Thursday, January 14, 2016

Dems' Fighting Words


The parallels between Clinton/Sanders and Quinn/DeBlasio are jaw-dropping -- I like 'em both, and am happy the latter is/was there to drag the former left -- but the key difference is something Democrats need to think about real hard: In NYC, we knew we'd win either way come November.


As for the latest squabble -- Clinton is being deliberately obtuse about Sanders' presentation, but that's not the actual issue here. The issue is reality. Single-payer healthcare is what EVERYBODY WITH A BRAIN wants. But does Sanders have dementia, or has he not been paying attention for the past seven years, including two when we had control of the House and Senate? We couldn't even get a "public" option in Obamacare, and Republicans have spent the past six years trying to get rid of what little health reform we did get. (And now that Democrats didn't bother to vote in the midterms, we're not going to have control again any time in the foreseeable future.) I just don't see the point of risking losing the White House to try to make a point that a man who actually did become president couldn't make.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

good commentary on hillary vs bernie and universal health coverage, kenneth.

watching news reports attempting to frame hillary's current policy as a position reversal from 2008, while playing old campaign videos, i keep yelling at the tv "like the last 7 years didn't happen?"...

The Polar Beast said...

Kenneth, It would seem that the Millennials haven't learned from history the issue of electability. I feel like it's George McGovern or Michael Dukakis time all over again. To win need to draw votes from the pool of Independents than do the Republicans. Hillary should make this a campaign issue.

PS: Great example with single payor healtcare. If only.....

das buut said...

Not this time. I had to root for Obama in '08 general election when Clinton lost the primary, then watch as he stood by with the leadership and the conservative minority took control, compromising every time in an attempt to 'cross the aisle'. I've had to vote for every Dem in every election because it was 'better than the alternative'. I refuse to give up hope this time. Maybe it's naive, I don't care. I'm voting Bernie. I'm voting Alan Grayson. And if my vote ends up helping sink the country into further quagmire thanks to obstructionist republicans, well, where's the difference?

In the past 7 years, her politics have become so toxic to everything I believe in, I can't do it. I can't vote for her in the primary. I won't vote for her in the primary. She is not the better candidate this time.

Bill Carter said...

I have tremendous admiration for Senator Sanders, and my personal politics are probably closer to his than to anybody else's in the Senate. But the right and big business have made the word "Socialist" political poison in the US. Hell, even "Liberal" is something that Democrats outside the Deep Blue Zone avoid.

So my heart may belong to Bernie, but my head says it's gotta be Hillary, who is not only electable, but will be a far better president than any of the other candidates, in either party.

Dukakis '88 President said...

Bernie has a much better chance at the White House than Hillary Clinton. Bernie KILLS it with independents. He crushes Clinton, Trump (and all of the other crazies in the Republican Party). I mean independents like Bernie MUCH more than Clinton (see polling on independents). And, when independents make up a larger percentage of the American population than Democrats, that is a ticket to the White House. We have an incredible opportunity with Bernie Sanders, and we'd be fools not to take it. Go Bernie! o