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In reply to the discussion: "The Problem with Bernie Sanders," by Ashley Smith [View all]DanTex
(20,709 posts)10. She's right, it will help Hillary Clinton. And that's a good thing.
THE DEMOCRATIC establishment can breathe a collective sigh of relief. It doesn't, in fact, fear liberal Democrats like Kucinich or Sanders, but third-party challenges like Nader's that have the prospect of breaking their stranglehold on votes from workers and the oppressed, as several local and statewide campaigns have shown over the last few years.
Hillary Clinton certainly doesn't regard Sanders as a threat. She knows that the election business follows the golden rule: Whoever has more gold, wins. Clinton is expected to amass a war chest of more than $1 billion, mostly from Wall Street and Corporate America, to pay for advertising, an army of paid staff and Astroturf support. This will overwhelm Sanders' fundraising goal of $50 million and his underdeveloped volunteer infrastructure.
In fact, Clinton regards Sanders as an asset to her campaign. He will bring enthusiasm and attention to Democratic primaries that promised to be lackluster at best. He will also help her frame the election on populist terms that have widespread support. That benefits the Democrats and undermines the Republicans, who have little to say about inequality, except that they like it.
Hillary Clinton certainly doesn't regard Sanders as a threat. She knows that the election business follows the golden rule: Whoever has more gold, wins. Clinton is expected to amass a war chest of more than $1 billion, mostly from Wall Street and Corporate America, to pay for advertising, an army of paid staff and Astroturf support. This will overwhelm Sanders' fundraising goal of $50 million and his underdeveloped volunteer infrastructure.
In fact, Clinton regards Sanders as an asset to her campaign. He will bring enthusiasm and attention to Democratic primaries that promised to be lackluster at best. He will also help her frame the election on populist terms that have widespread support. That benefits the Democrats and undermines the Republicans, who have little to say about inequality, except that they like it.
This is an accurate analysis. The only thing the author is wrong about is that this is somehow bad. Would she prefer a Republican president?
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Has this person considered what not running as a Democrat might mean for the workers?
mmonk
May 2015
#1
The author wants Bernie to start a third party and not get involved in Democratic politics./NT
DemocratSinceBirth
May 2015
#4
An interesting POV but it along with other posts in support of him dance around the real issue
stevenleser
May 2015
#5
Everywhere I've lived, Colorado Springs, Tampa, St. Pete, NYC, Los Angeles we've had
stevenleser
May 2015
#29
That's the responsibility of the candidate. State legislature race candidates can beat the pavement
stevenleser
May 2015
#49
Agreed. I suspect that on his trips around the country he was testing the waters of running both
jwirr
May 2015
#35
I met a member who was handing out newspapers at the North Hollywood Station
DemocratSinceBirth
May 2015
#9
Probably because Bernie considers himself a Democratic Socialist, so he may not pass the
okaawhatever
May 2015
#13
I think the country has to be a lot hungrier before they will vote pure socialism. But Bernie is
jwirr
May 2015
#36
Probably b/c Sanders is a SINO (Socialist in Name Only) who ultimately believes that
KingCharlemagne
May 2015
#17
lol, Hillary's fans called this race for her before she'd even finished losing the last one. /nt
Marr
May 2015
#44
Bernie will bring a good and credible voice to left-wing policies even if he loses the Primary.
stillwaiting
May 2015
#30