2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Did Bernie's wife commit a felony when she secured a loan for Burlington College? [View all]MADem
(135,425 posts)A good chunk of that 'take' goes to charitable causes, so good for her.
Also, her payday from those speeches is a lot -- for a woman. But for a man of similar profile? Not so much.
There's not even equality in the honoraria game. Maybe President H R Clinton can improve that, and other situations where women aren't paid equally for the same experience and the same work.
Sanders' successor at the college (who was also given the bum's rush) hasn't had any trouble talking about this matter, so claims of "confidentiality" seem a bit bogus to me. Also, if someone was lying about her in a blatant material fashion, she could easily ask a surrogate to correct the record for her, but she hasn't done that. I don't think the bank documents lie, in any event. The financial papers say what they say--and she SIGNED them.
Bill Clinton didn't misstate donor pledges (worst case translation: lie to a bank) in order to secure a loan, so I fail to understand your attempt to compare/contrast. It just doesn't fly.
And, speaking of scenarios, just imagine your candidate makes the cut and becomes the Democratic nominee. Do you seriously think the GOP are going to take a "Hands Off" attitude with regard to this matter? Because, ya know, it's really "low" to say anything? Please. Do you seriously think the GOP strategists will shoot that down with "Shhhh--you'll hurt feelings if you mention THAT!"
Mrs. Sanders, rightly or wrongly, is going to be accused of all sorts of "financial malfeasance," and this "land deal" is going to be trotted out like it's the Whitewater of the North. She'll be painted as a wild-eyed zealot with a warped vision who carelessly blew the hard-earned dollars held in trust for a boutique university in a pastoral setting....for her own selfish purposes the tag-line will read. Every picture will be unflattering. Her husband will be painted as either clueless as to her "machinations" or even worse, complicit. The TV commercials write themselves.
You're not going to get that "constitutional amendment" between now and Nov 2016. You gotta dance with the ones what brung ya, so you'd best be prepared.