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mhatrw

(10,786 posts)
Sun Jan 17, 2016, 04:28 AM Jan 2016

Vanity Fair: Sanders Is Closing in on Clinton, and He’s Not Even Trying

http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/01/bernie-sanders-is-closing-in-on-clinton-and-hes-not-even-trying

The two Democrats are nearly neck-and-neck for the nomination. What happens if Sanders actually attacks?

BY T.A. FRANK

I can’t imagine that Bernie Sanders actually expected to topple Hillary Clinton. Sure, he expected to change the parameters of debate and offer a broader vision of the Democratic Party, but not to run away with it. That he might succeed says less, I’m afraid, about Sanders than about Clinton. Friends of Clinton say she’s wonderful company in private, and supporters say she’s at her best when governing rather than campaigning. But that doesn’t get anyone very far. They might as well be saying she’s great company when no one’s around, and she’s a great candidate when no one else is running.

On Sunday, we’ll get the best indication yet of whether Bernie Sanders really intends to go all the way. He has never gotten rough, sticking to a mode of “implied contrast” on issues. Yet even his mildest jabs have wounded the frontrunner—or erstwhile frontrunner—as if a tug on her sleeve would be enough to rip off her entire arm. Last November, when Sanders told the Wall Street Journal that his political consistency on a trade deal (with an implied contrast to Clinton’s reversals) “does speak to the character of a person,” the Clinton campaign reproached the Sanders campaign for “personal attacks that they previously said he wouldn’t do.”

Sanders prides himself on never having run a negative ad (a claim Clinton’s touchy campaign disputes), but he’s perfectly capable of negative statements. He has called Donald Trump “a pathological liar” who “simply cannot control himself,” someone who “lies, lies and lies again.” Not so much implied contrast there. The question, as Ross Douthat notes in The New York Times, is whether Sanders is willing to deploy even a fraction of such vehemence against his Democratic rival.

It can’t be an easy choice. First, Sanders must decide if he can really withstand the hell of an entire presidential campaign, possibly against Donald Trump, and then becoming America’s oldest president-elect, at age 75. True, the Oval Office will not turn Sanders’ hair gray, but the experience of the presidency, the position of sudden world-spanning power, is extreme. So is the confidence that it requires.

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merrily

(45,251 posts)
1. Good article, but Sanders sure looks to me as though he's been trying.
Sun Jan 17, 2016, 06:05 AM
Jan 2016

He's maintained a killer schedule and achieved remarkable things, including raising almost as much as Hillary (exclusive of PACs) without going to big donors, a sea change in modern American politics.

 

Green Forest

(232 posts)
3. By trying, I think the author means what if Bernie unleashed unmitigated criticism against Hillary
Sun Jan 17, 2016, 06:16 AM
Jan 2016

Instead of being gentlemanly in neutralizing her email/private server woes and Bill's serial past (and likely, present) adultery in past debates. He even gave a pass to Chelsea on her shameless parroting of Hillary's ongoing lies about his wanting to get rid of Medicare, etc.

 

Green Forest

(232 posts)
6. I understand where the author is coming from. I also understand what you are saying.
Sun Jan 17, 2016, 06:39 AM
Jan 2016

The author clearly appreciates the value of going negative, but Bernie's not going there though I don't think there's anything wrong with it if it is done well, such as how Barack does it.

All in all, I like the fact Bernie is finally getting press.

Ed Suspicious

(8,879 posts)
7. Obama has a way of taking shit from his opponents
Sun Jan 17, 2016, 06:56 AM
Jan 2016

And taking it a nd taking it until they've so thoroughly claimed the wrong position that it"s impossible for them to wriggle out when he inevitibly turns the tables on them.

 

Green Forest

(232 posts)
8. He's usually the only grownup in the Room. I wonder what he thinks of Hillary wanting new sanctions.
Sun Jan 17, 2016, 07:18 AM
Jan 2016

I'll bet Joe Biden's remarks praising Bernie last week were not an accident.

 

Proserpina

(2,352 posts)
2. Sounds like the author was forced to write goodness about Bernie against his will
Sun Jan 17, 2016, 06:15 AM
Jan 2016

the snideness is unmistakable.

In case the author hadn't noticed due to lack of attention, Bernie already decided...back in August, when it became clear that the need, the hunger for leadership, was knocking on his door.

merrily

(45,251 posts)
5. I've seen damned little written or said about Bernie since he announced that hasn't been snarky, or
Sun Jan 17, 2016, 06:19 AM
Jan 2016

condescending or damning with faint praise, or all three.

roguevalley

(40,656 posts)
12. we are a youth culture apparently. much of the snark there was built on his age. as an old gal
Sun Jan 17, 2016, 01:36 PM
Jan 2016

I would say go bernie. you have health, decency and wisdom.

 

magical thyme

(14,881 posts)
9. IME, the very best of the best make it look effortless.
Sun Jan 17, 2016, 07:20 AM
Jan 2016

That doesn't mean it is effortless. In fact, the exact opposite. Their work ethic makes the rest of the world look like a bunch of slackers. They just combine total focus, perfect technique and zero wasted effort.

So when you see somebody doing really, really well and making it look easy, consider the possibility that they work harder than you ever dreamed was humanly possible.

daybranch

(1,309 posts)
10. Have you not noticed, Bernie has turned the tables on Hillary?
Sun Jan 17, 2016, 08:13 AM
Jan 2016

remember when she did not mention his name as she sought to show how well she could best the republicans in speeches but now Bernie continues to run against the oligarchy and does not even put Hillary's name in the commercials. That must sting and it works as the people see him as a man for us and ignore Hillary as a tool of her wealthy donors. Her continued claims to the Obama legacy are also wearing thin and are being questioned by many as she demonstrates her disagreements with Obama on policies including TTP, the Iranian sanctions etc. She is to the right of Obama and her past actions regarding incarceration and welfare hurt the black communities. We all know or will soon.

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