So you ask "why it matters" that Hillary regularly has fund-raising dinners for thousands of $$$?

[Gothmog]

184. The premise of this thread is silly unless someone can explain how Sanders is viable

The premise of this thread that Hillary Clinton is evil for raising funds and attending fundraisers and that Sanders is purer because he is not attanding fundraisers and is not tainted by money. That premise is fine so long as Sanders can show that he is viable in a general election campaign where the Kochs will be spending $887 million and the RNC candidate will be spending another billion dollars.

Money may be evil but modern campaigns are not viable without adequate funds and fundraising. I have asked on numerous occassions for an explanation as to how Sanders will be able to compete in a general election contest against a candidate who has a major financial advantage. The answers that I have seen include (a) the Democratic blue Wall is magic, (b) twitter is magic and (c) youtube is more important than TV advertising.

Neither I nor most of the Democratic base are buying these explanations. If Sanders wants to broaden his appeal from a very narrow base of support, then Sanders needs to convince people that he can win a general election. The posters on this thread can feel morally superior to Clinton supporters because their candidate is not tainted by having to attend fundraisers but these posters should not expect other Democrats to ignore electability. This article had a very interesting quote about the role of super pacs in the upcoming election http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/03/bernie-sanders-grassroots-movement-gains-clinton-machine

Harvard University professor Lawrence Lessig, who founded a Super Pac to end Super Pacs, said Sanders’ renouncing Super Pacs is tantamount to “bringing a knife to a gunfight”.

“I regret the fact the Bernie Sanders has embraced the idea that he’s going to live life like the Vermont snow, as pure as he possibly can, while he runs for president, because it weakens his chances – and he’s an enormously important progressive voice,” Lessig said.

President Obama was against super pacs in 2012 but had to use one to keep the race close. I do not like super pacs but any Democratic candidate who wants to be viable has to use a super pac, The super pacs associated with Clinton raised $24 million and so Clinton raised $70 this quarter.