with a rather animated refusal to go along to get along, so now he`s a Communist.

[jonestonesusa]

53. This DINO is out of touch with young voters.

The Soviet Union hasn't existed for a quarter century. Does she really think a hammer and sickle has the weight it did in 1955?? Silly.

[DUbeornot2be]

147. I'm with you...

...the only people this bs has any effect on are old people...

The millenials have spent their whole lives on social media...

Today's socialist flag should show a smartphone and twitter button...!

[Cassiopeia]

54. The GOP actually fears a run against Bernie. It's a run against HRC they want

and for good reason.

A run against Clinton means their friends, family, bankers and businesses win regardless of who takes the WH.

A loss to Bernie will endanger all of that.

[INdemo]

57. Hillary Clinton will not win if she is the nominee

.A large percentage of Democrats will not show up and she is toast if she wins nomination.

[Bohunk68]

84. We need to show up because the rest of the ticket is even more important.

That being said, it does not mean you have to vote for every office. One can just leave a blank. As an Election Inspector for a couple of decades, I have seen a yoooge number of ballots with offices not voted for.

[jeff47]

146. Then it would be very important to put someone at the top of the ticket

who does not sabotage efforts to get people to show up.

[JudyM]

73. They've been viciously tearing into Hillary and actually tweeting support for Bernie.

Not sure that would make sense at this point in the primaries if they are afraid of running against him. I've been puzzling over this, and there are a number of articles posted on DU and elsewhere seeking to explain this.

[JonLeibowitz]

156. Trump today said that Biden would have to join the race -- I think he is a fraidy cat.

[JudyM]

160. Missed that. Why do you think he's afraid?

[JonLeibowitz]

171. Sanders appeals to a broad swath of Americans, including Republicans and Independents

My crystal ball may be cloudy, but I do not see the same being true for Good Joe.

[bullwinkle428]

59. She first pulled this shit a few months back. I guess she's got no other

tricks in the bag.

[bigwillq]

65. Claire has always been pretty awful

Not all DEMS are good

[tarheelsunc]

69. So are you saying the GOP WON'T be running such ads?

McCaskill is right, whether you like her or not. She didn't imply "Sanders is a communist" like the title says, she is simply saying that is how the GOP will paint him. And they definitely will do so.

[Bohunk68]

87. You do know, don't you, that the hammer and sickle was the symbol of the

CP of Soviet Russia? Who are you trying to kid? At least be honest. We are not uneducated.

[liberalnarb]

70. Inside her mind

she's giving the rethugs too much power. Their ads aren't going to be that effective. They can put hammers and sickles in as many places as they want. Its not going to change the minds of Bernie or his supporters. She's trying to use fear (a rethug tactic by the way) to get people to vote for the centrist. Thats what happened in 2004. I love John Kerry, but we lost that one.

[Kall]

71. We're getting a good look at the Clintons

And the party they envision.

[WillyT]

72. K & R !!! - It's Gonna Get Ugly...

[U of M Dem]

74. Good riddance!

"...as far as having him at the top of the ticket, it would be a meltdown all the way down the ballot."

How exactly would getting the third way out of the party would be a bad thing?


It's called a political revolution, hello!

[sufrommich]

75. Seriously? Who do you think will be replacing democrats

if they lose?

[SmittynMo]

80. Ya know, after Bernie wins

We're going to have to vote out the idiots. She is on the list. And I'm from Mo. Believe me: Neither me or my wife, will be voting for her come next election.

[deutsey]

81. I'll take Bernie's alleged hammer and sickle over the usual knife in the back from these people. n/t

[Uponthegears]

82. It's time for Hillary supporters to

admit that they are desperate. Admit that they have lost the battle of ideas. Admit that they ALREADY do not represent the majority of the party and that, in the back of their minds, they KNOW they don't even represent a majority of Americans.

Even though there is no doubt that the TeaOP, which is even more bereft of ideas that will help the 99% than Hillary, will obviously "run ads with pictures of hammers and sickles," the pictures in those ads will now have Claire McCaskill's picture and HER words printed right next to them. Campaigning for Republicans would get you booted off DU in an instant, it should at least get McCaskill censored. Where is Harry Reid when you need him?

Oh, and Jay Nixon? The same Jay Nixon who refused to step in when the Ferguson DA and cops brazenly conspired to COVERED UP the MURDER of Michael Brown? The same Jay Nixon who sent the National Guard to occupy the streets of Ferguson? The same Jay Nixon who is leading the charge to carry out executions? THAT Jay Nixon? . . . (expletive deleted)

[dragonfly301]

85. Hey Bernie's not as socialist as

Dwight D. Eisenhower, what with his 90% tax bracket and his government funded highway- how did he do with voters in McCaskill's neck of the woods?

[malthaussen]

90. The tweet does not support that allegation.

To say the GOP will use a "Hammer and Sickle" to demonize Mr Sanders does not imply that Mr Sanders is a Communist.

-- Mal

[HERVEPA]

91. You aint done nothin if you aint been called a red

[Broward]

93. This line of attack was inevitable from the corporatists.

They'll stop at nothing to maintain the status quo.

[dpatbrown]

94. Totally expected,

but none the less, disgusting. As we know, it will get much worse the stronger Sanders gets.

[KittyWampus]

95. Sanders is untouched by Republican attacks. His SOVIET FLAG in his office is all it will take...

To torpedo him.

[hobbit709]

113. I have copies of Mein Kampf and Marx in my office.

Doesn't make me either a Nazi or a Communist.
But "There's desperation in the air. It stains all your clothes and no detergent gets it out"

[KittyWampus]

118. Did you honeymoon in the Soviet Union? Support the Sandinistas as Communists?

His past is a treasure trove of stuff like that.

[hobbit709]

120. no and I don't pal around with Goldman-Sachs or the Trumps either.

You really are getting desperate over there in Camp Weathervane.

[Segami]

122. LOL!..+1

DUzy!

[Fawke Em]

130. No - and he didn't either.

True, he'd just married Jane, but he was in the Soviet Union on a business trip that had been previously scheduled. He was doing mayoral work. Jane came with him for the couple of days he was there to work and then they finished their honeymoon elsewhere.

At least he's not under investigation by the FBI for keeping national security secrets on an unsecure private server.

[ejbr]

99. Gosh... What to do?

Vote based on ideas that may improve my life or keep the status quo based on absurd fear. The repigs are that gullible, but in the real world we tend to focus on problems and solutions, not nonsense.

[Nedsdag]

100. Nice!

This from the woman who said that she liked Bill Clinton but she didn't want him around her daughter.

[Segami]

110. Sure did!!...

Claire McCaskill on Bill Clinton:

"....I had a lot of problems with some of his personal issues,...um...I said at the time, I think he's been a great leader but I DON'T WANT MY DAUGHTER NEAR HIM..."

[Gene Debs]

102. That's nothing. I wholeheartedly expect the Clinton camp to start dropping

sinister remarks about Sanders being Jewish any day now. Remember how, in 2008, a reporter asked her in Barack Obama was a Christian, and she gave this vague "I don't know" answer in such a way as to insinuate he might be a Muslim? Personally, I thought for pure sleaziness, it even outstripped the spectacular "sniper fire" lie and shone a hot light on the kind of person Hillary Clinton is.

[Uponthegears]

116. They are

already

[Yupy]

104. Desperate times...so obvious what is happening. Go Bernie!

[PatrickforO]

106. Well sure the GOP is gonna pound on the socialist/communist meme

They will lie their asses off like they usually do.

It won't work this time, though.

They no longer control the message. We do.

Their hate talk radio is blaring out to fewer and fewer people, and Fox 'news' now propagandizes an older, angrier, whiter base than ever - but that base is shrinking.

So, you know, times they are a' changin'

[book_worm]

109. This kind of attack by Clinton surrogates will not help HRC

in fact it will only hurt her.

[99Forever]

117. Bwahahaha...

....bunch of wannabe McCarthyite losers.


We sre so fucking done with this kind of shit.


Cry me a river, neoliberal whiners.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

[Smarmie Doofus]

124. Oh, Claire. Better red than....

... dead in the head.

[Freddie Stubbs]

125. He's an admitted socialist who went to the USSR for his honeymoon

It's not too much of a stretch to paint Bernie as a pinko commie.

[Uponthegears]

132. It wasn't

too much for the scum in the TeaOP to paint Obama as a Muslim, or a devotee of Bill Ayers, or paint a thousand other BS diversions. Here's the DIFFERENCE. It was THEM slinging BS, not high profile Democrats who will end up front and center in TeaOP general election adds.

This is indefensible. It is proof positive that the Third Way cares more about their ideology than they do the Democratic Party.

[Freddie Stubbs]

137. If Bernie can't handle a little heat in the primary he has no business in the general election

[Uponthegears]

149. Diversion

If Hillary can't compete in the primary without making campaign ads for the GOP, SHE has no business in the general election, at least not as a Democrat.

Bernie has already handled the primary heat on this issue and WON.

[Freddie Stubbs]

167. If Bernie has already handled the heat and 'WON' on this issue, I'm sure that he has nothing to fear

[Uponthegears]

172. Every Democrat

has something to fear when it becomes acceptable for high-ranking representatives in a Democratic primary candidate's campaign to create campaign ads for Republicans just because their boss has lost the battle for the hearts and minds of Democrats . . . it's called "destroying the Democratic Party."

Nader tried it . . . Thurmond tried it . . . now the Third Way is trying it

[Uponthegears]

190. Keep trying to distract

You know that having a Democrat attack a fellow Democrat for being "too liberal" is a hundred times more damaging to the party that having Ted Cruz or Donald Trump make that attack.

McCaskill and Nixon need to take a good hard look at whether they are Democrats at all.

[Freddie Stubbs]

191. It's one thing to be too liberal--this is about his being sympathetic to our enemies

[Uponthegears]

192. Whatever

I think the tent needs to be dried on high.

[Freddie Stubbs]

189. It is much better to get this out in the open now, rather that after it is too late

[Dawson Leery]

152. He praised Fidel Castro, the persecutor of gays.

[Uponthegears]

154. Are you saying

Bernie praised Castro for persecuting gays? If not, let me help you make your point.

LOOK AT THE SQUIRREL

[CSStrowbridge]

126. What the fuck is this bullshit?

"Clinton Attack Dog Claire McCaskill Implies Democratic Candidate Bernie Sanders Is A Communist"

SHE DID NO SUCH FUCKING THING!

She said the GOP would call him a Communist, and they will.

Jesus Christ, I see Bernie Sanders' supporters attacking Hillary Clinton because they think she will fire up the GOP base, but god forbid a Hillary Clinton supporter points out a weakness of Bernie Sanders.

[Uponthegears]

148. Challenge

I would like to see you use one, just one, comment that either Bernie, OR a high level Bernie spokesperson, has made and turn it into a GOP campaign ad.

He has stood by her on every single one of these BS attacks from Benghazi to emails to Bill to brain damage. THIS is a BS attack. It's exactly like birtherism, like Benghazi, like server-gate. It's a LIE. Oh, as for "opinions " if Claire McCaskill and Jay Nixon OR any other Democrat actually believes what Bernie is proposing is "socialism" they as ill-informed as the Teapots.

[daleanime]

129. Again?

Thought she got slapped down enough last time.

[randome]

139. Par for the course. 'Supporter' equals 'attack dog' in your narrow worldview.

Then there's the incredibly disingenuous parsing of language for her quote to mean what you want.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]No squirrels were harmed in the making of this post. Yet.[/center][/font][hr]

[Segami]

140. I don't need to convince anyone

what McCaskill's intention was when she uttered those words. What she was trying to imply speaks for itself.

Convincing yourself otherwise won't sanitize the true nature of McCaskill's despicable comment.

[randome]

142. And...um...she's right. That IS what the GOP will do.

As for McCaskill's intention: I'd say it's safe to assume she supports Sanders. That makes her evil from your standpoint, right?
[hr][font color="blue"][center]No squirrels were harmed in the making of this post. Yet.[/center][/font][hr]

[Segami]

145. We don't need Third Wayers mouthing

falsehoods that you consider to be 'right'.

[closeupready]

141. Right, because Scandinavia was Soviet-bloc during the Cold War.

[ieoeja]

150. Red Scare people are like Racists.

They are deadly serious about their hatred. There is no shortage of them. Nobody argues against them. So they assume everybody is in agreement.

They fail to see that most people listening to them look at each other and roll their eyes thinking, "not this stupid shit again."

When it comes to living in the past and ignoring the present mood of the public, nobody is worse than the Washington elite.

[onecaliberal]

151. After Ferguson, I have no use for her. She needs to go along with that gasbag of a governor.

[INdemo]

155. If Hillary Clinton was anything but a Corporatist

She would have made a statement demanding this statement be retracted and an apology made to Sen Sanders. But she is desperate and she is a Corporatist who sold her sole to Wall St and the Corporate Mafia.

[Punkingal]

158. McCaskill is a chicken shit...reporter on Andrea Mitchell how just said

McCaskill refused to say the hammer and sickle comment on camera.

[Segami]

166. Of course she chickened out.....she must have gotten

a morning call from the Clinton poobahs telling her to dial back the 'hammer & sickle' rhetoric after seeing Morning Joe.

She didn't look too afraid telling Tim Russet on camera that regardless of Bill's indiscretion, she didn't want her daughter near Bill

That means Bill can't be trusted around young women according to McCaskill.....what's the difference between her daughter or someone else's daughter?.....According to her, Bill shouldn't be trusted!


http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=1034672

[Punkingal]

169. i remember the bill comment....she's been ass-kissing ever since.

[Segami]

170. She can keep kissing until her lips are chapped raw.....

....SHE OWNS THAT STATEMENT.....PERIOD!


There's no calling it back....

[TheBlackAdder]

159. This coming from a senator whose state is plugged into the socialist teet of NJ, CA and NY! nt

[kath]

161. Fuck her. With a rusty hammer and sickle.

[liberal_at_heart]

168. and just what kind of ads will they run against Hillary? Sunshine and rainbows?

[TeamPooka]

173. Trump just called him a "Socialst/Communist" in his speech today on MSNBC. nt

[jwirr]

176. Is Claire running for office again this year? Would like to

donate to her opponent.

[redstateblues]

177. The truth is that Bernie is a Socialist

He owns it. What she is saying is true-The Repugs will have a field day with Bernie's Socialism-despite the attempts here on DU to make it sound warm and fuzzy, it has negative connotations in middle America. Hillary has baggage- Bernie's self applied moniker of Socialist will be an anchor in the GE if he is the nominee whether it's fair or not. Politics is not bean bag toss.

[doc03]

178. That says it all "The Republicans won't touch him because they can't wait to run an ad with a

hammer and sickle." Do you actually think they won't? If Sanders is nominated we will lose every state, the American people will
not vote for a socialist.

[KansDem]

182. Not this shit again!

Coming of age during the '60s we were constantly warned about the "Red Menace." We were to be constantly vigil to make certain the commies wouldn't invade the US and put us all into work camps. That's what kept us in Vietnam for so long while the MIC reaped $$$.

Now we can buy T-shirts made in Vietnam and Cambodia, two countries we bombed for years.

I can't believe some folks are again using the "Commies are out to get us!" scare tactic to sway voters to their side.

Oh, did you know anti-KKK protests (0'54&quot were instigated by the Commies?

[redstateblues]

183. I said nothing about Commies. Bernie is a Socialist

That term has a lot of negative connotations outside of Bernie World whether it is fair or not. It's reality.

[KansDem]

184. I was responding to the OP

Clinton Attack Dog Claire McCaskill Implies Democratic Candidate Bernie Sanders Is A Communist

For decades whenever a politician or political entity feels they are losing, they pull out the "C-Card." Smear someone or something with the suspicion they are a Commie.

And the MIC and its financial backers make out like bandits...

[jonestonesusa]

186. Democratic socialist

Get it right on a Democratic board at least. Part of the work of Democrats is to bring an intelligent perspective to the issues, including economic issues. Red baiting helps no one. And after all, our biggest trading partner is a communist country, which now has most favored nation status that was championed by another Clinton. How about we make an intelligent case for a mixed economy with private and public ownership, an intact social safety net, and opportunity for all? ALL Dems should be advocating for that.

[Bernblu]

187. I am finished with her

I do not support red baiters. End of story.

[Stand and Fight]

188. Disgusting remark from McCaskilll... Utterly disgusting. n/t