Hillary’s “tone"gate disaster: Why her campaign’s condescending Bernie dismissal should concern Dems

[marmar]

from Salon:


Hillary Clinton’s “tone”-gate disaster: Why her campaign’s condescending Bernie dismissal should concern Democrats everywhere
If the Clinton campaign can't deal with Bernie's "tone," how are they supposed to handle someone like Donald Trump?

Conor Lynch


During a CNN interview on Monday, Hillary Clinton’s Chief Strategist Joel Benenson responded to a question about whether Clinton would participate in a Democratic debate in New York — as the Sanders campaign has requested — in such a condescending way, that he unintentionally managed to break the internet.

“I think the real question is what kind of campaign is Senator Sanders going to run going forward,” opined Benenson. “Senator Sanders doesn’t get to decide when we debate, particularly when he’s running a very negative campaign against us. Let’s see if he goes back to the kind of tone he said he was going to set early on. If he does that, then we’ll talk about debates.”

Shortly after Benenson’s patronizing comments, the Twitter hashtag #ToneDownForWhat began to trend, and the internet fittingly derided the strategist and Clinton, who just eight years ago said that “you should be willing to debate anytime, anywhere” while running for president. One can only assume that Benenson — who has consulted for various Wall Street firms — was alluding to the Sanders campaign’s criticism of Clinton’s financial ties to Wall Street and its insistence that she release transcripts from her Goldman Sachs speeches.

(He certainly couldn’t mean Sanders’s targeting of Clinton for her email scandal and ongoing FBI investigation, or for running direct attack ads, which the Senator has refused to do).

This has become a regular strategy for the Clinton campaign, consistently attacking the Sanders campaign for being “negative,” while itself running a dishonest and petty campaign, from the misleading attack on Sanders’ healthcare plan to Clinton’s deceptive auto-bailout remark to the malicious attempts to smear Sanders as a racist. (“Black lives don’t matter much to Bernie Sanders,” said Clinton surrogate David Brock in January.) .................(more)

http://www.salon.com/2016/03/30/hillary_clintons_tone_gate_disaster_why_her_campaigns_condescending_bernie_dismissal_should_concern_democrats_everywhere/

[Trust Buster]

1. You read too much into it. She was just reminding Sanders who the front runner is.

[HumanityExperiment]

2. yeah.... sure.....

'reminding', I am sure the 'reminding' that the voters will give in return to HRC will be accepted with the same 'grace' as you reply here, I am sure

[emulatorloo]

3. This is a story for political junkies like you and me. I doubt most voters care.

JMHO of course.

[HumanityExperiment]

7. agreed...

that is the reality in which we find ourselves... wish more folks too the time to absorb and understand but, you're correct most voters do not care

[GreatGazoo]

11. yes, It is classic Benenson

The kill-Hillary strategy began with an October memo that was written by several top Obama officials, including Axelrod, Grisolano, Pfeiffer, the campaign manager David Plouffe, and Joel Benenson, Obama’s pollster. “Joel Benenson was a key contributor to how we stack up against her message-wise,” Grisolano said.
...
Attacking Clinton as “driven by politics, not conviction” and arguing that she “puts preserving political power ahead of reliable principles or progress for the American people” was a tricky for Obama. After all, if he represented a new way of doing politics, he couldn’t sound like a traditional politician on the attack.

“Frequently, in campaigns, when we say ‘contrast,’ it’s a euphemism for a frontal attack,” Grisolano explained. “You can see in the memo, and this is important about the constraints that the message put on us, because if you are the unity guy you can’t come out with a crowbar against your opponent. We had to show we were different, but do it in a way that wasn’t as direct as most campaigns do.”

In the memo, Obama was counselled to attack Clinton subtly but not “so subtly or obtusely that the press doesn’t write about them and the voters don’t understand that we’re talking about HRC.” Obama agreed with the strategy. “One thing I recall was that he was willing to draw contrasts with Hillary but was very intent on doing it in ways with which he felt comfortable,” Axelrod told me.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-to-beat-hillary-clinton

They see overtly negative campaigning as a liability so they claim, without basis, that Sanders' campaign is negative.

[Bluenorthwest]

6. And the people called her out for her hypocrisy and hubris all over the public square.

Let me tell you this about being in an actual strong lead. A person in an actual lead does not have to remind anyone of that fact, it is visible and undeniable or it is not really much of a lead. If you feel the need to point out you are ahead, that means you fear falling behind.

[Betty Karlson]

18. She is so high on her own importance, that she deserves a clashing loss.

The arrogance. The lies. The deceit.

Clinton.

[CoffeeCat]

28. You mean she was being third-rate bully?

They had agreed on one debate in April, May and June.

That was a rock-solid agreement.

She would have gone back on her word if Bernie hadn't gone public. Good for him!

[sibelian]

30. What, she was being a stupid, snotty little jerk? That's your DEFENSE?

[DanTex]

4. Conor Lynch, another HA Goodman wannabe.

Where do they find these nuts?

[marmar]

17. Perhaps the same place they find people like David Brock.

[99th_Monkey]

25. Another attempt to shoot the messenger & ignore/avoid discussing substance and content n/t

[awake]

5. If Hillary does get the nomination she will have one hell of a time repairing the damage

Hillary's supporters are undermining her in their baseless attacks on Bernie. She will need all the help that she can get from the very people her "supporters" are trashing. I am amazed at how many of Hillary's problems are self inflected ether by her or her staff. She had won me over last fall with how she handled herself for the 9 hr. grilling from congress but where is that person now? Where is the thoughtful states-person who quietly handled herself? Hillary's staff have not done her any favors.

[thereismore]

8. Maybe she gets to do another hearing before long...

[awake]

9. Ya but the one with the FBI will not be on tv

[Trust Buster]

10. She'll say all the politically correct things in due time. Then she'll govern according to her

agenda and not Sanders agenda.

[dchill]

26. That ought to scare you..

Not feel all puffed up and proud. It's reprehensible. It's craven.

[astrophuss42]

12. Her staff is

Literally the smarmiest group of people I've seen collected.

[awake]

16. If they are so smart why is she losing momentum.

She still my "win" but just barely she should be building steam toward the finish line not limping across.

[Gwhittey]

19. smarmiest not smartest

[awake]

20. Ops I misread that thanks for pointing that out

[VulgarPoet]

22. I don't give a rat's ass about her rank and file supporters

but her strategists, and paid hit-job writers(I'll be damned if I call them journalists) like David Brock are what have not only turned me off from not only her, but the whole damn party. The fact that these kinds of people are condoned in the party is just disgusting.

[reddread]

27. I am grateful for their decision making

its a turnkey defeat.

[Orsino]

13. Hardly seems like a disaster.

It's the spending of political capital, but done thro u gh a spokesperson in vague terms, so the candidate can deny it if it turns sour.

[jwirr]

14. To Hillary and her supporters talking issues is a negative

attack. And as long as they keep pushing that she can hide behind it.

[BernieforPres2016]

15. Bernie's comment last night to Erin Burnett that it looked like they would have a debate in Brooklyn

pretty much tells me the "we won't debate unless he changes his tone" blew up in the face of the Clinton campaign in less than 48 hours. Bernie didn't act like there was any question about the debate; he said they want to debate in Brooklyn and that's where he grew up so he was fine with it.

[Babel_17]

21. I see a connection with this to there not yet being a debate scheduled for NY

If the moderators throw Senator Sanders some easy setup questions regard the controversies involving Secretary Clinton that the Washington Post recently wrote about; the Clinton campaign would prefer to know in advance that those topics wouldn't be discussed ... in any tone.

And the Goldman Sachs speeches, and the TPP, are hot button issues in NY. If Bernie's tone was confrontational, and the moderators thought the discussion valid, it could be a contentious night indeed.

[Jester Messiah]

23. Yeah, now she looks slimy AND wimpy! Talk about putting your best foot forward. n/t

[99th_Monkey]

24. Since when do candidates get to dictate to their opponent and/or moderators what gets asked???

This has nothing to do with "tone".

It has everything to do with Clinton running from her own abysmal record re:
Wall St., TPP, fracking,etc.

[noiretextatique]

29. It's the Clinton way eom