Pie-in-the-sky Sanders more realistic than Clinton: Kirsten Powers

How do you solve a problem like Bernie?

Belatedly appreciating the Sanders threat, Hillary Clinton is trying everything to stop the septuagenarian socialist democrat from Vermont. She has attacked his position on guns, his support for a single-payer health care system and his idealistic penchant for believing that Washington can be changed. Nothing has proved to be the silver bullet that would take out the unlikely spoiler of the second almost-coronation of Hillary Clinton. So, what’s next? Sanders himself predicted at his New Hampshire victory speech that soon the kitchen sink would be coming his way.

Just so we’re clear: Sanders is an unserious pie-in-the-sky candidate because he wants to rein in campaign spending and institute a health care system that is commonplace in Europe. Clinton, on the other hand, will eradicate sexism and racism in America. Who’s the dreamer here? After all, Clinton can’t even keep her own campaign surrogates — Gloria Steinem and Madeleine Albright — from taking sexist swipes at young female Bernie supporters.

In its latest reframing of reality, the Clinton campaign is lowering expectations for the Nevada Democratic caucuses Saturday, claiming the state is “80% white” and thus will favor Sanders. Actually, Democratic caucus voters in 2008 were 36% non-white. Moreover, the demographics of the state are exactly the same as when Nevada was being cast as Clinton’s “Western firewall.”

Where the Clinton campaign might be right is that the state could end up favoring her opponent. Bernie is a problem Hillary can’t figure out how to solve, perhaps because he’s not the problem. She is.