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MrWendel
MrWendel's Journal
MrWendel's Journal
February 25, 2016
In the final days before the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary, things are getting heated as Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders battle for black votes in a state with a large black electorate. Things got a little hotter Wednesday night when a #BlackLivesMatter activist confronted Hillary at a private event in Charleston, South Carolina. Activist Ashley Williams interrupted Clinton’s remarks by holding up a cloth sign that read “We Have to Bring Them to Heel,” a reference to comments she made in 1996, and demanded an apology from Hillary:
(Video in link)
Before peeling away the layers of this onion, it’s important to give Ashley Williams major points for execution. According to The Huffington Post, she and her videographer paid $500 to get into the event, and maneuvered themselves into some prime real estate at the front of the crowd. Facts aside, the optics of the confrontation are all on Williams’ side, as politicians still haven’t learned that “Why don’t you stop talking and listen to me?” is not an effective way to engage activists you care about engaging.
Facts are stubborn things, though, and they’re not on Ashley Williams’ side here, at least not entirely. Her first demand, that Hillary apologize for mass incarceration that many blame on the 1994 crime bill that then-President Bill Clinton signed into law, is somewhat moot because the Clintons have already done that, and because apologizing for it won’t fix it. Hillary never voted for that bill, although as First Lady, she did stump for it.
Part of that effort was to give a speech in 1996 (not 1994) in which she did, indeed, use the term “Superpredators,” but context is important here. This was one line in a speech about a broader agenda, in which the issue of crime was at the end of a long list, and in which she advocated community policing in literally the same breath. Here’s what she actually said:
(More with video in link)
Black Lives Matter Activist Demands Hillary Clinton Apologize Based on a Lie
http://www.mediaite.com/online/black-lives-matter-activist-demands-hillary-clinton-apologize-based-on-a-lie/In the final days before the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary, things are getting heated as Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders battle for black votes in a state with a large black electorate. Things got a little hotter Wednesday night when a #BlackLivesMatter activist confronted Hillary at a private event in Charleston, South Carolina. Activist Ashley Williams interrupted Clinton’s remarks by holding up a cloth sign that read “We Have to Bring Them to Heel,” a reference to comments she made in 1996, and demanded an apology from Hillary:
(Video in link)
Clinton: (reading sign) We have to bring them to heel.
Williams: We hope you apologize for mass incarceration.
Clinton: Okay, we’ll talk about it.
Williams: I’m not a Superpredator, Hillary Clinton.
Clinton: Okay, we’ll talk about it.
Williams: Will you apologize to black people for mass incarceration?
Clinton: Can I talk? And maybe you can listen to what I say.
(someone in crowd hisses)
Williams: You called black people “Superpredators.”
Crowd: That’s not appropriate. You’re being rude.
Williams: You called black people “Superpredators,” that’s rude.
Clinton: Okay, you want to hear the facts, or you want to just talk?
Williams: I know that you called black youth “Superpredators” in 1994. Please explain for the record. Please explain it to us. You owe black people an apology.
Before peeling away the layers of this onion, it’s important to give Ashley Williams major points for execution. According to The Huffington Post, she and her videographer paid $500 to get into the event, and maneuvered themselves into some prime real estate at the front of the crowd. Facts aside, the optics of the confrontation are all on Williams’ side, as politicians still haven’t learned that “Why don’t you stop talking and listen to me?” is not an effective way to engage activists you care about engaging.
Facts are stubborn things, though, and they’re not on Ashley Williams’ side here, at least not entirely. Her first demand, that Hillary apologize for mass incarceration that many blame on the 1994 crime bill that then-President Bill Clinton signed into law, is somewhat moot because the Clintons have already done that, and because apologizing for it won’t fix it. Hillary never voted for that bill, although as First Lady, she did stump for it.
Part of that effort was to give a speech in 1996 (not 1994) in which she did, indeed, use the term “Superpredators,” but context is important here. This was one line in a speech about a broader agenda, in which the issue of crime was at the end of a long list, and in which she advocated community policing in literally the same breath. Here’s what she actually said:
(More with video in link)
February 25, 2016
Sanders insists he isn't giving up on the state but his schedule suggests otherwise.
By GABRIEL DEBENEDETTI
COLUMBIA, S.C. — With just a few days until the South Carolina Democratic primary, Bernie Sanders is all but writing the state off.
He hasn’t said that, of course, but his schedule reflects it.
Sanders was in Massachusetts Monday night and Virginia Tuesday morning. While he attended a televised town hall in South Carolina Tuesday night and followed with an early morning news conference, his itinerary Wednesday consisted of events in Kansas City, Missouri, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. After that, his schedule called for a trip to Ohio Thursday — with stops in other March-voting states likely to be added, an aide said.
A candidate’s time is a campaign’s most precious resource, so by spending so much of it somewhere other than South Carolina, the Sanders campaign is engaging in the cold calculus of primary politics — making the tough decision to send the senator to the states where he expects to be the most competitive.
It’s a reflection of the cloudy outlook in South Carolina — where Hillary Clinton currently holds a double-digit lead in every poll ahead of Saturday's primary — but also of Sanders’ strategic map through mid-March. The campaign's goal is to project the message that he is running a durable national campaign, and central to that plan is a strong showing on Super Tuesday (March 1), followed by solid performances in big-state primaries like Michigan on March 8 and Ohio on March 15.
(More in link)
Bernie's South Carolina surrender
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/bernie-sanders-south-carolina-schedule-219708Sanders insists he isn't giving up on the state but his schedule suggests otherwise.
By GABRIEL DEBENEDETTI
COLUMBIA, S.C. — With just a few days until the South Carolina Democratic primary, Bernie Sanders is all but writing the state off.
He hasn’t said that, of course, but his schedule reflects it.
Sanders was in Massachusetts Monday night and Virginia Tuesday morning. While he attended a televised town hall in South Carolina Tuesday night and followed with an early morning news conference, his itinerary Wednesday consisted of events in Kansas City, Missouri, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. After that, his schedule called for a trip to Ohio Thursday — with stops in other March-voting states likely to be added, an aide said.
A candidate’s time is a campaign’s most precious resource, so by spending so much of it somewhere other than South Carolina, the Sanders campaign is engaging in the cold calculus of primary politics — making the tough decision to send the senator to the states where he expects to be the most competitive.
It’s a reflection of the cloudy outlook in South Carolina — where Hillary Clinton currently holds a double-digit lead in every poll ahead of Saturday's primary — but also of Sanders’ strategic map through mid-March. The campaign's goal is to project the message that he is running a durable national campaign, and central to that plan is a strong showing on Super Tuesday (March 1), followed by solid performances in big-state primaries like Michigan on March 8 and Ohio on March 15.
(More in link)
February 25, 2016
Sanders insists he isn't giving up on the state but his schedule suggests otherwise.
By GABRIEL DEBENEDETTI
COLUMBIA, S.C. — With just a few days until the South Carolina Democratic primary, Bernie Sanders is all but writing the state off.
He hasn’t said that, of course, but his schedule reflects it.
Sanders was in Massachusetts Monday night and Virginia Tuesday morning. While he attended a televised town hall in South Carolina Tuesday night and followed with an early morning news conference, his itinerary Wednesday consisted of events in Kansas City, Missouri, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. After that, his schedule called for a trip to Ohio Thursday — with stops in other March-voting states likely to be added, an aide said.
A candidate’s time is a campaign’s most precious resource, so by spending so much of it somewhere other than South Carolina, the Sanders campaign is engaging in the cold calculus of primary politics — making the tough decision to send the senator to the states where he expects to be the most competitive.
It’s a reflection of the cloudy outlook in South Carolina — where Hillary Clinton currently holds a double-digit lead in every poll ahead of Saturday's primary — but also of Sanders’ strategic map through mid-March. The campaign's goal is to project the message that he is running a durable national campaign, and central to that plan is a strong showing on Super Tuesday (March 1), followed by solid performances in big-state primaries like Michigan on March 8 and Ohio on March 15.
(More in link)
Bernie's South Carolina surrender
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/bernie-sanders-south-carolina-schedule-219708Sanders insists he isn't giving up on the state but his schedule suggests otherwise.
By GABRIEL DEBENEDETTI
COLUMBIA, S.C. — With just a few days until the South Carolina Democratic primary, Bernie Sanders is all but writing the state off.
He hasn’t said that, of course, but his schedule reflects it.
Sanders was in Massachusetts Monday night and Virginia Tuesday morning. While he attended a televised town hall in South Carolina Tuesday night and followed with an early morning news conference, his itinerary Wednesday consisted of events in Kansas City, Missouri, and Tulsa, Oklahoma. After that, his schedule called for a trip to Ohio Thursday — with stops in other March-voting states likely to be added, an aide said.
A candidate’s time is a campaign’s most precious resource, so by spending so much of it somewhere other than South Carolina, the Sanders campaign is engaging in the cold calculus of primary politics — making the tough decision to send the senator to the states where he expects to be the most competitive.
It’s a reflection of the cloudy outlook in South Carolina — where Hillary Clinton currently holds a double-digit lead in every poll ahead of Saturday's primary — but also of Sanders’ strategic map through mid-March. The campaign's goal is to project the message that he is running a durable national campaign, and central to that plan is a strong showing on Super Tuesday (March 1), followed by solid performances in big-state primaries like Michigan on March 8 and Ohio on March 15.
(More in link)
February 24, 2016
By Lysis
Today’s Hillary News & Views begins with a powerful day on the campaign trail with incredibly strong women.
The Washington Post reports:
(More in link)
Hillary News & Views 2.24: "Mothers of the Movement," SC Town Hall, Standing with HBCUs
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/2/24/1483354/-Hillary-News-Views-2-24-Mothers-of-the-Movement-SC-Town-Hall-Standing-with-HBCUsBy Lysis
Today’s Hillary News & Views begins with a powerful day on the campaign trail with incredibly strong women.
The Washington Post reports:
“Something is very wrong when we have these incidents where kids can get arrested for petty crimes and lose their lives,” Clinton said. “Something is wrong when African Americans are three times more likely to be denied a mortgage as white people are, when the median wealth of black families is just a fraction of the median wealth for white families,” Clinton said.
Clinton sat silently as one after the other, the five mothers told the stories of their children’s deaths, and about why they are backing Clinton’s presidential bid. The unusual campaign event was part testimonial, part memorial, part call to action against what Clinton called lax gun laws designed to shield gun makers and dealers.
“I was never into politics but now I am, and one of the reasons is because of her,” said Sybrina Fulton, whose unarmed teenaged son Trayvon Martin was killed by a neighbor in Florida in 2012.
Clinton, sitting to Fulton’s left, rubbed her shoulder as she spoke.
Clinton was also joined by Geneva Reed-Veal, mother of Sandra Bland, who was found hanged in her jail cell in Texas after a traffic stop last year; Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner, who died in a police chokehold in New York in 2014; Maria Hamilton, mother of Dontre Hamilton, shot by a police officer in Milwaukee in 2014; and Lucy McBath, mother of Jordan Davis, a Florida teen shot in 2012 by a man who had complained about loud music coming from the car the boy was riding in.
“I say to you, if Eric Garner was a white man, standing on the corner in the suburbs,” he would not have been killed, Carr said. “We cannot take this anymore. We have to get up and do something about it.”
The same group of women spoke to audiences on Clinton’s behalf across South Carolina on Monday and Tuesday. They all were among a group of women who met privately with Clinton last year in a session several of them described as emotional.
“I endorse her because she endorsed us first,” Carr said to applause.
“We have nine months to put her in” the White House. “She’s the new baby,” Reed-Veal said.
(More in link)
February 24, 2016
By First Amendment
Hillary Clinton and Trayvon Martin's Mother, Sybrina Fulton
During last night’s town hall and during campaign stops with the "mothers of the movement” Hillary spoke about the systemic racial problems our country faces.
Hillary called on all our citizens, but she particularly mentioned white Americans, to recognize that their own experiences may not equip them to understand what our fellow African American citizens go through every single day.
I'm extremely proud that Hillary is talking about systemic racism in such stark terms. We need much more of this blunt and thought provoking talk on racism.
mashable.com/…
(More in link)
Hillary Clinton's Powerful Statement On Racism In South Carolina
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/2/24/1490132/-Hillary-Clinton-s-Powerful-Statement-On-Racism-In-South-CarolinaBy First Amendment
Hillary Clinton and Trayvon Martin's Mother, Sybrina Fulton
During last night’s town hall and during campaign stops with the "mothers of the movement” Hillary spoke about the systemic racial problems our country faces.
Hillary called on all our citizens, but she particularly mentioned white Americans, to recognize that their own experiences may not equip them to understand what our fellow African American citizens go through every single day.
I'm extremely proud that Hillary is talking about systemic racism in such stark terms. We need much more of this blunt and thought provoking talk on racism.
mashable.com/…
Something is very wrong when we have these incidents where kids can get arrested for petty crimes and lose their lives,” Clinton said. “Something is wrong when African Americans are three times more likely to be denied a mortgage as white people are, when the median wealth of black families is just a fraction of the median wealth for white families, Clinton said.
She also had a message specifically for white Americans, calling on them to show more empathy for the problems plaguing black communities across America.
”Tackling and ending systemic racism requires contributions from all of us. White Americans, we need to do a better job of listening when African Americans talk about the seen and unseen barriers they face every day," Clinton said. "We need to recognize our privilege and practice humility rather than assume our experiences are everyone's experiences."
The five mothers praised Clinton for spending time listening to their stories, learning about their children and said they back her plans to remake the American criminal justice system.
The women joined Clinton on the campaign trail as a group here for the first time, but they campaigned for Clinton around the state on Monday and Tuesday.
"When we met with her, she walked in as a secretary, she walked in as a political figure, she walked in as a presidential candidate," Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, said. "But she walked out as a compassionate mother, as a compassionate grandmother, as a compassionate wife."
"When no other candidate would listen to us, Ms. Clinton did," Fulton said.
"She is the one for us," Gwen Carr, whose son Eric Garner was killed when a New York City police officer put him in a chokehold in 2014, said of Clinton. "She will stand with us. She will be with us...I endorse her because she endorsed us first."
(More in link)
February 23, 2016
By David Wasserman
Now that the primaries are underway, votes and delegates matter more than polls. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders would need to win 2,382 of Democrats' 4,763 delegates to the Philadelphia convention to clinch the nomination. To help you keep track of who's ahead, the Cook Political Report has devised a delegate scorecard estimating how many delegates Clinton and Sanders would need to win in each primary, caucus, and convention to become the nominee.
In the aftermath of Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are technically tied at 51 pledged delegates apiece. But that vastly understates the magnitude of Sanders's challenge between now and June. In fact, if Clinton performs as well on Super Tuesday (March 1) as her polling and results thus far suggest she will do, she could effectively clinch the Democratic nomination race in a week's time.
Unlike on the Republican side, about 15 percent of DNC delegates are unpledged "superdelegates" - a total of 712 elected officials and party leaders - who can support whomever they want at the convention. According to the Associated Press, Clinton currently leads Sanders 449 to 19 among this group, for an overall delegate lead of 500 to 70.
That's a huge head start for Clinton, and it means Sanders would need to win roughly 55 percent of the 4,295 remaining pledged delegates and uncommitted superdelegates to reach a bare majority, while Clinton would only need to win 45 percent. That's an extremely tall order, and so far Sanders hasn't kept pace.
Who's Ahead? Pledged Delegates vs. Cook Targets
(More in link)
Democratic Delegate Scorecard for Feb. 23, 2016
http://cookpolitical.com/story/9274By David Wasserman
Now that the primaries are underway, votes and delegates matter more than polls. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders would need to win 2,382 of Democrats' 4,763 delegates to the Philadelphia convention to clinch the nomination. To help you keep track of who's ahead, the Cook Political Report has devised a delegate scorecard estimating how many delegates Clinton and Sanders would need to win in each primary, caucus, and convention to become the nominee.
In the aftermath of Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are technically tied at 51 pledged delegates apiece. But that vastly understates the magnitude of Sanders's challenge between now and June. In fact, if Clinton performs as well on Super Tuesday (March 1) as her polling and results thus far suggest she will do, she could effectively clinch the Democratic nomination race in a week's time.
Unlike on the Republican side, about 15 percent of DNC delegates are unpledged "superdelegates" - a total of 712 elected officials and party leaders - who can support whomever they want at the convention. According to the Associated Press, Clinton currently leads Sanders 449 to 19 among this group, for an overall delegate lead of 500 to 70.
That's a huge head start for Clinton, and it means Sanders would need to win roughly 55 percent of the 4,295 remaining pledged delegates and uncommitted superdelegates to reach a bare majority, while Clinton would only need to win 45 percent. That's an extremely tall order, and so far Sanders hasn't kept pace.
Who's Ahead? Pledged Delegates vs. Cook Targets
(More in link)
February 23, 2016
By David Wasserman
Now that the primaries are underway, votes and delegates matter more than polls. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders would need to win 2,382 of Democrats' 4,763 delegates to the Philadelphia convention to clinch the nomination. To help you keep track of who's ahead, the Cook Political Report has devised a delegate scorecard estimating how many delegates Clinton and Sanders would need to win in each primary, caucus, and convention to become the nominee.
In the aftermath of Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are technically tied at 51 pledged delegates apiece. But that vastly understates the magnitude of Sanders's challenge between now and June. In fact, if Clinton performs as well on Super Tuesday (March 1) as her polling and results thus far suggest she will do, she could effectively clinch the Democratic nomination race in a week's time.
Unlike on the Republican side, about 15 percent of DNC delegates are unpledged "superdelegates" - a total of 712 elected officials and party leaders - who can support whomever they want at the convention. According to the Associated Press, Clinton currently leads Sanders 449 to 19 among this group, for an overall delegate lead of 500 to 70.
That's a huge head start for Clinton, and it means Sanders would need to win roughly 55 percent of the 4,295 remaining pledged delegates and uncommitted superdelegates to reach a bare majority, while Clinton would only need to win 45 percent. That's an extremely tall order, and so far Sanders hasn't kept pace.
Who's Ahead? Pledged Delegates vs. Cook Targets
(More in link)
Democratic Delegate Scorecard for Feb. 23, 2016
http://cookpolitical.com/story/9274By David Wasserman
Now that the primaries are underway, votes and delegates matter more than polls. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders would need to win 2,382 of Democrats' 4,763 delegates to the Philadelphia convention to clinch the nomination. To help you keep track of who's ahead, the Cook Political Report has devised a delegate scorecard estimating how many delegates Clinton and Sanders would need to win in each primary, caucus, and convention to become the nominee.
In the aftermath of Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are technically tied at 51 pledged delegates apiece. But that vastly understates the magnitude of Sanders's challenge between now and June. In fact, if Clinton performs as well on Super Tuesday (March 1) as her polling and results thus far suggest she will do, she could effectively clinch the Democratic nomination race in a week's time.
Unlike on the Republican side, about 15 percent of DNC delegates are unpledged "superdelegates" - a total of 712 elected officials and party leaders - who can support whomever they want at the convention. According to the Associated Press, Clinton currently leads Sanders 449 to 19 among this group, for an overall delegate lead of 500 to 70.
That's a huge head start for Clinton, and it means Sanders would need to win roughly 55 percent of the 4,295 remaining pledged delegates and uncommitted superdelegates to reach a bare majority, while Clinton would only need to win 45 percent. That's an extremely tall order, and so far Sanders hasn't kept pace.
Who's Ahead? Pledged Delegates vs. Cook Targets
(More in link)
February 23, 2016
By Brysynner
Foreign Policy: Snap Poll: Who Will Make the Best Foreign Policy President?
Now seems like a good time to note that Bernie Sanders has gone the longest any major candidate has gone since the 1980 election in not naming a foreign policy team which could explain why International Relations scholars are skeptical about Bernie’s foreign policy.
80% of International Relations Scholars Prefer Hillary Clinton Over Bernie Sanders
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/2/23/1489997/-80-of-International-Relations-Scholars-Prefer-Hillary-Clinton-Over-Bernie-SandersBy Brysynner
Foreign Policy: Snap Poll: Who Will Make the Best Foreign Policy President?
Between the two remaining democratic candidates, the vast majority of IR scholars in our sample — 80 percent — indicated that Hillary Clinton would most effectively manage foreign policy as president. (Bernie Sanders received the remaining 20 percent of responses.)
These scholars also name conflict in the Middle East, Global Climate Change, and Russia’s renewed aggressiveness as the top 3 foreign policy issues and the top two ways to combat terrorism is to block finances from getting to terrorists and special operations forces.
Now seems like a good time to note that Bernie Sanders has gone the longest any major candidate has gone since the 1980 election in not naming a foreign policy team which could explain why International Relations scholars are skeptical about Bernie’s foreign policy.
February 23, 2016
By Brysynner
Foreign Policy: Snap Poll: Who Will Make the Best Foreign Policy President?
Now seems like a good time to note that Bernie Sanders has gone the longest any major candidate has gone since the 1980 election in not naming a foreign policy team which could explain why International Relations scholars are skeptical about Bernie’s foreign policy.
80% of International Relations Scholars Prefer Hillary Clinton Over Bernie Sanders
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/2/23/1489997/-80-of-International-Relations-Scholars-Prefer-Hillary-Clinton-Over-Bernie-SandersBy Brysynner
Foreign Policy: Snap Poll: Who Will Make the Best Foreign Policy President?
Between the two remaining democratic candidates, the vast majority of IR scholars in our sample — 80 percent — indicated that Hillary Clinton would most effectively manage foreign policy as president. (Bernie Sanders received the remaining 20 percent of responses.)
These scholars also name conflict in the Middle East, Global Climate Change, and Russia’s renewed aggressiveness as the top 3 foreign policy issues and the top two ways to combat terrorism is to block finances from getting to terrorists and special operations forces.
Now seems like a good time to note that Bernie Sanders has gone the longest any major candidate has gone since the 1980 election in not naming a foreign policy team which could explain why International Relations scholars are skeptical about Bernie’s foreign policy.
February 23, 2016
By Dr. Ruth Nemzoff
I support Hillary, but don't get me wrong--I like Bernie. I know Bernie, I used to date him. Well, not actually him, but guys like him, smart, articulate, with great ideas to save the world . . . and from Brooklyn. After all I went to Barnard and there were plenty of guys from Brooklyn there. Besides, I was short. ( It was a time when gender roles were really constrained . No self-respecting male would date anyone a hair taller than he.) So believe me I dated a lot of guys who are like Bernie and would vote for him. But most of the guys on campus, the ones who did not date me because of my ethnic background might not. (Yes, there was more discrimination of more people -- Irish, Italians, Jews -- back then). Trump has proven that bigotry still sells.
Bernie doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of being elected in a general election. Just wait until the Republican "machine" goes after him as a socialist, an atheist, an Easterner and a Jew. Pew found that 50% of Americans would not vote for a socialist -- and yes, I know that a democratic socialist is different from a communist -- but really this is the age of sound bites not deep analysis.
Sound bites matter. Bernie has wonderful sound bites -- free college, for example. As Hillary points out: how will that work exactly? With so many Republican governors how are you going to get the money poured in.
The European model of free higher education won't lead to equity. Over there, a smaller percentage of the population go to college -- it is for the intellectual elite, which often means the children of the wealthy; they go to the equivalent of our prep schools, they have tutors, computers, travel etc.
(More in link)
Bernie Is Nice Enough But Hillary Is the One Who Can Govern!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-ruth-nemzoff/young-voters-that-think-bernie-can-lead-a-revolution-are-wrong-_b_9280872.htmlBy Dr. Ruth Nemzoff
I support Hillary, but don't get me wrong--I like Bernie. I know Bernie, I used to date him. Well, not actually him, but guys like him, smart, articulate, with great ideas to save the world . . . and from Brooklyn. After all I went to Barnard and there were plenty of guys from Brooklyn there. Besides, I was short. ( It was a time when gender roles were really constrained . No self-respecting male would date anyone a hair taller than he.) So believe me I dated a lot of guys who are like Bernie and would vote for him. But most of the guys on campus, the ones who did not date me because of my ethnic background might not. (Yes, there was more discrimination of more people -- Irish, Italians, Jews -- back then). Trump has proven that bigotry still sells.
Bernie doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of being elected in a general election. Just wait until the Republican "machine" goes after him as a socialist, an atheist, an Easterner and a Jew. Pew found that 50% of Americans would not vote for a socialist -- and yes, I know that a democratic socialist is different from a communist -- but really this is the age of sound bites not deep analysis.
Sound bites matter. Bernie has wonderful sound bites -- free college, for example. As Hillary points out: how will that work exactly? With so many Republican governors how are you going to get the money poured in.
The European model of free higher education won't lead to equity. Over there, a smaller percentage of the population go to college -- it is for the intellectual elite, which often means the children of the wealthy; they go to the equivalent of our prep schools, they have tutors, computers, travel etc.
(More in link)
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