If you consider that the fortune already spent on Iraq and Afghanistan, and more to come, in the last dozen years or so would no doubt pay for all public colleges for more than 50 years and considering all the factors, maybe 100 years. It ids called Arithmetic.
24
Any rise in Sanders is a loss for Hillary Clinton. Enough people already believe HRC is a tainted vessel, carrying more baggage than the Titanic. So, Sanders continued pounding will make Hillary a weaker, not a stronger, candidate.
17
I was sick of this debate before Scalia died. VOTE for whoever wins the Democratic nomination. Punish whoever blocks President Obama's constitutional right to name a new supreme court justice. VOTE Democrat at every level of government.
If you have time, read "Dark Money". Then VOTE.
If you have time, read "Dark Money". Then VOTE.
30
This is about the 4th column by this author about Sanders and blacks and not one word about anti-Semitism. This author can find anti-black racism under every nook and cranny but no scrutinizing the behavior of the black community for their prejudices what so ever. When poor whites didn't vote for Obama they were slurred as racist and the entire country was shamed for their non-voting of Obama. When poor blacks don't vote for Saunders (even though his policies are far more favorable to blacks then Hillary's) Saunders is blamed for not doing enough to "outreach" and impress blacks. It is amazing that people like this author who are so astute in calling out white hypocrisy and bias are so blind to their own.
23
My thoughts exactly. But as Bernie has said, at some point we will all have to come together. You can read into that whatever you like, but he clearly is not saying "If Clinton pulls way ahead, you folks stay at home on election day so we can have Marco or Donald Trump as our next president."
9
Here I sit in my little apartment in the Great Southern Land Down Under impatiently waiting to find out if my comment about this article has been accepted for publication. I looked through all 2048 comments on Mr Blow's last article looking for my response to it. It wasn't there! (Too logical? I can't imagine why else it could have been rejected.) Yet my off-the-cuff stupidly sarcastic comment on the death of everyone's favourite advocate for a government's right to murder its own citizens (even minors and the intellectually disabled!) - Antonin Scalia, come on down - was published! Weird stuff! I wanted to un-publish that one myself!
#This comment is for the amusement of bored and unsuspecting progressive moderators and IS NOT intended for publication. But - alas - the power is in your hands! Oh no!#
#This comment is for the amusement of bored and unsuspecting progressive moderators and IS NOT intended for publication. But - alas - the power is in your hands! Oh no!#
3
How....can representational ...government be retrieved ???...
Well....repeal of Citizens United...so that every vote counts...and
representational government can be restored....
And that is what The Constitution demands...isn't it..and I wonder if
Conservatives can explain why our vote was taken away by the Conservative
Court of John Roberts and Antonin Scalia..
Conserving votes ...possibly for .01 per cent who foist unrepresentational
so called conservatives upon the rest of those whose votes now do not count !!
Perhaps the Conservatives in the Congress and SCOTUS think they are pulling
the wool over my eyes...well they are in no sense a Republican...my family
all ...were Republicans....
But I think the GOP really cashed in their chips with Citizens United...and
ugly greed took to Congress and SCOTUS...
so I am now an Independent for an Independent Senator...who is also
disgusted with Conservative (so called Conservatives)...and the so called
Republicans...as well as some so called Democrats.
That's what most of feel..but we are also disgusted...with disgusting Donald
Trump...Bernie Sanders...is the best choice...
Well....repeal of Citizens United...so that every vote counts...and
representational government can be restored....
And that is what The Constitution demands...isn't it..and I wonder if
Conservatives can explain why our vote was taken away by the Conservative
Court of John Roberts and Antonin Scalia..
Conserving votes ...possibly for .01 per cent who foist unrepresentational
so called conservatives upon the rest of those whose votes now do not count !!
Perhaps the Conservatives in the Congress and SCOTUS think they are pulling
the wool over my eyes...well they are in no sense a Republican...my family
all ...were Republicans....
But I think the GOP really cashed in their chips with Citizens United...and
ugly greed took to Congress and SCOTUS...
so I am now an Independent for an Independent Senator...who is also
disgusted with Conservative (so called Conservatives)...and the so called
Republicans...as well as some so called Democrats.
That's what most of feel..but we are also disgusted...with disgusting Donald
Trump...Bernie Sanders...is the best choice...
13
Bernie Sanders' message is one of hope and the American Dream for all. Hillary Clinton's message is one of compromise and hope that half a loaf is better than what we have now. Bernie inspires. Hillary, well, I'm not sure what to say about Hillary. That she is a smart, competent executive who lacks vision and the ability to dream big?
Never mind all the baggage—fair or unfair—that Clinton brings to the table, she does not inspire, or even bring a sense of optimism. At best, she is a firewall against another ruinous Republican administration. Will that be a winning message in November? I fear not.
Never mind all the baggage—fair or unfair—that Clinton brings to the table, she does not inspire, or even bring a sense of optimism. At best, she is a firewall against another ruinous Republican administration. Will that be a winning message in November? I fear not.
18
This is where it will start to get interesting. This is where we'll see just how far "Feel-The-Bern" gets. Funny. He never seemed too concerned with courting the Black vote until now. Funny, how the recent sit-down with Al Sharpton was supposed to become something more than a photo-op (as if Mr. Sharpton somehow represents the mouthpiece of ALL Black people). And that Black rapper no one has ever heard of ?-- was he supposed to do the trick too? Interesting. Well, we'll see. While the Sanders dream may be a good one. Many questions still remain. Iowa and New Hampshire are nothing like South Carolina. Now, we'll see just how the fires "Bern".
5
So Mr. Blow, I guess Martin Luther King was also just spreading fairy dust. He too believed in things that at the time seemed impossible to achieve. Shame on you to turn your back on what he represented. Bernie Sander's call for help for the poor and under employed all over this country, no matter of what race or color or creed certainly bares far more resemblance to Dr. King's dreams than anything, I mean ANYTHING, that the Clinton's, either Bill or Hillary has ever either proposed or achieved for the down trodden in this country. They want to tinker around the edges and then go play golf with their billionaire friends. Stop being so caught up in their version of fairy dust, what they are selling is toxic to most Americans. "Don't Ask Don't Tell", how do you feel about that?
32
Please Mr. Blow. You say the question is how? See dozens of examples out there, from Canada to Japan to Europe, etc.How does the US reach parity with other advanced countries?
How do our journalists and pundits get motivated to do a little research and comparisons?
Find out how these other countries finance and manage their more responsive democracies. Research a bit their on tax policy, to find how they manage ‘common sense’ h/c for all at lower cost, free or low cost education and family leave and worker protection. What are the attitudes that allow for some social responsibility by corporations and profit makers?
Check into the US past—decades ago, even with Gop presidents, we had state funding of colleges, enabling a whole generation to be the 1st in their family to get degrees. Their future salaries let them pay taxes back to the state, to fund the next generation. Isn’t it how that’s supposed to work?
Much of Sanders’ platform is not the ‘impossible dream’ at all. It’s only being portrayed that way by you and much of the punditocracy, in order to stay centrist and establishment.
But Sanders ideas were quite centrist and normalized before Reaganomics took over the country. So the evidence shows that it’s Sanders’ ideas that are workable---that is, if you like democracy, not plutocracy.
Mr. Blow, this column is just more political horse race stuff. Like TV churning.
So which candidate do you prefer and why? Do some issue talk.
How do our journalists and pundits get motivated to do a little research and comparisons?
Find out how these other countries finance and manage their more responsive democracies. Research a bit their on tax policy, to find how they manage ‘common sense’ h/c for all at lower cost, free or low cost education and family leave and worker protection. What are the attitudes that allow for some social responsibility by corporations and profit makers?
Check into the US past—decades ago, even with Gop presidents, we had state funding of colleges, enabling a whole generation to be the 1st in their family to get degrees. Their future salaries let them pay taxes back to the state, to fund the next generation. Isn’t it how that’s supposed to work?
Much of Sanders’ platform is not the ‘impossible dream’ at all. It’s only being portrayed that way by you and much of the punditocracy, in order to stay centrist and establishment.
But Sanders ideas were quite centrist and normalized before Reaganomics took over the country. So the evidence shows that it’s Sanders’ ideas that are workable---that is, if you like democracy, not plutocracy.
Mr. Blow, this column is just more political horse race stuff. Like TV churning.
So which candidate do you prefer and why? Do some issue talk.
30
We are trapped in a valley and we see the distant mountains. We know a much better life awaits on the other side. But we do not know the mountain passes and will never get to the other side. Bernie Sanders comes and says, " Come with me and I will show you the way." Hillary Clinton tells us, " Stay here folks,
we will clear the forest a little and build some nice huts for you." Whom should I follow, Mr. Blow?
we will clear the forest a little and build some nice huts for you." Whom should I follow, Mr. Blow?
20
Gemli says "A virtually unknown black man named Hussein leaped over Hillary Clinton to become president of the United States."
It could become true that a virtually unknown Jewish man could leap over Hillary Clinton to become president of the United States.
To whit:
"This could be one more reason the Jewish establishment didn’t greet Mr. Sanders’s historic win in New Hampshire by hoisting him up in a chair like a joyous bar mitzvah boy."
BERNIE SANDERS and a First for Jews
By Gal Beckerman Feb. 15, 2016 NYTimes
What other varieties of men might get to leap over a woman before a she is deemed legitimate?
It could become true that a virtually unknown Jewish man could leap over Hillary Clinton to become president of the United States.
To whit:
"This could be one more reason the Jewish establishment didn’t greet Mr. Sanders’s historic win in New Hampshire by hoisting him up in a chair like a joyous bar mitzvah boy."
BERNIE SANDERS and a First for Jews
By Gal Beckerman Feb. 15, 2016 NYTimes
What other varieties of men might get to leap over a woman before a she is deemed legitimate?
2
We don't need another McGovern debacle. The Supreme Court make up is too important to give away to Republicans.
Hate to say it but Bernie will get killed when GOP wraps "Socialist, "Jewish" and "Too old" labels on him.
Hate to say it but Bernie will get killed when GOP wraps "Socialist, "Jewish" and "Too old" labels on him.
4
I don't know what other people saw in the last Democratic debate. When the candidates both addressed the issue of race and class it seemed to me that Clinton fumbled around the safe bromide of "equal opportunity." Clinton seed to be struggling not to say any more than she had too. Sanders, as folks said, "went there." He jumped and spoke directly and with details of the socioeconomic problems of race and class. He spoke the phrases "African American" and "working class whites." He tied our fates together as Americans - not in hyperbole but as a matter of principle. For me as an African American this is huge. Yet the focus is on how one or the other came of as rude. I began the election season skeptical of the Sanders campaign - just as I was skeptical of the Obama campaign in 2008. Well, as Obama said of Clinton she is "likable enough." Regardless, I don't think she has the fire wall we (or she ) thinks she has.
26
Your belligerent attacks on Bernie Sanders and defiant defenses of Hillary Clinton leave me perplexed. Isn't it obvious that a Bernie Sanders presidency would be better for black voters, and particularly poor and middle class black voters?
15
Blow's halfhearted endorsement by default of Hillary Clinton is laughable. He couldn't have changed identities and endorsed Sanders after insulting Sanders as a racist, tone deaf to the farce of "Black Lives Matter" so now Blow is beginning to track back to the Clinton center.
It just shows after 7 months of nonstop NYT fixating on the GOP 2016 primary, and Donald Trump, the real chaos and indecision are on the Obama left. It is a fallacy to argue the Black vote that all but saved Obama in 2008 and 2012 in South Carolina will be there in enough force to save Hillary in 2016.
It won't be,
It just shows after 7 months of nonstop NYT fixating on the GOP 2016 primary, and Donald Trump, the real chaos and indecision are on the Obama left. It is a fallacy to argue the Black vote that all but saved Obama in 2008 and 2012 in South Carolina will be there in enough force to save Hillary in 2016.
It won't be,
7
Charles, may I suggest that you to take a day off and learn about Bernie Sanders who said in his New Hampshire victory speech “I am the son of a Polish immigrant,” You will find this in Gal Beckerman's "Bernie Sanders and A First For Jews" @ http://nyti.ms/1PWXvte
Polish? writes Beckerman. Yes, a Polish Jew whose father arrived in 1921. I LL got to know some New York City Polish Jews once upon a time, and I guess I learned from them a bit about this people that you, CB, have not yet learned.
So read Beckerman and note this important observation.
"Even if Mr. Sanders’s Jewishness is accepted as a given, the breakthrough aspect of his candidacy has been met with silence." Interesting isn't it. We are reminded of the Clinton and Obama breakthroughs almost every day. So why not the Sanders breakthrough?
Here is Beckerman's answer:
"This silence has to do with Mr. Sanders and the kind of American Jew that he represents — one who privileges the universal over the particular, society over tribe."
Beckerman ends with this thought as concerns what Bernie Sanders will have to succeed in doing if he is to become the nominee: "He would have to persuade American voters toward the universal over the particular, and the primacy of class over all other identities."
I am persuaded. How about you Charles, primacy of class over all other identities?
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen USA-SE
Polish? writes Beckerman. Yes, a Polish Jew whose father arrived in 1921. I LL got to know some New York City Polish Jews once upon a time, and I guess I learned from them a bit about this people that you, CB, have not yet learned.
So read Beckerman and note this important observation.
"Even if Mr. Sanders’s Jewishness is accepted as a given, the breakthrough aspect of his candidacy has been met with silence." Interesting isn't it. We are reminded of the Clinton and Obama breakthroughs almost every day. So why not the Sanders breakthrough?
Here is Beckerman's answer:
"This silence has to do with Mr. Sanders and the kind of American Jew that he represents — one who privileges the universal over the particular, society over tribe."
Beckerman ends with this thought as concerns what Bernie Sanders will have to succeed in doing if he is to become the nominee: "He would have to persuade American voters toward the universal over the particular, and the primacy of class over all other identities."
I am persuaded. How about you Charles, primacy of class over all other identities?
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen USA-SE
10
My fellow commenters, do you realize that the U.S. Population in general is more conservative than liberal? I have more conservatives in my family than liberal, and they would NEVER, EVER vote for a Democratic Socialist.
Do you realize that total voter turnout in Iowa was a little better for Republicans and in New Hampshire, turnout for Republicans was a LOT better than Democrats? That means grass-roots Republicans are more fired-up about their crazy, juvenile, backward-looking group of candidates than Democrats are about our much better candidates.
Do you realize that unless we change the Congress and convince solid red states to vote for more liberal candidates, then Bernie will be in no better position to get things done if he somehow wins?
Bernie has a good mantra, he has easy to remember slogans, and he is a really good and decent man. And I'm convinced that Republicans would absolutely stomp all over him.
Do you realize that total voter turnout in Iowa was a little better for Republicans and in New Hampshire, turnout for Republicans was a LOT better than Democrats? That means grass-roots Republicans are more fired-up about their crazy, juvenile, backward-looking group of candidates than Democrats are about our much better candidates.
Do you realize that unless we change the Congress and convince solid red states to vote for more liberal candidates, then Bernie will be in no better position to get things done if he somehow wins?
Bernie has a good mantra, he has easy to remember slogans, and he is a really good and decent man. And I'm convinced that Republicans would absolutely stomp all over him.
11
According to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll taken last month in South Carolina: “Among likely Democratic primary voters including those who are undecided yet leaning toward a candidate, Clinton, 64 percent, outpaces Sanders, 27 percent, by more than two-to-one.”
Seriously Charles? You're referencing a poll that came out before Bernie fought to a virtual tie in Iowa and blew Hillary away in New Hampshire. I'm voting for Hillary and still see this as frightfully dishonest.
Seriously Charles? You're referencing a poll that came out before Bernie fought to a virtual tie in Iowa and blew Hillary away in New Hampshire. I'm voting for Hillary and still see this as frightfully dishonest.
5
Yes, Bernie was "testy, abrasive & ...downright rude" at the last debate. Although I have long been a staunch Hillary supporter, the last debate was the first time I have actually disliked Bernie. I am sick of his - as you put it so well - Bernie-splaining to all of us.
4
America your politics, and everything else, have been totally corrupted by money. If nuanced, incremental change is acceptable to you against the elite's tidal wave of monied interests than I believe you have already lost the fight. Bernie Sanders may be your last chance to make a stand.
12
HRC was prepared for losses in Iowa and New Hampshire. She squeaked by in Iowa- Her strategy is to replicate of the Clinton-Gore campaign on a southern ticket. Wait for the announcement of a Black or Hispanic running mate from the south and she'll be the next President of the Unites States. Bernie is a nuisance fly to her and in the end he'll [ironically] run out of money- the one thing he campaigned against and the one thing he needed the most.
1
“One of us ran against Barack Obama,” he said. “I was not that candidate.”
--Bernie Sanders to Hillary Clinton.
Nobody bashed Barack Obama more than Hillary in her campaign to beat Barack at all costs, or as then candidate Obama referred to as Hillary 'twisting the knife'.
--Bernie Sanders to Hillary Clinton.
Nobody bashed Barack Obama more than Hillary in her campaign to beat Barack at all costs, or as then candidate Obama referred to as Hillary 'twisting the knife'.
14
Charles the only thing your anti Sanders columns accomplish is your own diminishment. With sentences like; "In last week’s debate, a testy, abrasive and often flat-out rude Sanders tried to navigate this terrain, and failed." you reveal a craven disposition so fear driven that you stoop to the specious. But to my mind what is most disappointing is that you and your fellows haven't the courage and honesty to simply state your concerns. Rather you tread the well worn Republican path of invalidation via untruth. You insult loyal readers like me who always select your columns and largely share and support your views. But now you abdicate your role as one who articulates events and attitudes is search of truth and righteousness to become one more body lining up with the status quo working to put down the people seeking economic justice. Pretty sad.
14
I am commenting in this article on another opinion article in the NYT that does not allow comments, hmmm. The reason I am commenting is that the Times is now emphasizing that Bernie is Jewish. Why is it so important to emphasize someone's religion? Are we going to go in depth about HRC's religious beliefs as well as the Republicans. You know why you are doing this and it is disgusting.
11
Hillary's team consists of many opponents of both Obamacare and Dodd-Frank. Do your research. Also, the last poll shows Bernie catching up. He is now behind by 17 points. And read Michelle Alexander on the Clintons!
11
What are the Democats going to say in a few years when Hillary signs TTP trade agreement , she will you know it. How about when she cuts Social Security , not raising the limit is just starving it so it will need to be cut. What will you do then? When the Wall Street Banks need bailing out again . One Wall Street CEO had to buy 28 million in his banks stock to con people into thinking they are in good shape. A massive German Bank had to trot their CEO out to calm the fear that they were going under. All this week. The time for a new FDR is now. Bernie 2016 or torches and pitch forks 2017. You rich people figure out which one is better for your bottom line.
8
Really? Sanders was "flat-out rude" in the last debate? I don't recall that, but I do recall Clinton calling Sanders a liar and telling the public that his healthcare plan will cost trillions of dollar -- not true, it will save us money. Who is telling the truth, and who is being rude? Seems like the Clintons, once again, have found allies in the NY Times to push their agenda.
7
When my 24-year-old daughter called and said she was voting for Bernie Sanders, my wife responded with a cheerful answer: "Great. And now that you are independent and thinking for yourself, you can begin paying your own cell-phone bill.'' Within minutes, a text arrived: "You're right. I'm voting for Hillary. It is time we had a woman and, who in our life-time will have her experience and background. She is truly qualified.'' If all mothers follow this same method, clearer heads will prevail!
3
Important point applicable to Charles Blow's use of African American and black as synonyms:
Debra formerly nyc and Verified wrote this and I thank her for it: "And the media is showing some strange things on TV. People demanding that Bernie say the word "Black" instead of "African American."
In other words, even though Charles Blow uses black and African American every week as synonyms, some people (who are these people) are "splainin'" (See Blow column) for Bernie that he has to use only black.
One more example of the sorry state of affairs in my homeland (USA, also SE citizen)
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Debra formerly nyc and Verified wrote this and I thank her for it: "And the media is showing some strange things on TV. People demanding that Bernie say the word "Black" instead of "African American."
In other words, even though Charles Blow uses black and African American every week as synonyms, some people (who are these people) are "splainin'" (See Blow column) for Bernie that he has to use only black.
One more example of the sorry state of affairs in my homeland (USA, also SE citizen)
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
4
Consider this: Trump or Cruz get the GOP nomination. A horrified Corporate America contacts Hillary Clinton. "We will work with you and help you win Mrs. Clinton and you Madame will then work with us".
5
So while Bernie was marching for racial equality Hillary was fighting to get Barry Goldwater elected? Sounds about right.
7
The Candidates' Messages: A Retrospective
Clinton:
We should go to war in Iraq.
Maybe we shouldn't have gone to war in Iraq.
I believe marriage should be between a man and a woman.
I support marriage equality.
I am a feminist.
Anyone who accuses my husband of infidelity is a lying hussy.
There is a special place in hell for women who don't vote for me.
Women should, of course, vote however they want.
I will look into releasing the transcripts from my paid speeches.
I totally won’t look into releasing the transcripts from my paid speeches.
$675,000 from Goldman Sachs? That's what they were offering.
I will bite the hand that feeds me and go after Goldman Sachs.
I am opposed to drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants.
I am in favor of drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants.
Who are you going to call at 3am? (Answer: not Obama [because he's black])
I am an Obama loving, Obama-lover, who will always love Obama.
I have so much foreign policy experience (see: Iraq, Libya, Benghazi).
I am a moderate.
I am a progressive.
Henry Kissinger is my personal friend, mentor, and spirit animal (nevermind that he was for apartheid in South Africa).
Also, I worship Nelson Mandela (he was for apartheid in South Africa too, right?)
I am going to give health insurance to everyone in America.
But not anytime soon. Let's not get crazy.
Sanders:
Equality, education, and healthcare for all.
Hmmmmmmmm….who to vote for? Think, think, think.
Clinton:
We should go to war in Iraq.
Maybe we shouldn't have gone to war in Iraq.
I believe marriage should be between a man and a woman.
I support marriage equality.
I am a feminist.
Anyone who accuses my husband of infidelity is a lying hussy.
There is a special place in hell for women who don't vote for me.
Women should, of course, vote however they want.
I will look into releasing the transcripts from my paid speeches.
I totally won’t look into releasing the transcripts from my paid speeches.
$675,000 from Goldman Sachs? That's what they were offering.
I will bite the hand that feeds me and go after Goldman Sachs.
I am opposed to drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants.
I am in favor of drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants.
Who are you going to call at 3am? (Answer: not Obama [because he's black])
I am an Obama loving, Obama-lover, who will always love Obama.
I have so much foreign policy experience (see: Iraq, Libya, Benghazi).
I am a moderate.
I am a progressive.
Henry Kissinger is my personal friend, mentor, and spirit animal (nevermind that he was for apartheid in South Africa).
Also, I worship Nelson Mandela (he was for apartheid in South Africa too, right?)
I am going to give health insurance to everyone in America.
But not anytime soon. Let's not get crazy.
Sanders:
Equality, education, and healthcare for all.
Hmmmmmmmm….who to vote for? Think, think, think.
9
Obama won twice, on hope and change. The nytimes supported H clinton that first time around a well using the exact same arguments against Obama.we voted to get out of Iraq, and e-mails today:
Email: Praised for ‘Turning POTUS Around’ on Libya Intervention, Clinton Says ‘Pray for a Soft Landing
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/email-clinton-hop...
I'm sorry but you editorial writers at the times seem delusional to me as of late
Email: Praised for ‘Turning POTUS Around’ on Libya Intervention, Clinton Says ‘Pray for a Soft Landing
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/email-clinton-hop...
I'm sorry but you editorial writers at the times seem delusional to me as of late
6
No, we can't! "Why not?" Charles Blow doesn't answer the question. The young people are right. Yes, we can. We have to work at it. We have to keep working at it. Why should we give up on our country? On our future? Public colleges used to be very cheap or free. Yes, we can go back to that. All of the major developed countries of the world have a universal single-payer healthcare system. Yes, we can do that, too. Blow's message to young people: Learn to give up. This also is Hillary Clinton's message to America: We are overpowered. I don't believe it. Read the plutonomy memos: The one vulnerability of plutonomy is voting. They have the money, but we have the votes.
In the month since the NBC poll was taken, things have changed. The CBS poll shown on Face the Nation yesterday had Bernie far ahead of Hillary with White voters in SC (63 to 36) and far behind with Black voters (26-72), but Hillary was well-known to 74% of Black voters, and Sanders only to 28% of them, so about 93% of Black voters who knew about him were voting for him. That will continue to improve. From CBS:
http://tinyurl.com/SC-CBS
One last thing: In 2008 a Black man was running for president. That brought out the Black voters. This year a majority don't even know who Sanders is, so where is their motivation to vote? I think you are underestimating Bernie Sanders, and Keith Ellison, and Erica Garner, and Cornel West, and Michelle Alexander, and Ben Jealous, and ...
In the month since the NBC poll was taken, things have changed. The CBS poll shown on Face the Nation yesterday had Bernie far ahead of Hillary with White voters in SC (63 to 36) and far behind with Black voters (26-72), but Hillary was well-known to 74% of Black voters, and Sanders only to 28% of them, so about 93% of Black voters who knew about him were voting for him. That will continue to improve. From CBS:
http://tinyurl.com/SC-CBS
One last thing: In 2008 a Black man was running for president. That brought out the Black voters. This year a majority don't even know who Sanders is, so where is their motivation to vote? I think you are underestimating Bernie Sanders, and Keith Ellison, and Erica Garner, and Cornel West, and Michelle Alexander, and Ben Jealous, and ...
7
"But saying to people who believe in Sanders's vision that it is a mirage is injurious to their sense of wonder and determinism."
"It has also allowed him to raise millions of dollars and fuel a growing feeling that his candidacy isn't all unicorns and fairy dust, but could produce a real victory."
And you call Sanders rude?? Mr. Blow, do you really think that condescension and disrespect of us Sanders's voters will increase the desire to listen, let alone, reconsider what we do?
2-15-16@11:31 am
"It has also allowed him to raise millions of dollars and fuel a growing feeling that his candidacy isn't all unicorns and fairy dust, but could produce a real victory."
And you call Sanders rude?? Mr. Blow, do you really think that condescension and disrespect of us Sanders's voters will increase the desire to listen, let alone, reconsider what we do?
2-15-16@11:31 am
7
Charles - we are in the midst of determining whether someone who's Jewish, a Latino, a woman, or an African-American will replace our African-American president. Tell me - eight years ago, were telling others to stop believing the impossible was possible, or were you one of those who believed?
I rest my case.
I rest my case.
5
I admire Bernie Sanders for his idealism and his belief that, as Americans and as human beings, we have the inalienable right not to be abused by the greedy, the selfish, the sociopathic.
What I have trouble accepting from Bernie is his political expediency.
Sanders only attached himself to the Democratic Party in 2015 -- after he decided to run for President. Before that he said some very unwise things about the Democratic Party.
Hence the Democratic Party opposition to Sanders, which is especially strong among Democratic officeholders. (In FiveThirtyEight’s endorsement primary, Clinton has a lead over Sanders of 466 to 2.)
Hence the Super Delegates flocking to Hillary Clinton.
Some of Sanders' previous comments about the Party he now wishes to lead as its Presidential nominee:
“You don’t change the system from within the Democratic Party.”
“My own feeling is that the Democratic Party is ideologically bankrupt.”
“We have to ask ourselves, ‘Why should we work within the Democratic Party if we don’t agree with anything the Democratic Party says?’”
Imagine what the Republicans would do with some of Sanders' previous comments about the Democratic Party if he became the Democratic nominee. The effect on the down-ticket 2016 races could be disastrous.
What I have trouble accepting from Bernie is his political expediency.
Sanders only attached himself to the Democratic Party in 2015 -- after he decided to run for President. Before that he said some very unwise things about the Democratic Party.
Hence the Democratic Party opposition to Sanders, which is especially strong among Democratic officeholders. (In FiveThirtyEight’s endorsement primary, Clinton has a lead over Sanders of 466 to 2.)
Hence the Super Delegates flocking to Hillary Clinton.
Some of Sanders' previous comments about the Party he now wishes to lead as its Presidential nominee:
“You don’t change the system from within the Democratic Party.”
“My own feeling is that the Democratic Party is ideologically bankrupt.”
“We have to ask ourselves, ‘Why should we work within the Democratic Party if we don’t agree with anything the Democratic Party says?’”
Imagine what the Republicans would do with some of Sanders' previous comments about the Democratic Party if he became the Democratic nominee. The effect on the down-ticket 2016 races could be disastrous.
3
To all the fierce defenders of Bernie Sander’s chances to become the next President I say this: You cannot scream him into the White House, you cannot try to bash HRC into oblivion without risking that both candidates are mortally wounded by the time they face the Republicans in fall.
No matter how much you want this social revolution to sweep the land, America at best will make incremental steps towards such goal.
Can B. Sanders withstand the onslaught of Republican lies portraying him as a socialist and an old man whose time has passed and according to their hateful rhetoric is a quirky and ornery liberal? They would crank up the mendacity machine ruthlessly.
You don’t want to follow the infamous example of Nader who saw no difference between the Republican and Democrat candidates. It could mean to put the Supreme Court into the hands of right leaning judges. The social fabric of America would be torn to shreds and 50 years of hard-fought-for civil right laws would give way to the Tea Party extremists’ doctrine. A poisoned political climate and a harsh and fundamentalist discourse would pervade the American society caused by ruthless and obdurate politicians.
Bashing HRC may cause many voters to stay home on this crucially important November day should she get the nomination. Compromising the Democrat’s chances cannot possibly be what you want to accomplish.
No matter how much you want this social revolution to sweep the land, America at best will make incremental steps towards such goal.
Can B. Sanders withstand the onslaught of Republican lies portraying him as a socialist and an old man whose time has passed and according to their hateful rhetoric is a quirky and ornery liberal? They would crank up the mendacity machine ruthlessly.
You don’t want to follow the infamous example of Nader who saw no difference between the Republican and Democrat candidates. It could mean to put the Supreme Court into the hands of right leaning judges. The social fabric of America would be torn to shreds and 50 years of hard-fought-for civil right laws would give way to the Tea Party extremists’ doctrine. A poisoned political climate and a harsh and fundamentalist discourse would pervade the American society caused by ruthless and obdurate politicians.
Bashing HRC may cause many voters to stay home on this crucially important November day should she get the nomination. Compromising the Democrat’s chances cannot possibly be what you want to accomplish.
7
Mr. Blow: Why this obsession with predicting a primary outcome? Why not discuss policies until the voters have their say? Geeze!
7
One ugly element regarding tepid African-American support for Bernie
remains unexamimed by Blow and mainstream media: anti semitism.
remains unexamimed by Blow and mainstream media: anti semitism.
3
>
Do these "disaffected Democrats" turnout to vote EVERY second Tuesday in Nov?
If not, they really have a lot of nerve being upset at anybody but themselves.
“People have always been very discontented with governments, laws and public institutions; for the most part, however, this has been only because they have been ready to blame them for the wretchedness which pertains to human existence as such”.
Schopenhauer
Do these "disaffected Democrats" turnout to vote EVERY second Tuesday in Nov?
If not, they really have a lot of nerve being upset at anybody but themselves.
“People have always been very discontented with governments, laws and public institutions; for the most part, however, this has been only because they have been ready to blame them for the wretchedness which pertains to human existence as such”.
Schopenhauer
2
@gemli said: "But Obama will be remembered for doing the impossible. A virtually unknown black man named Hussein leaped over Hillary Clinton to become president of the United States. People were fed up with Bush and Cheney. They were ready for a revolution"...
...ergo, the campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in 2016 is the campaign of Sen. Barack Hussein Obama (D-IL) in 2008 redux! That suggestion is the dangerous fantasy -- not unlike Bernie's own pie-in-the-sky promises and chimeric "revolution" -- that would lose the Democrats, by a 50-state landslide, an election that they are "structurally" favored to win. After the GOP Attack Machine is through defining "socialism" for the voters, Bernie will become nothing more than a "commie-loving" follower of Karl Marx, the "Father of Socialism."
The betting markets -- a good indicator of the final outcome over the years -- are predicting 61% vs. 39% a Democratic win with Hillary as their nominee (current prediction: Hillary 84% vs. 16% to be the nominee) . Do a thought experiment and guess what the betting markets prediction would be with Sanders as the nominee...
So, to borrow part of a now famous line, let's dispel once and for all with the dangerous fiction that Bernie Sanders can be elected POTUS. America does select politicians at the far-left or far-right fringes of the political divide to become the leader of the free world...just ask president McGovern or president Goldwater.
...ergo, the campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in 2016 is the campaign of Sen. Barack Hussein Obama (D-IL) in 2008 redux! That suggestion is the dangerous fantasy -- not unlike Bernie's own pie-in-the-sky promises and chimeric "revolution" -- that would lose the Democrats, by a 50-state landslide, an election that they are "structurally" favored to win. After the GOP Attack Machine is through defining "socialism" for the voters, Bernie will become nothing more than a "commie-loving" follower of Karl Marx, the "Father of Socialism."
The betting markets -- a good indicator of the final outcome over the years -- are predicting 61% vs. 39% a Democratic win with Hillary as their nominee (current prediction: Hillary 84% vs. 16% to be the nominee) . Do a thought experiment and guess what the betting markets prediction would be with Sanders as the nominee...
So, to borrow part of a now famous line, let's dispel once and for all with the dangerous fiction that Bernie Sanders can be elected POTUS. America does select politicians at the far-left or far-right fringes of the political divide to become the leader of the free world...just ask president McGovern or president Goldwater.
3
Bernie Sanders is being brought to you by the same type of idealistic kids who thought they'd change everything that's wrong about America with their Occupy Movement.
Well, you see how that turned out.
Well, you see how that turned out.
Mr. Blow, I think it is silly to think a 74 year old man with a fairly visionary vision is going to to upset the NWO (new world order).
The youth are too stoned or too on their phones, the remnants of the Greatest Generation are jerks or beyond messed up on their pharmaceutical carousels... Who will be his warriors?
I.E.
Give me a break
The youth are too stoned or too on their phones, the remnants of the Greatest Generation are jerks or beyond messed up on their pharmaceutical carousels... Who will be his warriors?
I.E.
Give me a break
Mr. Blow, it would be much appreciated if you would follow up this column with one about why the "black vote" is committed to the Clinton Machine? What exactly have the Clintons done to earn this loyal support. Was this support present in 2008?
Is it possible, that this vote is really just the "Democratic establishment" that Sanders seems to be running against?
And what is the actual consequential significance of the Democratic primary voting in the Southern RED STATES? Do the Democrats have any chance outside of North Carolina of changing the electoral vote outcome of the South?
My sense is that Hilary Clinton only has one path to the White House, and that is if she is opposing Jeb Bush, and even that is nearly impossible if Bush chooses Kasich as a running mate.
Not sure what the "establishment" columnists cannot figure out about Americans, both liberal and conservative. All Americans seem to be willing to say, "ENOUGH!!!" And maybe we need a political cage match between Trump and Sanders to settle this once and for all. Republicans might just have to "tap out" when their giant soft belly of support for the 0.1% is exposed.
Is it possible, that this vote is really just the "Democratic establishment" that Sanders seems to be running against?
And what is the actual consequential significance of the Democratic primary voting in the Southern RED STATES? Do the Democrats have any chance outside of North Carolina of changing the electoral vote outcome of the South?
My sense is that Hilary Clinton only has one path to the White House, and that is if she is opposing Jeb Bush, and even that is nearly impossible if Bush chooses Kasich as a running mate.
Not sure what the "establishment" columnists cannot figure out about Americans, both liberal and conservative. All Americans seem to be willing to say, "ENOUGH!!!" And maybe we need a political cage match between Trump and Sanders to settle this once and for all. Republicans might just have to "tap out" when their giant soft belly of support for the 0.1% is exposed.
6
Mr. Blow, You write, "In last week’s debate, a testy, abrasive and often flat-out rude Sanders tried to navigate this terrain, and failed. When Clinton attacked him for his criticism, an attack Sanders called a “low blow..." Perhaps you viewed a different debate last week. It was Ms. Clinton who wrapped herself in the cloak of President Obama and who INITIATED the attack on Mr. Sanders for his criticisms of Mr. Obama. Mr. Sanders merely defended himself from what was clearly a low blow from Ms. Clinton. Now we have another low blow from Mr. Blow himself, who has twisted things around. Did you actually view this debate or did you just hear what you wanted to hear?
6
Hey there folks in the comments section. Now, before we start accusing Mr. Blow of inadequate belief that the impossible is merely difficult and that Sen. Sanders can lead us to the promised land, let's all do something: Read the column again.
I'll wait. *Cue elevator music*
...oh, good, you finished? And you realized Mr. Blow was only offering an analysis of Sanders chances against Mrs. Clinton, not directly saying his candidacy was a mistake? Fantastic!
Now feel free to comment; if you had done so before, you might have said something that would make you look silly. Like arguing that Mr. Blow was a traitor to the liberal cause, or maybe that Frm. Sec. Clinton was one as well. And, as we both (now) know, that really has nothing to do with this article.
I'll wait. *Cue elevator music*
...oh, good, you finished? And you realized Mr. Blow was only offering an analysis of Sanders chances against Mrs. Clinton, not directly saying his candidacy was a mistake? Fantastic!
Now feel free to comment; if you had done so before, you might have said something that would make you look silly. Like arguing that Mr. Blow was a traitor to the liberal cause, or maybe that Frm. Sec. Clinton was one as well. And, as we both (now) know, that really has nothing to do with this article.
3
No only is no one asking Clinton "how", she hasn't even articulated there is a WHAT, to be contemplated:
WHAT about her husband's destruction of hundreds of thousands of black men's lives via the Felony-for-life-crack/drug convictions? WHAT about the devastating condition of our nation's infrastructure; water, sewer, roads? WHAT about the elephant of true affordable and accessible health care services? WHAT about the travesty of loan-sharking of our higher education? WHAT about finally allowing student loans to join the rest of the debt-population as dischargeable debt? WHAT ABOUT....WHAT ABOUT... WHAT ABOUT....?
WHAT about her husband's destruction of hundreds of thousands of black men's lives via the Felony-for-life-crack/drug convictions? WHAT about the devastating condition of our nation's infrastructure; water, sewer, roads? WHAT about the elephant of true affordable and accessible health care services? WHAT about the travesty of loan-sharking of our higher education? WHAT about finally allowing student loans to join the rest of the debt-population as dischargeable debt? WHAT ABOUT....WHAT ABOUT... WHAT ABOUT....?
2
Mr. Blow, as an American you of course free to support the candidate of your choice, but you display a gauche inability to cloak your predisposition towards HRC. It has tainted nearly everything you have written about the Democratic race, especially for the past month. I have read comment after comment about this paper’s promotion of HRC and this column is just another reason why NYT or its columnists cannot deny this sentiment.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on race in America – as a white person you have without question opened my eyes to the racial conditions that have created, and are emblematic of, inequalities that have lasted for centuries. But your insistence on favoring one candidate, and the use of race to support your rationale, is too much for me to stomach. Perhaps you might like to stick to one or the other?
I usually look forward to your column, but I think I’ll get my political opinions from somewhere else for the next nine months.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on race in America – as a white person you have without question opened my eyes to the racial conditions that have created, and are emblematic of, inequalities that have lasted for centuries. But your insistence on favoring one candidate, and the use of race to support your rationale, is too much for me to stomach. Perhaps you might like to stick to one or the other?
I usually look forward to your column, but I think I’ll get my political opinions from somewhere else for the next nine months.
3
You have criticized President Obama in some of your columns, as have most people in this country at various times. And definitely, Clinton has criticized President Obama, sought to distance herself from him. Anyone who reads the news has read of Clinton's anti-Obama antics in the past, and now during her campaign, she and the NYT seems to have forgotten Clinton's past words and actions against President Obama. Firewall, is that how the NYT, and you, Mr. Blow, defines voters in South Carolina? Or is it to say, don't step over the line that the NYT, and I, pundit Blow, have worked hard to create for you because I, Clinton and the mainstream media machine, own your votes. That is how this sounds, this firewall. Blow, you and the NYT news outlet don't own anyone's vote other than your own. We are free to vote our choices. My vote remains for Bernie Sanders.
6
If Hillary Clinton would DARE to embrace the ideals Sanders articulates- there would be no need for Sanders to run. Why doesn't Hillary do this? Is she so tone-deaf she doesn't realize a huge part of this "Republic" is in dire pain? More importantly- DOES SHE CARE?
3
free public college education for what purpose? to extend childhood for the semi-literates who are the failed products of public high schools and elementary school education in the US?
You missed the bulletin, Chuck. Nevada is the next contest.
1
The NY Times is no longer the 'Old Grey Lady'; it the paper of old ladies. Honestly, the lack of courage demonstrated by the columnists here (and even Mr. Blow!). You all essentially agree with Mr. Sanders, but.. but... IT'S USELESS, IT'LL NEVER WORK! This newspaper, the one that brought us the Pentagon Papers, going toe to toe with the White House and all its power and minions sounds...
frightened. Scared.
What a bunch of wusses you have become. I am SO disappointed in you for your faint heartedness. The middle class has been under a pogrom for the last 30 years, and finally someone is standing up and saying enough.
And you're saying 'It's not so bad! Just a flesh wound!'
frightened. Scared.
What a bunch of wusses you have become. I am SO disappointed in you for your faint heartedness. The middle class has been under a pogrom for the last 30 years, and finally someone is standing up and saying enough.
And you're saying 'It's not so bad! Just a flesh wound!'
4
You...and...I ....CAN DO ....what you and I put our minds to doing...
Basically that is what ...a progressive thought process is about...and this
is the message that a progressive (not Socialist) mind set is defined as
The How to Do this ...plan of the progressive....well...that is the juggernaut..
But....is it....and this where the "rubber meets the proverbial road" isn't it.
But ....without a desire to...do what is fair and best for everyone...then
why should anyone run for President...
My thinking ...as an Independent Voter...is I will vote for the dreamer...and
the doer....whether he or she is a "member" of a political party..
The dreamers/doers have run under different party labels....so my vote
goes to the ...only...dreamer/doer....Bernie Sanders...and he has ...really does
have a record to be proud of ...just being true to himself...for the benefit of
ALL of US.
Basically that is what ...a progressive thought process is about...and this
is the message that a progressive (not Socialist) mind set is defined as
The How to Do this ...plan of the progressive....well...that is the juggernaut..
But....is it....and this where the "rubber meets the proverbial road" isn't it.
But ....without a desire to...do what is fair and best for everyone...then
why should anyone run for President...
My thinking ...as an Independent Voter...is I will vote for the dreamer...and
the doer....whether he or she is a "member" of a political party..
The dreamers/doers have run under different party labels....so my vote
goes to the ...only...dreamer/doer....Bernie Sanders...and he has ...really does
have a record to be proud of ...just being true to himself...for the benefit of
ALL of US.
2
Blow's supporters on the left may finally have to admit that his job at the NYT is to keep the black vote safely in the pocket of Democratic party insiders.
7
It is sad times we live in. On a relentless basis we are told by many of our fellow Black Americans that we should accept a path of incremental progress by voting for Hillary Clinton. Apparently, they have not learned the lessons of Booker T. Washington’s Atlanta Compromise and would condemn us to repeat the errors of the past.
The choice before us, as Black Americans, is to once again walk the path of Booker T. Washington by voting for Hillary Clinton or dare to rise to the challenges W.E.B. DuBois knew us to be capable of meeting. I will not willingly drink from the “colored” fountain – I’m voting for Sanders.
The choice before us, as Black Americans, is to once again walk the path of Booker T. Washington by voting for Hillary Clinton or dare to rise to the challenges W.E.B. DuBois knew us to be capable of meeting. I will not willingly drink from the “colored” fountain – I’m voting for Sanders.
6
Obama has done an "extraordinary" job yet his job approval ratings average for 7 years is worse than GW Bush who is the consensus worst president in history.
If the American citizens think Obama has done a poor job year after year after year it doesn't matter much what Sanders and Clinton say.
Dems are in denial about Obama and his failed presidency.
If the American citizens think Obama has done a poor job year after year after year it doesn't matter much what Sanders and Clinton say.
Dems are in denial about Obama and his failed presidency.
South Caroliina has in the last few decades been overrun with white yankees, from Hilton Head and Sun City to Aiken. These yankees actually get upset when blacks come in to visit anyone in the neighborhood. They fly american flags in front of their houses (why doesn't our HOA band that?) and they are more reactionary and bigoted than the local rednecks. Georgia finally came out of the racist era, but the yankees have made SC the bigoted state down here.
3
Charles as more than one of us has noted you are just as condescending today as you were with your "Splainin'" column. Seems when a new cultural fire meets your wall you do not know what to do. We who have the good fortune to know people like Bernie Sanders like the idea that he has not spent all of his time giving talks for unbelievable "that's what they offered" sums of money to those who want to maintain their place on the 1% summit.
Different cultures, different ethnicities, different approaches to difficult problems. Bernie's cultural, ethical, and Brooklyn background are perhaps just what we need.
Will make another contribution to him today, promise.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen-USA-SE
Different cultures, different ethnicities, different approaches to difficult problems. Bernie's cultural, ethical, and Brooklyn background are perhaps just what we need.
Will make another contribution to him today, promise.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen-USA-SE
6
Here's where you're at, Democrats. At this point you're basically stuck with a highly dubious establishment frontrunner with a Titanic-load of baggage unpalatable to a solid chunk of the electorate, and an insurgent backed by a good chunk of the people who's unpalatable to the establishment (yep, that's you too, Mr. B.) I'm not really doubting that your establishment candidate can take the primaries, helped along with the laughable DNC. But i wouldn't count on her to win the general, at all.
One way out - draft Uncle Joe (Warren as VP a big bonus). Yep, he's not perfect, he's made mistakes, but he's a decent and basically honest man, and given his bank account, probably not corrupt. He's the guy who will continue the Obama agenda, for better or worse. But better for you Dems, although Sanders polls better against the Repubs than Clinton does (those pesky Independents), Biden polled better than both, by a lot. But hey, it that glass ceiling is more important to y'all, go ahead and throw your dice. Gfl.
One way out - draft Uncle Joe (Warren as VP a big bonus). Yep, he's not perfect, he's made mistakes, but he's a decent and basically honest man, and given his bank account, probably not corrupt. He's the guy who will continue the Obama agenda, for better or worse. But better for you Dems, although Sanders polls better against the Repubs than Clinton does (those pesky Independents), Biden polled better than both, by a lot. But hey, it that glass ceiling is more important to y'all, go ahead and throw your dice. Gfl.
2
Bravo to Bernie for lighting a fire. There needs to be a strong movement among young people like Black Lives Matter and Occupy Wall St that gets people involved and VOTING at the local level to change the balance in Congress. Its about time the left had leader. Even if Bernie is not the nominee lets hope he waked the sleeping giant.
3
The Dems most likely will nominate Hillary.
Then, of course, they will have to live with it.
The Clintons and it was if you remember Hillary who said when Bill was Prez, with them you get a Two-Fer.
Corruption and scandal cling to the Clintons like a limpet on a rock.
Then, of course, they will have to live with it.
The Clintons and it was if you remember Hillary who said when Bill was Prez, with them you get a Two-Fer.
Corruption and scandal cling to the Clintons like a limpet on a rock.
3
I just spent the last two weeks negotiating a contract with a potential new client/partner. Time was short. We need each other. I had to fly to Italy today for a last, intense round. We didn't start out on the same page. I went in to the negotiations asking for what I (my company) wants. I did *not* go in with the thought, "I'll only ask for what I think I can get based upon [fill in blank]."
As expected, I didn't get everything I wanted. Let's say I got 50%. If I had asked for 50% of what I wanted because I thought that was about what I could get, I'd have come away with 25%. And this potential new partner is reasonable, and they all seem like very nice folks.
If you want to make progress, to get something, you have to ask for what you want, not what someone tells you you can get. Especially if that someone has a vested interest in lowered expectations [cough MSM cough NYT cough].
As expected, I didn't get everything I wanted. Let's say I got 50%. If I had asked for 50% of what I wanted because I thought that was about what I could get, I'd have come away with 25%. And this potential new partner is reasonable, and they all seem like very nice folks.
If you want to make progress, to get something, you have to ask for what you want, not what someone tells you you can get. Especially if that someone has a vested interest in lowered expectations [cough MSM cough NYT cough].
43
Here in Nevada energy and enthusiasm, across ALL demographics, not just young people, Mr. Blow, is much higher in the Sanders camp than in the HRC camp. You are flat-out wrong to overlook the Silver State, as well as flat-out wrong in writing of false equivalencies, mistaken assumptions, and thinking more suited to the past century than to conditions now.
35
Charles Blow considers Black Lives Matter a viable political movement, but not Sanders, whose support has come from nowhere to take 60% of the vote in New Hampshire? BLM, by contrast, shuts down freeways and shouts at diners in restaurants. Clearly Blow's notion of the possible and the viable have more to do with his actual job as an advocate of the institutional Democratic party than his supposed job as a political analyst. Looking around, the OP Ed page I see no support at all for Sanders. Is it permitted?
38
It says: Stop believing that the impossible is possible.
Is it possible to pull your own heart out and eat it? Sorry Charles, but some things are impossible to do.
Is it possible to pull your own heart out and eat it? Sorry Charles, but some things are impossible to do.
3
"In last week’s debate, a testy, abrasive and often flat-out rude Sanders tried to navigate this terrain, and failed."
I watched it on a split screen and his handwaving while Clinton was speaking to distract people as well as his speaking through her applause to end it, were really Trump-ish boorish to me.
His current behavior is in complete contrast to the way he spoke to a group of evangelical college kids last year. I liked that guy. Version 2.0 doesn't do it for me.
I watched it on a split screen and his handwaving while Clinton was speaking to distract people as well as his speaking through her applause to end it, were really Trump-ish boorish to me.
His current behavior is in complete contrast to the way he spoke to a group of evangelical college kids last year. I liked that guy. Version 2.0 doesn't do it for me.
11
Sanders "abrasive and often flat-out rude" ???
I watched every second of the debate and did not see a single instance of Sanders being rude.
I strongly urge any readers of Blow's column who have not seen the debate to watch it, so that they can form their own opinions.
I watched every second of the debate and did not see a single instance of Sanders being rude.
I strongly urge any readers of Blow's column who have not seen the debate to watch it, so that they can form their own opinions.
46
The following two sets of data points may have some application to today's discussion:
1) The teenage unemployment rate for individuals aged 16-19 years old was 16.0 % for January 2016, according to the Department of Labor's (DOL) January jobs report. The overall unemployment rate for January was 4.9%; thus, the teenage unemployment rate was 327% of the overall rate in Jan.
[(16.0/4.9) x 100 = 327%].
2) According to an article from the June 8, 2015 issue of The Washington Post, the family incomes of students in private schools significantly exceeded that of students in public schools; overall. Many parents of private school students are probably reluctant to fund costly public school tax payments, as well as, expensive private school tuition payments for their own kids. For example, for the region that includes NC and its 4 surrounding states, consider the following data:
a) NC: % of kids in public schools, 89%. Private Family Incomes (PrFI)/Public Incomes (PuFI) Ratio: 183%. b) SC: % of kids in public schools, 90%. PrFI/PuFI Ratio: 175%. c) Georgia: % of kids in public schools, 89%. PrFI/PuFI Ratio: 182%. d)Tennessee: % of kids in public schools: 87%. PrFI/PuFI Ratio: 191%. e) Virginia: % of kids in public schools: 88%. PrFI/PuFI: 163%.
[JJL; Mon, Feb 15, 2016, 1:37 pm; Greenville, NC]
1) The teenage unemployment rate for individuals aged 16-19 years old was 16.0 % for January 2016, according to the Department of Labor's (DOL) January jobs report. The overall unemployment rate for January was 4.9%; thus, the teenage unemployment rate was 327% of the overall rate in Jan.
[(16.0/4.9) x 100 = 327%].
2) According to an article from the June 8, 2015 issue of The Washington Post, the family incomes of students in private schools significantly exceeded that of students in public schools; overall. Many parents of private school students are probably reluctant to fund costly public school tax payments, as well as, expensive private school tuition payments for their own kids. For example, for the region that includes NC and its 4 surrounding states, consider the following data:
a) NC: % of kids in public schools, 89%. Private Family Incomes (PrFI)/Public Incomes (PuFI) Ratio: 183%. b) SC: % of kids in public schools, 90%. PrFI/PuFI Ratio: 175%. c) Georgia: % of kids in public schools, 89%. PrFI/PuFI Ratio: 182%. d)Tennessee: % of kids in public schools: 87%. PrFI/PuFI Ratio: 191%. e) Virginia: % of kids in public schools: 88%. PrFI/PuFI: 163%.
[JJL; Mon, Feb 15, 2016, 1:37 pm; Greenville, NC]
Something was let loose in America in the last couple of decades, perhaps given birth in the era of Reagan, and it has been underreported and barely ever debated. It is the idea that business can do anything they want to in the name of profits, that outright theft is just fine if you don't get caught and having a billion dollars in assets and cash under your control is just great, unless you have a chance to get a few billion more. The rank exploitation of the poor, the near poor and the barely middle economic class is a way of life.
In short, we have become an "anything goes" society. Wall Street nearly wrecked the entire world financial system while our govt. was spending endlessly in Iraq and sacrificing American and Iraqi lives in a fruitless pursuit of peace and democracy in a nation that wants neither one. Who was punished?
The Republican answer is this: FULL SPEED AHEAD! Stop "inhibiting" business, stop regulating what they do, rip away the environmental controls, lower taxes on the super rich more aggressively and, oh, yeah, get ready for more wars to protect us and bring "peace".
Hillary Clinton as president would make some small changes, hold all day long cabinet meetings, read position papers late into the night, hug world leaders at summit meetings and slice and dice policy positions. Bernie Sanders, in contrast, is promising to try to actually change things fundamentally. This might be the yr. when voters say, Enough!, and take a chance on bigger things.
In short, we have become an "anything goes" society. Wall Street nearly wrecked the entire world financial system while our govt. was spending endlessly in Iraq and sacrificing American and Iraqi lives in a fruitless pursuit of peace and democracy in a nation that wants neither one. Who was punished?
The Republican answer is this: FULL SPEED AHEAD! Stop "inhibiting" business, stop regulating what they do, rip away the environmental controls, lower taxes on the super rich more aggressively and, oh, yeah, get ready for more wars to protect us and bring "peace".
Hillary Clinton as president would make some small changes, hold all day long cabinet meetings, read position papers late into the night, hug world leaders at summit meetings and slice and dice policy positions. Bernie Sanders, in contrast, is promising to try to actually change things fundamentally. This might be the yr. when voters say, Enough!, and take a chance on bigger things.
50
I was troubled to read this article from a liberal paper in VT about Mr. Sanders, whose views on the economy and income inequality and the banks I very much share: The Trouble with Bernie:
http://lansingcitypulse.com/article-12189-The-trouble-with-Bernie.html
http://lansingcitypulse.com/article-12189-The-trouble-with-Bernie.html
18
Think small! Vote for Hillary!! Mr. Blow's second paragraph offers ample evidence that Bernie Sanders is anything but a one-issue candidate.
As for Sanders being "testy, abrasive and flat-out rude," we must have warched different debates on Saturday night. From neither side was there anything beyond what anyone would expect in the normal give-and-take of a competitive political campaign.
You want rude and crude? Watch a GOP "debate." Any one of them.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
As for Sanders being "testy, abrasive and flat-out rude," we must have warched different debates on Saturday night. From neither side was there anything beyond what anyone would expect in the normal give-and-take of a competitive political campaign.
You want rude and crude? Watch a GOP "debate." Any one of them.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
34
Robert F. Kennedy: "I dream things that never were and say 'why not'?"
Hillary should best Bernie in some primaries, what with panicked DNC & their affiliated PACs now giving her million$ to beat Bernie in upcoming primaries. May we ask why dark money and DNC machine politics have such an outsized presence in these 'democratic' primaries? Lack of fairness and transparency about dark money, super delegates not elected by the people and attempts by the DNC elite to throw this nomination to Hillary from the start are deeply troubling and may undermine credibility of the Democratic Party elites for years to come. This is a bad thing.
I wish Charles would address some of the specifics in Michelle Alexander's essay in the Nation, headlined "Why Hillary Clinton Doesn't Deserve the Black Vote" - a report on Bill Clinton's policies - supported by Hillary - which 'decimated black America. ' Hillary's an establishment politician taking million$ in dark money, saying anything and distorting her own record and her opponents to get elected.
GOP behavior over the coming SCOTUS nomination is another reminder of how deranged and destructive our current political climate is. It would help Hillary with Sanders supporters in the fall if she reminded herself that transparency and decency during the nominating process are key to keeping the Democratic coalition together. She won't hold them by insulting or lying about Bernie or using old time machine politics/dark money to defeat him
Hillary should best Bernie in some primaries, what with panicked DNC & their affiliated PACs now giving her million$ to beat Bernie in upcoming primaries. May we ask why dark money and DNC machine politics have such an outsized presence in these 'democratic' primaries? Lack of fairness and transparency about dark money, super delegates not elected by the people and attempts by the DNC elite to throw this nomination to Hillary from the start are deeply troubling and may undermine credibility of the Democratic Party elites for years to come. This is a bad thing.
I wish Charles would address some of the specifics in Michelle Alexander's essay in the Nation, headlined "Why Hillary Clinton Doesn't Deserve the Black Vote" - a report on Bill Clinton's policies - supported by Hillary - which 'decimated black America. ' Hillary's an establishment politician taking million$ in dark money, saying anything and distorting her own record and her opponents to get elected.
GOP behavior over the coming SCOTUS nomination is another reminder of how deranged and destructive our current political climate is. It would help Hillary with Sanders supporters in the fall if she reminded herself that transparency and decency during the nominating process are key to keeping the Democratic coalition together. She won't hold them by insulting or lying about Bernie or using old time machine politics/dark money to defeat him
18
"This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism."-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Why vote for someone, who, in your own words, has only "half a dream"?
Bernie marched with MLK. He shares the same outlook. Dare to dream the whole dream. The Republicans will fight against any Democratic president. Bernie polls better against any Republican opponent than Hillary does, so why do people assume she has the better chance of winning? The people who are afraid of big, bad Socialism aren't going to vote in the D column anyway, so no loss there.
Why vote for someone, who, in your own words, has only "half a dream"?
Bernie marched with MLK. He shares the same outlook. Dare to dream the whole dream. The Republicans will fight against any Democratic president. Bernie polls better against any Republican opponent than Hillary does, so why do people assume she has the better chance of winning? The people who are afraid of big, bad Socialism aren't going to vote in the D column anyway, so no loss there.
37
President Obama famously campaigned on the pledge of Hope and Change.
We who voted for him have been disappointed with what we received as Change.
However, we still have the Hope. And that hope is Bernie Sanders...
We who voted for him have been disappointed with what we received as Change.
However, we still have the Hope. And that hope is Bernie Sanders...
16
None of this matters. What matters in this election is what has always mattered first and last as brought into stark relief by Scalia's death.
To paraphrase the '92 Clinton campaign, "It's the court stupid" and to think that anyone except Hilary Clinton can win in November and with victory win the court for the next 30 to 40 years is just downright stupid.
Wake up all of you on the left. Bernie Sanders will lose even to Trump and if that happens you don't lose the presidency and four years, you lose the court and the next 40 years.
Say it over and over and over "It's the court stupid" and then stop being stupid and vote for the one of two Democrat from whom we have to choose who can win in November. And that is Hilary Clinton, not Bernie the court killer.
To paraphrase the '92 Clinton campaign, "It's the court stupid" and to think that anyone except Hilary Clinton can win in November and with victory win the court for the next 30 to 40 years is just downright stupid.
Wake up all of you on the left. Bernie Sanders will lose even to Trump and if that happens you don't lose the presidency and four years, you lose the court and the next 40 years.
Say it over and over and over "It's the court stupid" and then stop being stupid and vote for the one of two Democrat from whom we have to choose who can win in November. And that is Hilary Clinton, not Bernie the court killer.
7
I suspect that as this process plays out Black American voters will start to decide who they want to vote for as opposed to being told by those like Mr. Blow who they should vote for. Listening to folks like Mr. Blow hasn't done too much for them over the past 30 years.
16
The evidence suggests that Hillary Clinton will probably win South Carolina, but there is probably no state in the country that is more favorable to her. If she does not win there, for any reason, she is through. If Bernie Sanders even comes close, she is through. If Sanders is within single digits of Clinton in South Carolina, the state is not a firewall; it is a mere speed bump.
Why are we focused on South Carolina anyway? Nevada occurs earlier. Well, the answer is obvious. While Clinton remains the heavy favorite in South Carolina, Sanders could win in Nevada, and the media is desperate to find some good news for Clinton. If Sanders wins Nevada, after a tie in Iowa, and a landslide in New Hampshire, South Carolina is really not that meaningful any more. All it will mean is that Hillary Clinton has a small pocket of states in the Deep South where she is the favorite.
Why are we focused on South Carolina anyway? Nevada occurs earlier. Well, the answer is obvious. While Clinton remains the heavy favorite in South Carolina, Sanders could win in Nevada, and the media is desperate to find some good news for Clinton. If Sanders wins Nevada, after a tie in Iowa, and a landslide in New Hampshire, South Carolina is really not that meaningful any more. All it will mean is that Hillary Clinton has a small pocket of states in the Deep South where she is the favorite.
15
Pretty much everything in this article by Blow has been hashed over extensively in the print and tv news, leaving one to wonder why it was written. Perhaps it was to paint Sanders unfavorably by saying he was rude to retort against a senseless comment by Clinton or just otherwise demean Sanders because Blow likes Clinton. Much easier to write than a thoughtful piece on the issues.
19
Just one question Mr. Blow: How does Sanders, an avowed conscientious objector, take up the mantle of Commander in Chief? Exactly how would this man command the respect of the military? Not possible.
5
Anyone who thinks Hillary is the friend of African-Americans ought to do a little research on her and Bill's past. You'll never see the NYT talking about these things, but Michelle Alexander has written a lengthy, serious piece about them (and it's verifiable facts, not opinion):
http://www.thenation.com/article/hillary-clinton-does-not-deserve-black-...
Since pundits have pointed out that Hillary's campaign doesn't have a clear message, I suggest the following (from another commenter on another site):
"Let's Not Set Out Sights Too High!"
As far as the pundits/establishment trying to bury the surge in support for Bernie's ideas is concerned, President John F. Kennedy said the following:
"Those who would make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable."
Every great thing that has manifested was once merely someone's dream. When millions and millions have the same dream, anything is possible.
http://www.thenation.com/article/hillary-clinton-does-not-deserve-black-...
Since pundits have pointed out that Hillary's campaign doesn't have a clear message, I suggest the following (from another commenter on another site):
"Let's Not Set Out Sights Too High!"
As far as the pundits/establishment trying to bury the surge in support for Bernie's ideas is concerned, President John F. Kennedy said the following:
"Those who would make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable."
Every great thing that has manifested was once merely someone's dream. When millions and millions have the same dream, anything is possible.
18
Remarkable, Mr. Blow, that you seem to feel comfortable with being described as a firewall.
We'll see what the black people of South Carolina do with this, once they notice. Most people don't iike to be thought of as furniture, or as construction material.
Black people have been used like this by the Clintons before: befriended when it came to their votes, kicked away when it came to policy. Marian Wright Edelman might have further comments on Mrs. Clinton's contribution to removing the last safety net between a poor child and hunger http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/welfare/quit.htm
Not that this is anything new, as Michelle Alexander makes crystal clear. But it does make it remarkable that you should rush to Mrs. Clinton's support.
We'll see what the black people of South Carolina do with this, once they notice. Most people don't iike to be thought of as furniture, or as construction material.
Black people have been used like this by the Clintons before: befriended when it came to their votes, kicked away when it came to policy. Marian Wright Edelman might have further comments on Mrs. Clinton's contribution to removing the last safety net between a poor child and hunger http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/welfare/quit.htm
Not that this is anything new, as Michelle Alexander makes crystal clear. But it does make it remarkable that you should rush to Mrs. Clinton's support.
11
You want to be on the winning side. The causes which you exploit are a means to an end - the end being comfort, power and prestige. If your positions are questioned, respond by accusing the other party of one -ism or other. Then back to your steak.
4
A friend of mine stood in line for 6 hours Saturday to attend Sanders' rally here in Denver. He is a Finnish fellow who has been in the States almost 30+ years and he was amazed at the crowd and the energy of the crowd and of Sanders.
Hillary may indeed become the nominee, and she will be a damn sight better than any republican I can name, on or off their debate stage.
But for President Hillary to govern she is going to need to fire up Bernie's revolution, because it is going to take a revolution to get the republicans out of congress. And for America to go forward the republicans must exit congress. And state houses. And county commissioner's offices. Anywhere and everywhere they creep and hide.
This newspaper is tying itself into pretzel shaped knots trying to dis Sanders and promote Clinton.
Curiouser and curiouser......
Hillary may indeed become the nominee, and she will be a damn sight better than any republican I can name, on or off their debate stage.
But for President Hillary to govern she is going to need to fire up Bernie's revolution, because it is going to take a revolution to get the republicans out of congress. And for America to go forward the republicans must exit congress. And state houses. And county commissioner's offices. Anywhere and everywhere they creep and hide.
This newspaper is tying itself into pretzel shaped knots trying to dis Sanders and promote Clinton.
Curiouser and curiouser......
23
Liberals must face the truth that Bill and Hillary are the consummate politicians and have the nomination sewn up. Popular vote totals do nothing without delegates and the Democratic establishment has already pledged their tie breaking "super-delegates" to the clintons.
This is the second Charles Blow column that has disparaged Sen. Sanders. His preference is showing. I wondered if Blow would comment on Clinton's race-coded "Sanders criticized the President, I did not," in the same way that he commented on the Albright hiccup. Disagreeing with and criticizing President Obama on issues of principle shows respect for the President.
16
Oh boy, here comes the kitchen sink. Remember when the democrats were having substantive discussion on whose policy's were better? Well Clinton is done with that. Now she'll contort a few tiny things that Sanders said into something he didn't say about Obama. And even if they were true, why can't he voice his criticisms of the president? And now she's pretending that Sanders hasn't released a plan on anything but Wall Street! Gone are the days when the two would actually talk substance. Now all she talks about is "oh look at him, he is saying 'yes we can' well no, we can't you little child! Oh, and by the way, it's you who hates Obama, not me who literally ran against the guy 8 years ago." Want more stupid criticisms? "Anyone who doesn't support me because of my gender can go to hell!" "Young women who support my opponent are doing it because of a boy they like." And here's one I hear from far too many Clinton supporters "if she were a man, she would easily be in the lead!" Actually, quite the opposite is true. If Bernie were Elisabeth Warren, he would easily be winning.
14
I understand the near panic animating your words, Charles, since you believe in your soul that a Sanders nomination will sweep in a President Trump or Cruz. I saw the same panic about a young black contender who, at this very stage in the process, was seen as bright and capable but simply unable to win in racist America.
The pundits certainly could have been right then. You could be right now.
We will find out if Democrats are being underestimated once again.
The pundits certainly could have been right then. You could be right now.
We will find out if Democrats are being underestimated once again.
4
Your assumption that realizing Sander's vision is impossiple is contradicted by actual economic analysis: http://www.opednews.com/articles/Economist-Sanders-Plan-Me-by-Joan-Brunw...
7
Charles Blow blocked me on Twitter during the Dem debate not because I said anything rude or offensive but because I questioned his repeated laughable assertions about Sanders and blind defense of Clinton. I was shocked a NYT Pundit would have such thin skin, particularly as I said nothing approaching untoward. He, like most of the rest of the liberal NYT Op-Ed page, are so in the bag for Clinton it's a joke - he just couldn't bear to have another opinion reply to his precious tweets.
And here's the thing, I guarantee I will not support Sanders; I'm not a Democrat and I won't vote in a primary. I will vote for Jill Stein in the general. The Democrats do not represent my beliefs at all and I stopped supporting them years ago as the "lesser evil." Think about this one: Trump (as he made clear in the recent debate) is less a hawk than Clinton... insane. I'm done with lesser evils thanks, I'll be voting my conscience. Your pragmatism is simply cowardice. And I have zero need to read this guy ever again.
And here's the thing, I guarantee I will not support Sanders; I'm not a Democrat and I won't vote in a primary. I will vote for Jill Stein in the general. The Democrats do not represent my beliefs at all and I stopped supporting them years ago as the "lesser evil." Think about this one: Trump (as he made clear in the recent debate) is less a hawk than Clinton... insane. I'm done with lesser evils thanks, I'll be voting my conscience. Your pragmatism is simply cowardice. And I have zero need to read this guy ever again.
6
Methinks, Mr. Blow, the fire that Mr. Sanders lit, which is building to a conflagration, will annihilate the ever weakening wall that the defenders of the status quo are standing on.
It is beyond belief that except for Maureen Dowd, the Times is hell bent on seeing Queen Hillary sit on a throne in the White House, the "Peoples House", so appropriately labeled by Mr. Sanders.
I wonder when Mr. Sanders becomes the nominee, if you can bring yourself to support him; is equality and human decency anathema to the NY Times, the newspaper I've read daily for decades, which I truly believed had some measure of concern for the survival of our Democracy.
It is beyond belief that except for Maureen Dowd, the Times is hell bent on seeing Queen Hillary sit on a throne in the White House, the "Peoples House", so appropriately labeled by Mr. Sanders.
I wonder when Mr. Sanders becomes the nominee, if you can bring yourself to support him; is equality and human decency anathema to the NY Times, the newspaper I've read daily for decades, which I truly believed had some measure of concern for the survival of our Democracy.
15
Mr. Blow has an issue he hasn't quite grasped and it is not surprising as it is also and issue for women vis a vis Hillary. Commonality. So when Hillary supporters say they won't vote for anyone but the woman candidate they are simply being short sighted just as the black voters who won't vote for Bernie because he's been in opposition to the first black president. I guess this is a problem of the DNC and since the DNC is all about anointing Hillary then we have the answer. Fact is there is real disappointment in Obama because he did not or in most cases could not go far enough for either the middle class or black americans in terms of legislative movement. Obama it must be remembered, is and was a Republican lite. Hillary is of the same cloth. This republican lite agenda does not speak to the needs of anyone outside of the 1% and I'm pretty sure there are not many blacks in that club so why the quandary for blacks and Mr Blow here? Mr Blow here I would wager is closer to that 1% than lets say, the average american black person so his unwillingness to actually expand on "nuance" may be predictable. Here I am "blacksplaining" I guess, shame on me?" "Womansplaining too" Think about your pocketbook, your race and your gender and no candidate is as accommodating to those particular needs as Bernie Sanders. Yeah, the old white guy has all of those backs. Whats not to like?
7
The problem for Sanders is that everyone who wants to vote for him in November thinks that everyone else prefers Clinton. If everyone who wants Sanders to win were to come out at declare their support, then he would win in a landslide. Don't be shy! Represent!
8
And a tall wall it is! Certainly Senator Sanders does not have the skill, nor the desire to run a complex democracy. His platform is pure unrealistic optimism. Frankly, I think he lacks "common sense". He does not offer hope within boundaries, he dismisses them all together. I agree with you that he will draw "disaffected" Democrats. These same Democrats may crossover and vote for Trump, the angry pessimist. I have watched, with pleasure, John Lewis and his career for 50 years. If he were to say "I think the Pope would make a good United State President, my choice would be to stand beside him with pride and good fortune. Thank you, again, for your considerable insight.
6
The ownership of this newspaper continues to endorse a one issue candidate - polled as 'the most untrustworthy' candidate according to this paper. This one issue candidate will never get a majority of any voting block, as the people want a leader they can trust.
4
Charles, what is it with you Clinton supporters? Everything is framed in that Sanders supporters somehow do not measure up to what you consider "Normal". It's always the "disaffected" that are attracted to Sanders. It's not the true feminists or educated that would vote for Sanders. What blows me away is that you and the rest of the Clinton supporters have this characterization of Bernie that he is "testy, abrasive and often flat-out rude". What planet are you from? If anything, Bernie has not stooped to Clinton's level of republican tactics and has shown great composure. I wouldn't count your chickens; HRC has opened her self wide open as anything but progressive and know one knows who she is or what her policies are at this point, including you. Bernie is clear and stands head and shoulders above Clinton. I think most black voters understand how the game is rigged. I think they also recognize the integrity that Sanders emanates and that he speaks of "We" and not "I". Arrogance is the Achilles Heel of Clinton and her supporters (because its all about how poor Hillary has never been treated right). What is most disappointing about you Mr. Blow is your warped perspective that somehow to aspire to the Nobler cause is "idealistic". No, you have succumb to the "dull" view; the Corporate view.
9
Hillary Clinton has been attacked from every angle by republicans for the last 2 years. Sanders on the other hand has been given a complete hands off free pass by the republicans. Want to know why? They know they can win the presidency against Sanders.
9
Isn't it strange that Hillary Clinton, that bastion of integrity, wants us to believe that the United States, the world's wealthiest nation, cannot afford universal, single-payer health care.
But her vote for the stupid Bush war in Iraq means that she thought we could afford to waste Trillions of dollars and thousands of lower-income American lives.
What a lady!
But her vote for the stupid Bush war in Iraq means that she thought we could afford to waste Trillions of dollars and thousands of lower-income American lives.
What a lady!
13
I don't understand how african americans can choose Clinton over Sanders. The Clintons have pushed countless policies that have been disastrous for black american- a racist drug war, welfare reform, "tough on crime" bills, etc
12
"And on the horizon are many more states that look more like South Carolina than Iowa and New Hampshire." Charles, you have just done the same thing of which you accuse others, i.e., to "stop believing that the impossible is possible." It is still mid-February, and the Bernie Bus, as I call it, picks up speed every day.
Just this weekend, two employees at a Staples I stopped in couldn't wait to talk to me when they saw the "Bernie 2016" button on my coat. An African-American man came over to talk to me in the parking lot at Whole Foods when he saw my Bernie bumper sticker and inside, a man from India struck up a conversation and a cashier yelled, "I want that button!"
History does not have to repeat itself, so I would put less stock in the statistics of past elections and get out there and listen to the people. This old white democrat--I am 67-- has been waiting for someone like to Bernie to come along for, well, for ever.
Get on the bus, Charles.
Just this weekend, two employees at a Staples I stopped in couldn't wait to talk to me when they saw the "Bernie 2016" button on my coat. An African-American man came over to talk to me in the parking lot at Whole Foods when he saw my Bernie bumper sticker and inside, a man from India struck up a conversation and a cashier yelled, "I want that button!"
History does not have to repeat itself, so I would put less stock in the statistics of past elections and get out there and listen to the people. This old white democrat--I am 67-- has been waiting for someone like to Bernie to come along for, well, for ever.
Get on the bus, Charles.
16
There might be demographics in favor of Hillary Clinton, but so far the pundits who interpret these types of data have been wrong accidentally, or intentionally. Identity politics as a campaign tactic seems to be falling apart, both on the Democratic side and the Republican side.
I wouldn't want to bet against the people, in favor of Mr. Blow's and the NYT's endless articles of support for their anointed candidate, Hillary Clinton. They've been wrong for a long time on understanding voter's disaffection with the political class. Maybe they already know what we don't - the superdelegates have the nomination wrapped up, so people's voting doesn't even matter.
Well it does, at least to this voter. And so does the process. Beware the wrath of the voter's voice, denied.
I wouldn't want to bet against the people, in favor of Mr. Blow's and the NYT's endless articles of support for their anointed candidate, Hillary Clinton. They've been wrong for a long time on understanding voter's disaffection with the political class. Maybe they already know what we don't - the superdelegates have the nomination wrapped up, so people's voting doesn't even matter.
Well it does, at least to this voter. And so does the process. Beware the wrath of the voter's voice, denied.
14
So disappointing, Charles.
As I began to read, I thought you were working toward assessment of issue priorities and the candidates' merits on them.
But alas, instead you sank to the level of virtually everything else about the coming election in the New York Times. Reporting it as a mere horserace, assessing bet-placing odds.
As if there were no such thing as issues, or priorities among them, or differences in the candidates' merits on them.
As I began to read, I thought you were working toward assessment of issue priorities and the candidates' merits on them.
But alas, instead you sank to the level of virtually everything else about the coming election in the New York Times. Reporting it as a mere horserace, assessing bet-placing odds.
As if there were no such thing as issues, or priorities among them, or differences in the candidates' merits on them.
15
Sen. Bernie Sanders is proposing nearly $20 trillion in new taxes over a decade, raising the tax rate by almost 50 percent. Such a massive redistribution of wealth is unthinkable to the democrats and independents who oppose him, preferring Hillary as the more experienced and pragmatic candidate for president. But to the young and others who support Sanders, his so-called “single-payer healthcare plan”, proposal for free college education, etc. are all enthusiastically welcome. They see them as gifts “from the government”, not as funds from taxpayers’ pockets, ultimately including their own.
Senator Sanders has argued that everybody would be better off in the end because of the money they would save by not having to pay for insurance. He has yet to supply a credible proof for this claim but those voting for him would not be held accountable if his plans prove to be empty dreams. Yes, democracy in practice does not measure up to democracy in theory. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle warned us, strongly criticizing democracy as inherently corrupt, giving in to the will of the people. They felt that humans are naturally shallow, superficial, and ignorant—given the chance, these qualities will manifest themselves as injustice.
Senator Sanders has argued that everybody would be better off in the end because of the money they would save by not having to pay for insurance. He has yet to supply a credible proof for this claim but those voting for him would not be held accountable if his plans prove to be empty dreams. Yes, democracy in practice does not measure up to democracy in theory. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle warned us, strongly criticizing democracy as inherently corrupt, giving in to the will of the people. They felt that humans are naturally shallow, superficial, and ignorant—given the chance, these qualities will manifest themselves as injustice.
4
Mr. Blow should have pointed out, as did Senator Sanders, that only one candidate today ran against Barack Obama in the past and tried to keep him from becoming president. And that candidate was not Bernie Sanders.
It is astonishing that African-American voters would overlook all of the nasty attacks that Hillary Clinton leveled against Barack Obama in 2008, and assume that Ms Clinton is their natural ally. In fact, it is Bernie Sanders who wants to build on the Affordable Care Act, who wants to dramatically reduce the cost of attending college, and who understood what a disaster the invasion of Iraq would be.
That is a vision that all Americans can support.
It is astonishing that African-American voters would overlook all of the nasty attacks that Hillary Clinton leveled against Barack Obama in 2008, and assume that Ms Clinton is their natural ally. In fact, it is Bernie Sanders who wants to build on the Affordable Care Act, who wants to dramatically reduce the cost of attending college, and who understood what a disaster the invasion of Iraq would be.
That is a vision that all Americans can support.
6
"In last week’s debate, a testy, abrasive and often flat-out rude Sanders..."
There would be such an outcry if you wrote this sentence about Clinton.
Would I be called abrasive and "flat-out rude" if I as a 40-something female Berniebot said the same thing about her in this comment section? As a woman in the tech industry I have been up against sentiments/gossip like that in various situations, and some of us are 'testy' ourselves because we are tired of the many double standards that come along with this campaign season. The feminists who support Sanders care about fairness and respect for BOTH men and women. and we are frustrated by sentences like these that could only go one way.
I'm not trying to be divisive. I like Hillary and think she is a good person. I don't think she's a hypocrite for moving to the left on issues due to the fight with Bernie; I'm just glad that it's happening. Does that sound like a naive and abrasive 'bot'?
There would be such an outcry if you wrote this sentence about Clinton.
Would I be called abrasive and "flat-out rude" if I as a 40-something female Berniebot said the same thing about her in this comment section? As a woman in the tech industry I have been up against sentiments/gossip like that in various situations, and some of us are 'testy' ourselves because we are tired of the many double standards that come along with this campaign season. The feminists who support Sanders care about fairness and respect for BOTH men and women. and we are frustrated by sentences like these that could only go one way.
I'm not trying to be divisive. I like Hillary and think she is a good person. I don't think she's a hypocrite for moving to the left on issues due to the fight with Bernie; I'm just glad that it's happening. Does that sound like a naive and abrasive 'bot'?
3
Let's give credit where credit is due.
The Occupy Wall Streeters were the ones who gave birth to the term "1%ers." They were the ones who got the country thinking about income inequality.
It could even be argued that they gave birth to the Sanders campaign.
Is Bernie Sanders the best messenger for this issue? It doesn't matter. He was the one who had the courage to pick the Occupy Wall Street mantle and shout "Enough is enough!"
Occupy Wall Street was right. So is Senator Sanders.
The only question now is can the .1%ers throttle Senator Sanders and keep his message from going mainstream? What must scare them the most is that this message plays on both sides of the aisle. The truth is that this may be getting away from them. They tried the "socialist" label and it sort of worked. They tried keeping him out of the media. That sort of worked.
But millions of dollars are now flowing into his campaign from the 99%.
They are voting with their checkbooks.
Makes you proud to be an American, doesn't it?
The Occupy Wall Streeters were the ones who gave birth to the term "1%ers." They were the ones who got the country thinking about income inequality.
It could even be argued that they gave birth to the Sanders campaign.
Is Bernie Sanders the best messenger for this issue? It doesn't matter. He was the one who had the courage to pick the Occupy Wall Street mantle and shout "Enough is enough!"
Occupy Wall Street was right. So is Senator Sanders.
The only question now is can the .1%ers throttle Senator Sanders and keep his message from going mainstream? What must scare them the most is that this message plays on both sides of the aisle. The truth is that this may be getting away from them. They tried the "socialist" label and it sort of worked. They tried keeping him out of the media. That sort of worked.
But millions of dollars are now flowing into his campaign from the 99%.
They are voting with their checkbooks.
Makes you proud to be an American, doesn't it?
13
Mr. Blow, why belittle Bernie, especially since he's the only real human being running for president? He's going to prove all the pundits wrong when he wins the election and demonstrates that power does belong to the people. Sanders 2016!
13
Am I the only one tired of this old canard that Hillary Clinton is a progressive who gets things done? To date, she hasn't even been able to run a successful presidential campaign, even though she was designated by the party establishment and the media as the nominee not once, but twice.
She herself has admitted all the things she _can't_ get done: can't implement a new Glass-Stiegal (too hard); can't implement health insurance for all (too hard); can't make public colleges open to the public again (too hard); can't raise the minimum wage to one that working families can actually live on it when working full time (too hard); can't draw down our military presence in the Middle East after voting to put them there in the first place (too hard); and now ... can't stop Wall Street, the health care industries, and billionaire donors from supporting her and the DNC (way too hard).
I have great faith that all of us -- male, female, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, gay, straight -- will do the right thing and reject Mr. Blow's and Clinton's can't do message, and vote to improve America for all Americans.
Surely if we can bail out Clinton's Wall Street, we can bail out the rest of us. We just need to get our priorities straight.
She herself has admitted all the things she _can't_ get done: can't implement a new Glass-Stiegal (too hard); can't implement health insurance for all (too hard); can't make public colleges open to the public again (too hard); can't raise the minimum wage to one that working families can actually live on it when working full time (too hard); can't draw down our military presence in the Middle East after voting to put them there in the first place (too hard); and now ... can't stop Wall Street, the health care industries, and billionaire donors from supporting her and the DNC (way too hard).
I have great faith that all of us -- male, female, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, gay, straight -- will do the right thing and reject Mr. Blow's and Clinton's can't do message, and vote to improve America for all Americans.
Surely if we can bail out Clinton's Wall Street, we can bail out the rest of us. We just need to get our priorities straight.
15
Bernie Sanders - Party of One. He has shown no ability to get anything done. He's been an independent, by choice. His only chance of accomplishing his goals is with a sweeping victory in the house and senate of like-minded Bernie candidates, who do not exist.
His stunning victory in New Hampshire was in an almost all white state with a total population that is 300,000 less than the population of my county.
It's a horse race folks! Yeah, right.
His stunning victory in New Hampshire was in an almost all white state with a total population that is 300,000 less than the population of my county.
It's a horse race folks! Yeah, right.
4
I am tired of all the 'splainin; why I gotta vote for this one and why one choice is fantasy and one choice is pragmatic and responsible. This is a democratic primary to select the Democratic Party's nominee. Both nominees are capable, whip smart and passionate. Our country and our democracy is better off with either one of them at the helm, so let the best candidate win. I wish pundits and journalists would do more 'splainin about substance (could you at least cover Bernie before you rip him to shreds?) and stop the interminable finger wagging. No American likes to be told what they "have" to do (excepting those who watch Fox News).
5
"testy, abrasive and often flat-out rude" - I struggle with your bias.
It is obvious that Clinton's strategy was to overtly "wrap herself" in Obama during the debate. Not particularly "nuanced", just calculating. Likewise her "nuanced" theme of pragmatism is simply a way to cynically erode political engagement - "No We Can't". I'd say that Sanders' highly educational campaign has enlightened voters on many pressing issues - he is certainly not a "single issue candidate" Clinton's latest absurd claim. I disagree with you that the American people could not digest a "nuanced" critique of Obama. Like Clinton, you are underestimating the intelligence of democratic voters (us "disaffected" ones that are at wits end about how money has sown institution corruption within our government).
It is obvious that Clinton's strategy was to overtly "wrap herself" in Obama during the debate. Not particularly "nuanced", just calculating. Likewise her "nuanced" theme of pragmatism is simply a way to cynically erode political engagement - "No We Can't". I'd say that Sanders' highly educational campaign has enlightened voters on many pressing issues - he is certainly not a "single issue candidate" Clinton's latest absurd claim. I disagree with you that the American people could not digest a "nuanced" critique of Obama. Like Clinton, you are underestimating the intelligence of democratic voters (us "disaffected" ones that are at wits end about how money has sown institution corruption within our government).
18
With all due respects to Mr. Blow, I did not find Sanders to be 'flat-out rude' in last week's debate. My major criticism of President Obama has been his inability to smooze the Republican Senate, he had to have known that making nice is part and parcel of being President - you know, back slapping and playing golf with ole Johnny Boehner. Having grown up in a conservative family, school, church and fairly prejudiced on my own, Republicans cannot kid a kidder. I know conservatives and Republicans do not like having a Black man in their White House and Barack had to have felt like the sheriff in Blazing Saddles- but he could have done better communicating!
As I watch Sanders in the debates with Hillary I have points of contention re: his debating skills - and by the way, it would be hard for anyone to counter Hillary's extensive foreign affairs experiences and achievements.
Mr. Blow, you have to understand Bernie's facial reactions and tones of voice are being parsed especially critically has he attempts to counter Hillary.
We all have a right to criticize our President, it just makes it a bit more precarious for Bernie since Hillary has wrapped herself in the President's mantel for good or bad.
As I watch Sanders in the debates with Hillary I have points of contention re: his debating skills - and by the way, it would be hard for anyone to counter Hillary's extensive foreign affairs experiences and achievements.
Mr. Blow, you have to understand Bernie's facial reactions and tones of voice are being parsed especially critically has he attempts to counter Hillary.
We all have a right to criticize our President, it just makes it a bit more precarious for Bernie since Hillary has wrapped herself in the President's mantel for good or bad.
2
Mr. Blow writes "But saying to people who believe in Sanders’s vision that it is a mirage is injurious to their sense of wonder and determinism. It says: Stop believing that the impossible is possible."
When the Clinton campaign and Democratic party leaders tell Sanders supporters that our hopes are a mirage, it tells me that:
A. The Democratic party is no longer a viable vehicle for effecting the fundamental changes necessary to save our democracy from becoming a complete oligarchy; and,
B. These 'leaders' want us to surrender our power as voters, and let them run things as they think best. To agree to do this would be fundamentally un-American.
When the Clinton campaign and Democratic party leaders tell Sanders supporters that our hopes are a mirage, it tells me that:
A. The Democratic party is no longer a viable vehicle for effecting the fundamental changes necessary to save our democracy from becoming a complete oligarchy; and,
B. These 'leaders' want us to surrender our power as voters, and let them run things as they think best. To agree to do this would be fundamentally un-American.
6
Mr. Blow, you call Sanders rude, but he was ridiculed by the press for raising his hand trying to get the moderators' attention rather than talking over his opponent (and the moderators) the way Clinton did.
There's nothing wrong with being aggressive in making your point on either side, but it would be nice if Clinton waited to hear what her opponent was saying before interrupting with one more of her "I have a plan for that" talking points.
There's nothing wrong with being aggressive in making your point on either side, but it would be nice if Clinton waited to hear what her opponent was saying before interrupting with one more of her "I have a plan for that" talking points.
9
I keep thinking of how McGovern was blown out of the water and this was due in large part to us college students at the time. I see Bernie as being the same type of candidate who has a core group of loyal true believers but has too much ideologue baggage (demo socialist = commie to many people) that would be distorted and lead to a disaster for those of us who can't stand the GOP candidates and don't want to risk what could result. As for me, winning is way more important than ideological purity. I think Hillary can appeal to many independents and moderates. We can't risk a right wingnut evangelical GOP take over.
2
Mr. Blow fails to mention that South Carolina has an open primary system. His analysis only incotporates those who make up the Democrstic Party.
It seems not to have occurred to Mr. Blow that independents and some Republicans might vote in the Democratic primary for strategic reasons.
They might, for exsmple, vote for Sanders in an effort to skew the vote away from Clinton and thereby damage her candidacy.
It seems not to have occurred to Mr. Blow that independents and some Republicans might vote in the Democratic primary for strategic reasons.
They might, for exsmple, vote for Sanders in an effort to skew the vote away from Clinton and thereby damage her candidacy.
1
Reading between the lines of the comments on this article, I would estimate that only about half of the many anti-Hillary comments on here are actually from Sanders supporters while the other half are from GOP provocateurs and trolls masquerading as Sanders supporters.
1
If the right assumed their goals were impossible because they do not have the presidency then the left could celebrate and go home. Both sides can dream.
On the possible versus the impossible in the Democratic primary (and in light of the fact that comments have not been opened for Gal Beckman's compelling NYT piece on Bernie Sanders's progressive Jewish legacy): the one thing that has not been addressed in any discussion of how to pay for Sanders' numerous programs--beyond taxing Wall Street and the 1%--is the obscene amount of money poured annually into the United States' military-industrial complex. I wish Bernie Sanders would address this issue, but perhaps it's too hot a topic, too dovish a stance against Hillary Clinton's hawkish foreign policies. But I am reminded of the Ben & Jerry's Foundation's advocacy of "1% for Peace" years ago and the mind-blowing comparisons that Mr. Cohen drew (with very effective graphics) illustrating how so many of our social ills could be remedied by reallocation of even a small portion of the money now going to weaponry that does little to improve the world, let alone the US's position in it. How about it, Bernie?
2
8 years of Clinton will likely be like the last 8 years; extremely frustrating for progressives but ultimately productive.
2
I've been wondering if I were a black woman instead of a white one, how I would feel to be described every day as a firewall with the implicit assumption that my vote can be assumed and doesn't have to be earned? I do know how angry I felt when Hillary and her surrogates assumed she deserved my vote just because I'm a boomer feminist. I hope and expect that the voters of SC will hold all the candidates feet to the fire before bestowing their vote on anyone.
4
When I think of Hillary, I think of all the black lives that were sacrificed in Vietnam because her good friend Henry Kissinger led us into an unwinnable war.
Then I think of all the black lives that were sacrificed for nothing in the war she voted for in Iraq.
I have little doubt that when African Americans, who have sacrificed so much for this country, come to realize who is responsible for the loss of so many of their loved ones, their support for Clinton will wilt away as they turn to Sanders.
Then I think of all the black lives that were sacrificed for nothing in the war she voted for in Iraq.
I have little doubt that when African Americans, who have sacrificed so much for this country, come to realize who is responsible for the loss of so many of their loved ones, their support for Clinton will wilt away as they turn to Sanders.
5
Neither candidate - for different reasons, probably ones doing with a combination of "wiring" and 30+ years in politics - does well with "nuance."
That is, Bernie is 24/7 "on message," and his message (probably reflecting, too, his self-assigned "party" affiliation of Democratic Socialist) is at variance with Obama's principles in some enormous ways. So, Bernie cannot articulate his positions without making it crystal clear that he's critical of Obama on many core issues.
Hillary - as everybody but her most demotic supporters knows and acknowledges - IS the candidate of "the system." It's been exceedingly good to her and Bill. Some of that they earned and "deserve." Another portion borders on bribery, although I expect that's the TRUE firewall in terms of whether or not people could EVER pull the lever for her.
When she says, "That'll never fly, Bernie" - or words to that effect - and, as Mr. Blow points out - she's really saying it to the electorate, including the young, idealistic portion - she's in the perfect position to say it by virtue of the Clinton Foundation's dealings with big companies and foreign powers.
Come November 8th, the millions who DREAM of a genuinely better America will probably have to choose between a "slightly better" America (if that) and an America somewhere between uncertain and very, very scary. And THAT is a nuance that may elude millions left of center who will chose to sit this one out, because no one dreams about "partly cloudy" days.
That is, Bernie is 24/7 "on message," and his message (probably reflecting, too, his self-assigned "party" affiliation of Democratic Socialist) is at variance with Obama's principles in some enormous ways. So, Bernie cannot articulate his positions without making it crystal clear that he's critical of Obama on many core issues.
Hillary - as everybody but her most demotic supporters knows and acknowledges - IS the candidate of "the system." It's been exceedingly good to her and Bill. Some of that they earned and "deserve." Another portion borders on bribery, although I expect that's the TRUE firewall in terms of whether or not people could EVER pull the lever for her.
When she says, "That'll never fly, Bernie" - or words to that effect - and, as Mr. Blow points out - she's really saying it to the electorate, including the young, idealistic portion - she's in the perfect position to say it by virtue of the Clinton Foundation's dealings with big companies and foreign powers.
Come November 8th, the millions who DREAM of a genuinely better America will probably have to choose between a "slightly better" America (if that) and an America somewhere between uncertain and very, very scary. And THAT is a nuance that may elude millions left of center who will chose to sit this one out, because no one dreams about "partly cloudy" days.
2
Nuance loses, you say? Hmm. Maybe, but you certainly haven't made a compelling argument to that effect. The thing about election years is not so much that we voters are stupid, but that we get treated that way by... yes - pundits and the press.
And once again, this bizarre false equivalence is implied between Sanders and the Republican circus. Sanders' visions are at least worthy and would build toward greater well-being of Americans.
And once again, this bizarre false equivalence is implied between Sanders and the Republican circus. Sanders' visions are at least worthy and would build toward greater well-being of Americans.
3
Despite what supposed pundits say, and the Clintons are counting on, I don't believe anyone owns the black vote anymore. At least not since the three-fifths clause in the US Constitution was nullified after the Civil War.
3
Charles you have captured my thoughts exactly! Both Trump and Sanders have done well in predominantly White states. Now for the real America which includes Black and brown people, particularly women voters. I like Sanders but in this era of political gridlock, I find him unrealistic. President Obama has been stymied every step of the way so it is unlikely that Sanders would have it any easier but that perspective seems to be lost on Sanders supporters.
1
Let's recall a senate race in NY in the early 1990s. In the Dem primary, Abrams, Ferraro, and Holtzman vied for the nomination. The campaigns were bitter in the extreme. Abrams, the eventual candidate, lost because the primary had supplied the Republican candidate, D'Amato, with enough ammunition to get elected.
1
I am at the point that I do not care who the Democratic candidate is, I will vote for that candidate. Since 2010 the only thing that has stood between us and a slide into fascism is the power of the veto. I will settle for that in 2017 and beyond. If the Republicans win it all, backed by a partisan Supreme Court, we will lose the soul of this country.
4
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Yes, the young have an absolute right to their choice and a fairy tale. They have a right to their zeal and expectations and Sanders seems like their Man representing their aspirations. But will it or will it not? But can it or can it not? I like Sanders, but I sure don't want to see a lot of fairy dust if he is nominated as I see the demographic of14% on the left.
2
There seems to be a concerted effort in the opinion section of this newspaper that the right wing 'take the country back' revolution be countered with the safety of the status quo. But how safe really is the status quo? Keep in mind that one of the few things both sides can agree on is that the country is headed in the wrong direction.
7
Good piece, Mr. B., however, I have one bone to pick with you. You call Sanders the "clarity candidate"; I strongly disagree. In truth, when it comes to actual economic facts on how his programs would impact the real economy he should be considered the "obfustication candidate".
In plain truth, we cannot afford a Sanders presidency. Ms. Clinton made this abundantly clear in their last debate when she answered questions about how much of the GDP his ideas would gobble up; questions Senator Sanders himself repeatedly refused to answer.
The bottom line: Clinton is electable, Sanders is not.
In plain truth, we cannot afford a Sanders presidency. Ms. Clinton made this abundantly clear in their last debate when she answered questions about how much of the GDP his ideas would gobble up; questions Senator Sanders himself repeatedly refused to answer.
The bottom line: Clinton is electable, Sanders is not.
1
There's big generational war going on in black America, with young blacks tending to break for Sanders, just like young whites. Older blacks who vote for Hillary are lite the white voters of Kansas voting Republican. Both groups are voting to make the rich richer and the disadvantaged, white or black, relatively poorer. How is it any more rational for any blacks not in the top 1% to vote for Wall St. and Clinton than it is for whites in the American masses to vote for Republicans working to make their billionaire donors richer and the American masses poorer? The idea that Bill Clinton was "the first black president" is as preposterous as the Republican mass fantasy that Reagan's voodoo economics were designed to improve the lives of the American masses as opposed to the bank accounts of the top .1%.
3
Oh, well ... I've come to admire Hillary. This conversion took years, but I now judge her to be an experienced diplomat and smart politician, and I trust that she would negotiate and advocate for policies that help protect the rights of women, African-Americans, and gay individuals ... all those so-called "minorities." Bernie is an admirable man, but I don't trust that a liberal "socialist" idealist who promises to break up the banks and provide free education to state-college and university students fully comprehends the weight of the opposition in Congress, or the heft of conservative opposition among voters in all those big states outside the Northeast, or the price tag for his generous "revolutions." Hillary knows the ropes because so many of them have been hung around her neck. I respect her and am happy to hear that we're now moving out of the two definitively "white" (over-publicized) states, Iowa and New Hampshire. Don't know about Nevada. Do fear all the Republican candidates ... rigid Christians and one crude billionaire buffoon. Hope Democrats won't "eat each other all up" like the cats and dogs in fairy tales.
2
Obama managed to destroy one industry, and nationalize another. One wonders which industries that Hillary or the Bern will decide is is evil and must be either nationalized or forced bankrupt? Either of these two would be a disaster for America we need someone who will clean up the mess that Obama has created, not double down on the misery.
Sanders' problem is in his evident lack of details, not his ideas. Clinton's problem is her credibility and being seen as the ultimate establishment, beltway insider.
Sanders' great asset is his passion and his heartfelt concern for the little guy, and his disgust for the privileged class.
Clinton's great asset is that she probably has the best curriculum vitae of any candidate in generations. She can hit the ground running.
Sanders impassions me. Clinton appeals to my reason.
Sanders' great asset is his passion and his heartfelt concern for the little guy, and his disgust for the privileged class.
Clinton's great asset is that she probably has the best curriculum vitae of any candidate in generations. She can hit the ground running.
Sanders impassions me. Clinton appeals to my reason.
2
It seems to be a law of nature that some Sanders' supporters cannot argue the merits of his candidacy without resorting to personal attacks on Hillary that lose nothing by comparison with the over-the-top rhetoric of Trump. What will they say if Sanders is the nominee and Trump or whoever start attacking him in similar personal terms that is de rigueur for their own attacks on Hillary: "this kind of character assassination is grossly unfair and reeks of pure viciousness"?
3
I wish someone could explain to me why Bill Clinton is such a hero to the African-American community. Who did NAFTA hit hardest? Minorities. What was so black-friendly about executing a mentally-challenged black man (who was so because of a suicide attempt) to demonstrate he was "tough on crime" in an election year? Who were the primary victims of Bill Clinton's sentencing disparities between the powdered cocaine favored by Wall Street stockbrokers and crack cocaine that was concentrated in poor neighborhoods? Black people. Who were most affected by a $30 billion legislation that created "three strikes you're out" and expanded the building of prisons? Black people. What was so black-friendly about dismantling AFDC? About taking away the right to housing and to vote from the those who were incarcerated due to the double standard in sentencing? Who were most affected by the offshoring of manufacturing jobs during the 1990s?
So someone please tell me what the Clintons have done for black voters that Bernie Sanders, who was in the trenches with the Civil Rights movement when Clinton was still a Goldwater Girl, has not.
So someone please tell me what the Clintons have done for black voters that Bernie Sanders, who was in the trenches with the Civil Rights movement when Clinton was still a Goldwater Girl, has not.
5
I have no idea why voters who are african american would not seriously consider voting for Sanders once they learn about his message and proposals. That has been the only thing fueling Sanders' success so far. Of course, when pundits and headline writers and editorials and party establishment systems and their money and contacts and influence day after day combine to prevent any modicum of objectivity, maybe Sanders' message won't get out. Maybe columns like this one will scare or depress or confuse enough people to keep the Clinton campaign going. Then maybe she can limp along against whatever Republican wins, barely inspiring her base and turning off independents to the very end. Anyway, you know the old saying... How South Carolina goes, so goes the nation. Oh wait, there is no saying like that.
1
I see over and over Bernie Sanders supporters just completely mischaracterize Hillary Clinton's positions and motives to a point I find disturbing. They claim that Hillary is somehow a vote for the strict status quo, as if she secretly doesn't actually want to change one thing. This is totally bogus, unfair and dishonest. There's an attitude among his supporters that ONLY Bernie Sanders wants progressive change when I think Hillary's approach shows she wants to make positive, progressive change as much, if not more, than Bernie Sanders and she's willing to fight, maneuver and bargain to get it.
Constantly MI's characterizing Hillary's motives and intent is not a good argument for Bernie, it's really just a lie.
Constantly MI's characterizing Hillary's motives and intent is not a good argument for Bernie, it's really just a lie.
1
Why do we even care about South Carolina? No Democrat will ever win that state in 2016, or even 2020. We do care about New Hampshire - that's a very important state for the presidency and the Senate. And we care about black voters - especially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. Hillary’s “deflation” of Sanders, while it might be effective to blunt his momentum and retain some or most of her support in upcoming southern state primaries (all states no Democrat will ever win), is a fundamentally negative campaign theme and risks causing a disaster, i.e., lack of enthusiasm, in the general election in the states Democrats have to win. She has to come up with a positive, inspirational message, other than "I'm a woman and I'm qualified." That message has to be economic and rise above identity politics - and she has squandered a lot of credibility on the grinding economics of the middle class at this point.
1
Let's save the party a lot of time, energy and money. Hillary and Bernie need to agree on a joint ticket, Hillary for POTUS, Bernie as Veep, with a clear pledge that the Treasury will be his bailiwick. Such a ticket can achieve a decisive victory, which would include a Democratic Congressional sweep as the fired up "feel the bern" voters (18-28) vote in unprecedented numbers, making the difference.
1
Solely on the possibility/practicality of free public college. Both my wife and I attended CUNY [City University of New York] in the 60's and received out bachelor's there. She at Hunter College, me at CCNY. At that time the only costs to the students were $15/semester registration fee and books. Of course the competition was fierce, but there was always the option of attending evenings for those who didn’t make the cut for day. Same courses, professors, and degrees. The system contained a number of excellent, highly regarded schools in all five boros. If it was possible then, why not now?
4
I'm hoping Bernie Sanders can channel his inner Yogi Bubba, where "it ain't over till the fat lady sings", and having some "deja vu all over again".
Things on the ground are fluid, every time Bernie holds a rally, people are energized. Polls from 1 month ago are a snapshot of then, not now.
I've never seen an opportunity to restore a functioning government in the US in my lifetime, since the rise of the criminal political class under Reagan, by addressing campaign financing and the corrupting influence of money in politics.
It would be tragic if African American followed the lead of GOP voters, and voted against their own interests by blindly supporting the same corrupt hypocrisy now represented by Hillary Clinton.
Things on the ground are fluid, every time Bernie holds a rally, people are energized. Polls from 1 month ago are a snapshot of then, not now.
I've never seen an opportunity to restore a functioning government in the US in my lifetime, since the rise of the criminal political class under Reagan, by addressing campaign financing and the corrupting influence of money in politics.
It would be tragic if African American followed the lead of GOP voters, and voted against their own interests by blindly supporting the same corrupt hypocrisy now represented by Hillary Clinton.
1
It baffles me that the high-minded and hawkish among the left can scorn the right for their never-ending infighting, all while demeaning one of their own as an "underdog", too idealistic, not plan-oriented, and best of all, "flat-out rude".
If anything is flat-out rude, it's Hillary claiming that Bernie is a single-issue candidate, when really he's been ahead of her on virtually every issue she wants to "include" in the debate. See: gay rights (she only hopped on the bus three years ago), prison reform (she only stopped taking donations from private prisons LAST YEAR), civil rights (he marched with MLK, I'd say that's a pretty good start to creds), and women's rights (her actions against women claiming sexual assault by her husband are nothing short of repulsive), to name just a few.
Stop insulting the intelligence of the electorate. Kindly leave that tactic to Cruz and Trump.
If anything is flat-out rude, it's Hillary claiming that Bernie is a single-issue candidate, when really he's been ahead of her on virtually every issue she wants to "include" in the debate. See: gay rights (she only hopped on the bus three years ago), prison reform (she only stopped taking donations from private prisons LAST YEAR), civil rights (he marched with MLK, I'd say that's a pretty good start to creds), and women's rights (her actions against women claiming sexual assault by her husband are nothing short of repulsive), to name just a few.
Stop insulting the intelligence of the electorate. Kindly leave that tactic to Cruz and Trump.
3
The number one problem facing this country is money in politics. It might not be the cause of every problem, but we're not going to truly be able to solve any problem until we fix that. Go Bernie.
5
Yes, Professor Bernie is great at explaining "what" needs to be done, but really has no idea on "how" he will get anything done. In fact, he ducks every opportunity to explain the "how" of things and this will hopefully become more and more clear to people as time goes on.
I am a steadfast liberal and will never vote for the Republican clowns, but it is difficult not to see some parallels between Bernie's MO and Trump promising a 2000 mile border wall and Rubio repeating his hollow talking points.
I am a steadfast liberal and will never vote for the Republican clowns, but it is difficult not to see some parallels between Bernie's MO and Trump promising a 2000 mile border wall and Rubio repeating his hollow talking points.
1
I can't believe Blow found Sanders to be rude in the debate because I found him to be too reserved in his criticism of Clinton, I would be interested to know the specif examples.
Also, why should we frame what's needed in our country by what might be possible to compromise with the crazy politicians in our country rather than have a revolution where we get practical workers in our government. Many other countries have universal healthcare and free college, why should America not? Here in Japan, I'm not even a Japanese citizen but have free healthcare just living here and isn't our economy doing better?
If there ideas aren't practical then how could we ever do what needs to be done with global warming?
Also, why should we frame what's needed in our country by what might be possible to compromise with the crazy politicians in our country rather than have a revolution where we get practical workers in our government. Many other countries have universal healthcare and free college, why should America not? Here in Japan, I'm not even a Japanese citizen but have free healthcare just living here and isn't our economy doing better?
If there ideas aren't practical then how could we ever do what needs to be done with global warming?
1
You got it wrong Mr. Blow. The idealistic left is not saying "stop believing that the impossible is possible. What they are saying is stop believing the possible is impossible.
If other democratic countries can provide free college education to qualified students, a truly universal health care system, and a guaranteed living wage for every worker, why is it impossible for the United States to at least have these valuable programs as a goal.
If other democratic countries can provide free college education to qualified students, a truly universal health care system, and a guaranteed living wage for every worker, why is it impossible for the United States to at least have these valuable programs as a goal.
3
Perhaps Mr. Blow would like to step back from his statistical and macro-analysis for a moment and consider what I continue to hear from friends of every political persuasion. The more people get to know Ms. Clinton, the less they like her or accept what she stands for----which is her own sense of entitlement and the continuation of a plutocratic system. The more people get to know Mr. Sanders, the more they can see and understand that he is honestly working on behalf of all Americans of every race, gender, and creed.
3
We Americans want things, services, government programs, but we don't want to pay for them. We have the lowest tax overall than any other developed country in spite of the claims of Republicans to the contrary. If we want free college and single payer health care we have to be willing to pay for them. It will take more than just taxing the hedge funds and billionaires.
2
I am a liberal and I have no problem with arguing against "free public college for all" as a matter of principal. Free community college for all is fine. But free public college helps mostly middle class white kids who don't actually need the help. And I'm sure all of us who were in college remember how many of those of our classmates without any "skin in the game" slacked off and wasted their opportunity.
It's time for us liberals to stop pretending like Bernie's policies are all laudible but unrealistic. Many are simply bad ideas, full stop.
It's time for us liberals to stop pretending like Bernie's policies are all laudible but unrealistic. Many are simply bad ideas, full stop.
3
In his song, Revolution, John Lennon said, "we'd all love to see the plan." So far, no plan from Sanders. Just lots of promises. This is no different than what we hear from every other politician until the hard reality of having to govern sets in. Inevitably, the person elected has to compromise a mile to gain an inch. For those of you who hope that, if elected, Sanders will refuse to compromise as Obama has and Hillary would, you have a good example of what that looks like. It is called the GOP controlled US Congress.
1
What Blow doesn't want you to know, of course, is that Sanders' polling average in SC has been steadily climbing since June, while Hillary's has remained the same. Hillary is stuck at 60% while Sanders has risen from zero in June to 30%.
This mirrors what happened in Iowa. The more people find out about Sanders, the more they like him. But it's difficult to find out about him when the media is so against him.
As to all this nonsense about Sanders being idealistic and not realistic 1. Democrats lose when they are not excited about their candidate. And no one is excited about Hillary. So if you want a Republican president, vote for Hillary in the primaries.
2. We all know about Republican opposition in congress. They are not going to be any nicer to Hillary than they are to Sanders. The difference is that Sanders will be able to motivate the base to get out and vote the republicans out of Congress during the midterms. Hillary would not be able to do this.
All Sanders supporters know that voting Bernie president is only the first step in a two step process. The second step will be voting in a democratic congress.
This mirrors what happened in Iowa. The more people find out about Sanders, the more they like him. But it's difficult to find out about him when the media is so against him.
As to all this nonsense about Sanders being idealistic and not realistic 1. Democrats lose when they are not excited about their candidate. And no one is excited about Hillary. So if you want a Republican president, vote for Hillary in the primaries.
2. We all know about Republican opposition in congress. They are not going to be any nicer to Hillary than they are to Sanders. The difference is that Sanders will be able to motivate the base to get out and vote the republicans out of Congress during the midterms. Hillary would not be able to do this.
All Sanders supporters know that voting Bernie president is only the first step in a two step process. The second step will be voting in a democratic congress.
1
I'm honestly not sure who I will vote for in the Democratic primary. I agree that it is unlikely that most of Sanders's agenda an get through a Republican Congress. But the same was true of Obama, and we elected him anyway. And he had to scale back many of his promises. That is politics. At least in Sanders we start with a truly progressive agenda. In Hillary, it feels like we are starting from the compromise position. Everyone knows that is not how you negotiate. You go in demanding the world, and negotiate down to get what you actually wanted all along. Maybe by demanding free college for all, we actually end up with free community college after the dust settles. Maybe by demanding single payer, we end up with a more robust Obamacare. Maybe by demanding a high minimum wage, we at least end up with a living one.
2
The outcome will depend on the success of the Sanders team outreach efforts in South Carolina toward attracting black voters. At the time of polls conducted asking about likely democratic nominee and Clinton coming out on top is because she has the name recognition. This may dramatically change once people have a chance to hear what Sanders stands for.
Sanders and his supporters think that issues such as Clinton's emails and "Benghazi" are non-issues. But in voters eyes, Mrs Clinton's reputation is tarnished by them. I have heard too many people say they would vote for anybody but Clinton, and the polls, showing Sanders defeating Trump by a greater margin than Clinton, are very important and should be given more attention than they are, especially here in the NYT. We Democrats and progressive independents want to vote for a winner. Let's hope this issue is clarified before it is too late.
3
"Successful candidates are those who set the emotional agenda of the electorate." - Drew Westen
It takes Drew 437 pages to get there; the historical evidence seems overwhelming. So far, Bernie has succeeded; Hillary has not. Why not is the most intriguing question of the race so far.
It takes Drew 437 pages to get there; the historical evidence seems overwhelming. So far, Bernie has succeeded; Hillary has not. Why not is the most intriguing question of the race so far.
It's amazing to me how Mr. Blow writes to influence readers of his opinion writings toward Hillary Clinton. It's equally amazing that he has not embraced Mr. Sanders as the candidate most desirable to lead the country. Not only does Bernie Sanders understand astutely how the way society has changed to favor the rich over the past 30 years (why are there 3 Chase Banks, 1 Capitol One, 1 Wells Fargo, 1 HBSC, and 1 Citibank offices within a three block radius of where I work), he has shown great judgment, honesty, humility and integrity more than any other candidate running for President of the United States. The reason why I think Bernie will continue to gain momentum and confound naysayers about his candidacy is that I, like so many others, do not see his political revolution as pie in the sky but as a necessary one.
1
It is no wonder Hillary feels close to Pres. Obama. They have similar flaws-- tendency to be hawkish, support for TPP, no $15 min wage, all of the above energy policy, closeness to big business and wall street, mixed relationship with labor, etc. If anyone wants to see what a more progressive view of public policy (advocated by Bernie) could look like, go see Michael Moore's wonderful new movie.
This column suggests that you can only support Sanders if you think that he's going to be able to pss his whole agenda -- which would, indeed, be unrealistic. But that premise makes no sense, any more than one could only support Obama if you believed he really was going to bring everyone together. In fact, one strong argument for Sanders is quite the opposite: if you assume that Republicans will still be able and determined to block anything good after 2016, be better off with a president who will preside over real gridlock in the short-term -- while perhaps making something more thinkable in the long term -- than with Clinton-style triangulation. That gave us not "half a loaf," but steps backwards on welfare, criminal justice, gay rights, etc -- and would have included Social Security privatization if impeachment hadn't gotten in the way. Meanwhile, it also did nothing to contest the Republic propaganda machine's efforts to drag the range of permissible discussion ever further to the right. So unless Hillary's current "pragmatism" is fundamentally different form her 1990s "triangulation" in some way she hasn't shared, it is not actually very practical, as either a short-term or a long-term strategy for making this country better.
Maybe Hillary is the more practical general election candidate -- and that matters. But to claim that she has the only"realistic" approach to dealing with a powerful right is to ignore reality.
Maybe Hillary is the more practical general election candidate -- and that matters. But to claim that she has the only"realistic" approach to dealing with a powerful right is to ignore reality.
For all those people who think Bernie Sanders is a "breath of fresh air" who is "different" from other professional politicians and think his "passion" and "sincerity" make him a better choice than Hillary Clinton's experience and professionalism, I offer one observation. Those characteristics also rather accurately describe the qualities George Wallace brought to his presidential campaigns.
1
Charles M. Blow correctly assesses the weakness of Bernie Sanders and the strength of Hillary Clinton in South Carolina. There is, however, another overriding factor to the South Carolina primary, as well as in the Nevada primary which soon follows.
Are these not proportional primaries, where candidates receive a portion of the delegates roughly corresponding to the percentage of the vote received? If so, "The Fire Meets the Wall" only when we reach the winner-take-all states.
Are these not proportional primaries, where candidates receive a portion of the delegates roughly corresponding to the percentage of the vote received? If so, "The Fire Meets the Wall" only when we reach the winner-take-all states.
Many Sanders supporters consider Obama a failure in spite of getting the ACA. While Obama had to work hard and negotiate and sometimes make concessions as often happens in our democratic process, they imagine Bernie waltzing into Congress, demanding single-payer and presto! single payer for all.
In order to believe that Sanders can fulfill all his promises, they must imagine that Obama's obstacle wasn't scorched-earth Republicans, but his own failure of skill, will and character.
Unrealistic doesn't begin to cover the beliefs of Sanders supporters.
In order to believe that Sanders can fulfill all his promises, they must imagine that Obama's obstacle wasn't scorched-earth Republicans, but his own failure of skill, will and character.
Unrealistic doesn't begin to cover the beliefs of Sanders supporters.
1
Charles, if you had noted (like others) that Bernie's gestures to the moderator during debate resembled a restaurant patron trying to get a waitress' attention for a coffee refill, I would enthusiastically agree.
But "flat-out rude" is incorrect. Bernie is a passionate debater up against an aggressive and formidable opponent, but within the parameters of politics, conducts himself as a true gentleman.
But "flat-out rude" is incorrect. Bernie is a passionate debater up against an aggressive and formidable opponent, but within the parameters of politics, conducts himself as a true gentleman.
1
Mr. Blow: The fact that Bernie Sanders is directly supported by the average voters who give him the opportunity financially to broadcast his message says it all. We are hearing the voice of the people finally and whether or not he actually wins the election, those voices will not be silent no matter who becomes president. And it is disappointing to find you not more supportive of his agenda which is the only way black people will be freed from the financial and racial yoke they are burdened with.
You seem to be accepting some realities, but are still shutting Bernie Sanders message out by indicating it cannot work and voters had better get behind Hillary to save us from the Republicans.
If you truly care about the unfair and destructive treatment of the black minority, you would recognize the efforts that Senator Sanders has made his entire political and personal life on their behalf and support him fully.
You seem to be accepting some realities, but are still shutting Bernie Sanders message out by indicating it cannot work and voters had better get behind Hillary to save us from the Republicans.
If you truly care about the unfair and destructive treatment of the black minority, you would recognize the efforts that Senator Sanders has made his entire political and personal life on their behalf and support him fully.
1
Clinton's real firewall is the roughly 345 Superdelegates she has who do not reflect voting results, but are given to Democratic elected officials and bigwigs to keep the will of the voters from truly being expressed. Even the heinous Republicans don't have superdelegates. It's time Dems overturn this anti-democratic conceit and let the voters elect who they elect without interference.
2
If Bernie is a fire, Clinton is a wet towel.
Bernie's campaign is for optimism and "take control of our future."
Clinton's message is defeatist and "status quo" -- we already have the republican congress to ensure that with their obstructionism, we do not need a democrat President for that.
Bernie's campaign is for optimism and "take control of our future."
Clinton's message is defeatist and "status quo" -- we already have the republican congress to ensure that with their obstructionism, we do not need a democrat President for that.
1
In New Hampshire, Bernie got 60% of the vote but apparently gets 50% of the delegates because the Democratic party has "Super Delegates" that can vote independently from the popular vote.
I was undecided between Hillary and Bernie, but I have just decided to vote for Bernie. The Democratic party has proven Bernie's point, that the system is rigged, and they are so arrogant and tone deaf that they don't think anyone will notice or care.
I sent in my $27 and like Bernie has claimed, I can do it over and over again.
I was undecided between Hillary and Bernie, but I have just decided to vote for Bernie. The Democratic party has proven Bernie's point, that the system is rigged, and they are so arrogant and tone deaf that they don't think anyone will notice or care.
I sent in my $27 and like Bernie has claimed, I can do it over and over again.
1
"....has to do a nuanced dance around his criticisms of Obama, of whom these black voters are likely to be protective."
It is interesting that blacks, including this author, show no similar regard for Jewish sensitivity. There have been several instances of black behavior and words towards Sanders that if Jews had made towards Obama when he was running in '08 would have very loudly been condemned as racist, including by this author. But when it comes to racism, respect and blacks it is a one way street of expectations. Respect and sensitivity by blacks is not expected or encouraged by the race lobby, exactly the opposite. It is interesting that the same people who deemed any criticism of Obama to be a hidden racial code phrase or dog whistle are completely deaf when the shoe is on the other foot. Ditto for the abuse behavior that Sanders has experienced from black activists on several occasions. Until the racism chasers stop with their extremely obsessive pro-black double standards they have nothing to add to the national conversation.
It is interesting that blacks, including this author, show no similar regard for Jewish sensitivity. There have been several instances of black behavior and words towards Sanders that if Jews had made towards Obama when he was running in '08 would have very loudly been condemned as racist, including by this author. But when it comes to racism, respect and blacks it is a one way street of expectations. Respect and sensitivity by blacks is not expected or encouraged by the race lobby, exactly the opposite. It is interesting that the same people who deemed any criticism of Obama to be a hidden racial code phrase or dog whistle are completely deaf when the shoe is on the other foot. Ditto for the abuse behavior that Sanders has experienced from black activists on several occasions. Until the racism chasers stop with their extremely obsessive pro-black double standards they have nothing to add to the national conversation.
1
Mr. Sanders was rude to Hillary Clinton in his last debate, also his facial mannerisms and constant hand gestures spoke volumes what he did not say. Free tuition and health care seems fantastic how that will ever be possible with a Republican majority in Congress ?
For those who are supporting Bernie Sanders and so many of them are planning to sit out if Hillary wins the nomination needs to wake up to the fact that too much is at stake. Republicans are hoping for a loss of Hillary Clinton are trolling as Bernie Sanders supporter so they can win the white house and choose the next supreme Court justice.
For those who are supporting Bernie Sanders and so many of them are planning to sit out if Hillary wins the nomination needs to wake up to the fact that too much is at stake. Republicans are hoping for a loss of Hillary Clinton are trolling as Bernie Sanders supporter so they can win the white house and choose the next supreme Court justice.
2
Our time reminds me of the late 1890s and early 1900s. The United States was moving from an agrarian nation to an industrial and commerical capitalist one. There arose a populist movement whose main spokesman was William Jennings Bryan. His "Cross of Gold" speech is still remembered today. Yet, he lost the presidency three times. Instead Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson from both parties regulated the change and ushered America into the 20th Cenutry.
So Hillary is well positioned to become the next President according to the intellectual considerations of Charles Blow?
If Hillary is elected she will receive a welcome of that of a rattlesnake to birthday party particularly if Congress remains in GOP hands.
Obama's (a much more appealing and generous personality) tribulations will seem mild in comparison to that which will lay ahead of Hillary Clinton.
It should be fun to watch.
If Hillary is elected she will receive a welcome of that of a rattlesnake to birthday party particularly if Congress remains in GOP hands.
Obama's (a much more appealing and generous personality) tribulations will seem mild in comparison to that which will lay ahead of Hillary Clinton.
It should be fun to watch.
I was thinking that at any other time in my life I would have been gaga over Bernie Sanders and that I surely agree with him more than I agree with Hillary Clinton on issues. But I no longer believe the impossible is possible (I never really did, it is a trite thing to say, but I get Blow’s drift); I don’t believe the left has done the hard work to convince enough of the American people that their policies are the right ones. If they had, there would be more Socialists in the Congress and in governor’s mansions. Just electing a President doesn’t mean the country will make progress even if he were electable.
Face it Sanders popularity is a remarkable stroke of luck for the far left and they are taking advantage of it. No one wanted to run against a presumptive nominee so a leftist was able to take Clinton on one on one. Now an army of college kids and knee-jerk liberals is propelling him forward. In a field of five or six candidates, no one would be paying attention to him and he would just be 2016s version of Dennis Kucinich. And Kucinich was smarter and more likeable than Sanders.
I no longer trust ideologues; they hold on to ideas way past their due date. I wonder what Sanders will do when the congress and the courts block him; I am not concerned with a President stretching the constitution but I worry Sanders will break it.
There is too much at stake this year to reach for the moon and I don’t want to lose what little we have gained under Obama by dreaming too big.
Face it Sanders popularity is a remarkable stroke of luck for the far left and they are taking advantage of it. No one wanted to run against a presumptive nominee so a leftist was able to take Clinton on one on one. Now an army of college kids and knee-jerk liberals is propelling him forward. In a field of five or six candidates, no one would be paying attention to him and he would just be 2016s version of Dennis Kucinich. And Kucinich was smarter and more likeable than Sanders.
I no longer trust ideologues; they hold on to ideas way past their due date. I wonder what Sanders will do when the congress and the courts block him; I am not concerned with a President stretching the constitution but I worry Sanders will break it.
There is too much at stake this year to reach for the moon and I don’t want to lose what little we have gained under Obama by dreaming too big.
2
How can you not like Bernie? Still, not even "liberal" Sanders is addressing America's foreign policy disaster, namely it's shameful projection of military power that has caused more problems than it's solved, not to mention millions of deaths and the suffering of millions of more. America must reject it's Imperialism and militarism and explore a more conciliatory diplomacy with it's so called adversaries. As long as Bernie believes the U.S. military is "protecting our freedoms" or "our way of life" back home, and not just securing sea lanes, markets and resources, wars and the suffering of millions will only continue. And he's a liberal?
The Plantation Belt that extends across South Carolina and through neighboring states is largely populated by descendants of slaves long accustomed to a future with little hope, little change. Obama altered that for some, raising their eyes to the horizon. Sanders continues that. The Clintons, by contrast, with their history of cutting welfare and increasing prison terms, encourage eyes to be cast downward again.
1
I forgot in my last comment. There seems to be a strong parallel in the way that Republican candidates get the low income white southern vote and Clinton is getting the los income black vote, both of these disadvantaged populations are manipulated into voting against their own interests by the establishment of the few rich. It's extremely sad on both sides. I hope very much Hillary is defeated.
Hilary Clinton has taken millions of dollars of political contributions from Wall Street. If she gets the nomination, the Democratic party and her supporters are, in effect, saying that this is okay. Wall Street is not running out of money and if there is no downside to them contributing to politicians campaigns, they will continue to do so and the outsize influence of the financial sector will continue.
The arguments about practicality from the Clinton side are ludicrous. I think voters should see through this garbage by now. The US government is not the board of Walmart. I think Hillary should go back to the corporate world and leave our democracy to those who actually believe in it.
Anything can happen. I hope Bernie can win this election, but it looks like a very hard road. I'm not sure he can do it, but the energy that he has given the party won't die off any time soon.
What is Hillary's message anyway? What is she going to get done? If she's not really in favor of any progressive economic policies, why should anyone vote for her? Why not vote for a rock.
I'm disgusted with the democratic party. This super delegate nonsense seems geared to prevent populist movements. We have 2 bad parties. All of this can be fixed by moving to a ranked-choice voting system. Bernie would be on the ballot, drawing huge numbers of voters, and Hillary would be their second choice. She'd likely win by a landslide.
If there's one thing that proves our democracy is rigged it is the refusal to give the ranked-choice voting system a try. What good is a vote if both parties are bad?
Anything can happen. I hope Bernie can win this election, but it looks like a very hard road. I'm not sure he can do it, but the energy that he has given the party won't die off any time soon.
What is Hillary's message anyway? What is she going to get done? If she's not really in favor of any progressive economic policies, why should anyone vote for her? Why not vote for a rock.
I'm disgusted with the democratic party. This super delegate nonsense seems geared to prevent populist movements. We have 2 bad parties. All of this can be fixed by moving to a ranked-choice voting system. Bernie would be on the ballot, drawing huge numbers of voters, and Hillary would be their second choice. She'd likely win by a landslide.
If there's one thing that proves our democracy is rigged it is the refusal to give the ranked-choice voting system a try. What good is a vote if both parties are bad?
1
Here we go again. Mr. Blow's argument is based on month-old polling data interpreted through the lens of a worldview that sees this most dynamic of all recent primaries as static.
Just as a quantum understanding of universe replaced the Newtonian model, so too are we witnessing the collapse of the identity politics that the Clintons have relied upon, pitting natural Democratic constituencies against one another, and the emergence of a new paradigm based on the common interests of those constituencies.
For 150 years corporate capitalism has relied on first, the Jim Crow Democrats of the Old South, and then, the reactionary Republicans who came to power after 1968 throughout much of the region, to divide poor and working class Southerners on the basis of race.
Mr. Sanders closed a 50-point gap in Iowa in just four months. As more and more South Carolina Democrats come to recognize who really represents their economic interests in this election, the 30-point plus lead that Mrs. Clinton has held for months is melting away. Indeed, Mr. Sanders does not have to win outright in South Carolina -- he needs only to close to within 15 points or so.
The most recent poll in South Carolina shows that Mrs. Clinton's lead among Democratic primary voters has been reduced to 19 points.
Yesterday, a caravan of 50 Sandersnistas left my small, rural, Republican county to canvas in the Palmetto State. How many investment bankers left New York last night to do the same for Mrs. Clinton?
Just as a quantum understanding of universe replaced the Newtonian model, so too are we witnessing the collapse of the identity politics that the Clintons have relied upon, pitting natural Democratic constituencies against one another, and the emergence of a new paradigm based on the common interests of those constituencies.
For 150 years corporate capitalism has relied on first, the Jim Crow Democrats of the Old South, and then, the reactionary Republicans who came to power after 1968 throughout much of the region, to divide poor and working class Southerners on the basis of race.
Mr. Sanders closed a 50-point gap in Iowa in just four months. As more and more South Carolina Democrats come to recognize who really represents their economic interests in this election, the 30-point plus lead that Mrs. Clinton has held for months is melting away. Indeed, Mr. Sanders does not have to win outright in South Carolina -- he needs only to close to within 15 points or so.
The most recent poll in South Carolina shows that Mrs. Clinton's lead among Democratic primary voters has been reduced to 19 points.
Yesterday, a caravan of 50 Sandersnistas left my small, rural, Republican county to canvas in the Palmetto State. How many investment bankers left New York last night to do the same for Mrs. Clinton?
1
Those who are stumping for Mr. Sanders should reevaluate their thinking. We need good people in Congress (Senate and House). Sanders should remain in the Senate and work on legislation with Elizabet Warren. While a novice with foreign policy may seem appealing it is not wise in these critical times to put someone in the Whitehouse without a great deal of foreign policy skill.Bernie has never sat on the FP committee. Competence matters so for me Hillary Clinton is the one to vote for
1
While Bernie and Hillary are both great overall candidates, the big difference to me is I don't have to hold my nose voting for Sanders. You don't suppose he has some controversy he has been keeping under wraps that he will manage with nuanced evasiveness, as Clinton has shown is her modus operandi. And although he has been tagged a single issue candidate, he has created tremendous resonance because most people now realize,even though we've had Democratic presidents 15 of the last 23 years, the problem of the triumph of the plutocracy is very real, and incrementalism won't change it. I guess I don't blame some for voting for Hillary as the practical choice. I'm waiting for the general election to do that.
"In last week’s debate, a testy, abrasive and often flat-out rude Sanders tried to navigate this terrain, and failed."
I have heard it said about observations in life that: "it's not what we're looking at, but what we're looking through." I didn't see a testy, abrasive, and often flat-out rude Sanders; I saw a senator who has agreed with President Obama on several issues, and has had the courage to critique the president - whom I also happen love and respect - over areas of disagreement. It reeks of sexism to call Sanders "testy and abrasive." On the other hand, if anyone tells the truth about Hillary and employs words like "scolding, angry, abrasive" they are ferociously denounced as sexist. What I heard from Hillary Clinton during the PBS debate was pandering, relentless pandering to the African American community on how closely she - but not Sanders - aligns with President Obama. In the beginning of this campaign, Clinton frequently reiterated that she was not running for Obama's third term. By the time of the last debate, she was all but clinging to him on every issue.
I have heard it said about observations in life that: "it's not what we're looking at, but what we're looking through." I didn't see a testy, abrasive, and often flat-out rude Sanders; I saw a senator who has agreed with President Obama on several issues, and has had the courage to critique the president - whom I also happen love and respect - over areas of disagreement. It reeks of sexism to call Sanders "testy and abrasive." On the other hand, if anyone tells the truth about Hillary and employs words like "scolding, angry, abrasive" they are ferociously denounced as sexist. What I heard from Hillary Clinton during the PBS debate was pandering, relentless pandering to the African American community on how closely she - but not Sanders - aligns with President Obama. In the beginning of this campaign, Clinton frequently reiterated that she was not running for Obama's third term. By the time of the last debate, she was all but clinging to him on every issue.
3
Congress as currently constructed will be no less intransigent under a Clinton presidency than a Sanders presidency. Are you seriously conflating the "clear and resonant" Sanders platform with the right wing platform of misery and ignorance? You seem to be intent that the Republican revolution precludes the one envisioned by Sanders and as such Democrats are required to support the status quo candidate Clinton. Keep in mind that this very same "testy, abrasive flat out rude Sanders" has also declined to exploit Clinton's notable exposures, emails, Benghazi, foundation, etc. And that Clinton will get no such consideration from the Republican nominee.
I worry that Sanders is unelectable. I worry that Clinton would be incapable of governing (and the impeachment proceedings would start on Day 1.)
As Woody Allen declared: "More than any time in history mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly."
As Woody Allen declared: "More than any time in history mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly."
Our system was designed with a 'living document' at it's core in order to allow revolution to occur gradually, as opposed to taking place in a 'blood and guts' war of the people against themselves.
While it is true that we are truly at the cusp of a '2nd Industrial Revolution' it cannot and will not occur overnight. In order to maintain order, it must provide new ways to progress from the 'old ways' to the 'new ways' across ALL of our systemic institutions.
Since the emerging world has already 'seen the light', we will either unite to lead the world forward, or continue our commitment to the past and watch the world disintegrate into chaos or find another leader.
We should leverage the moderate conservatism that is innately present in each and every one of us to shed our commitment to the past and move intelligently and boldly forward...........or we can just take the traditional right wing approach to success and continue our march to becoming a 'has been' empire run by self serving despots.
It's a global movement. The leader that we should present to the world should be a intelligent, respected world leader, not a rag-tag revolutionary with the rash idea that we can change the world in a day or two.
We should all remember that Obama himself ran as an agent of 'hope and change', and that whatever hope and change that we got was hard won against entrenched interests. It will likely be the same for the next President. Progress is better than regression.
While it is true that we are truly at the cusp of a '2nd Industrial Revolution' it cannot and will not occur overnight. In order to maintain order, it must provide new ways to progress from the 'old ways' to the 'new ways' across ALL of our systemic institutions.
Since the emerging world has already 'seen the light', we will either unite to lead the world forward, or continue our commitment to the past and watch the world disintegrate into chaos or find another leader.
We should leverage the moderate conservatism that is innately present in each and every one of us to shed our commitment to the past and move intelligently and boldly forward...........or we can just take the traditional right wing approach to success and continue our march to becoming a 'has been' empire run by self serving despots.
It's a global movement. The leader that we should present to the world should be a intelligent, respected world leader, not a rag-tag revolutionary with the rash idea that we can change the world in a day or two.
We should all remember that Obama himself ran as an agent of 'hope and change', and that whatever hope and change that we got was hard won against entrenched interests. It will likely be the same for the next President. Progress is better than regression.
Mr. Blow, thank you for insightful column on South Carolina demographics and implications for Bernie Sanders. But the gut dissatisfaction fueling Sanders impending revolution is simmering beneath the establishment calm and demographic wave. It is about to boil up and disrupt the electoral truths of 2008 and 2012. Why?
Income inequality has caught up with us all economically and they hurt. Same for the impact of Citizens United and undue influence of moneyed interests. Same with relentless, unnecessary and exorbitantly expensive wars (lives lost, injuries, $4 trillion wasted, loss of strategic leverage). Same with the injustices we live on the streets, on Wall St., and in the work place. Look beyond the dichotomy of us-them, women-men, Black-White, beyond young-old, and beyond framing this as capitalism-socialism. The source of our problems are not demographic.
US citizens are expressing needs and concerns in actionable terms of democratic opportunity--socially, economically, and politically. We are wanting in all three. People are fed up. If the revolution happens it will be from the disenfranchised poor and middle class in 2016 and 2018--not based on gender nor race and across party. Better political power-based than continued social fragmentation with impending demonstrations, boycotts and social unrest. We must find constructive solutions, not status quo. Bottom line is what we have now is just not fair ... and you all know that.
Independent and Boomer for Bernie
Income inequality has caught up with us all economically and they hurt. Same for the impact of Citizens United and undue influence of moneyed interests. Same with relentless, unnecessary and exorbitantly expensive wars (lives lost, injuries, $4 trillion wasted, loss of strategic leverage). Same with the injustices we live on the streets, on Wall St., and in the work place. Look beyond the dichotomy of us-them, women-men, Black-White, beyond young-old, and beyond framing this as capitalism-socialism. The source of our problems are not demographic.
US citizens are expressing needs and concerns in actionable terms of democratic opportunity--socially, economically, and politically. We are wanting in all three. People are fed up. If the revolution happens it will be from the disenfranchised poor and middle class in 2016 and 2018--not based on gender nor race and across party. Better political power-based than continued social fragmentation with impending demonstrations, boycotts and social unrest. We must find constructive solutions, not status quo. Bottom line is what we have now is just not fair ... and you all know that.
Independent and Boomer for Bernie
3
The Sanders candidacy is only a dream incapable of fulfillment in policy terms if you assume the GOP retains its stranglehold on Congress. It isn't enough to put Bernie in the White House. Democratic voters need to turn out in record numbers to assure at least a Democratic Senate, preferably a bullet-proof one that will confirm his nominees with expedition, capable of gaining cloture on any attempted filibuster. Failing that, just go ahead and elect Hillary. She might do better with a GOP Congress than Obama did. After all, she's white and part of the 1% now. It's up to us progressives to turn out the vote. If we don't, we will get what we deserve. Really. It's all on us.
1
Mr. Blow, like most political columnists, is so obsessed with the write-about-now horse race that an obvious point is overlooked: Hillary can be as popular among registered Democrats as possible in deep red states like South Carolina, Arkansas and even Texas. But it is a near-certainty that none will cast their electoral college votes for a Democrat, whether the nominee is Bernie or Hillary. The one blue state that has voted, one which might also vote Democrat in November, has enthusiastically picked Sanders. Clinton needs blue state support. Red states might give her convention delegate votes, but if she doesn't expand that base significantly in blue states, she risks being a weak nominee, if nominated at all. South Carolina going for Clinton next week means little. If Sanders registers an unlikely primary win, the Clinton campaign may have both feet in the grave.
1
The Land Grant College act was intended to, and long did, provide essentially free public college education, paid for by the revenue from the federal land grants. It was passed by a Republican Congress in a Republican administration. Lincoln's.
Public colleges were nearly free (fees were so low that it was possible to work one's way through school with part-time and summer jobs) until about 50 years ago. What has changed? The willingness of state legislatures to support their public colleges and a crippling increase in overhead, so that now administrators outnumber professors.
It needn't be a federal responsibility. If you want free college, tell your state legislatures and governors.
Public colleges were nearly free (fees were so low that it was possible to work one's way through school with part-time and summer jobs) until about 50 years ago. What has changed? The willingness of state legislatures to support their public colleges and a crippling increase in overhead, so that now administrators outnumber professors.
It needn't be a federal responsibility. If you want free college, tell your state legislatures and governors.
3
An interesting aspect of the South Carolina primary is that it is in a state that President Obama lost in both the 2008 and 2012 races. So it is pretty irrational that this primary is an early part of the nomination process and is seen as so important to picking the Democratic nominee. In a more reasonable world, we'd be looking past this contest and be looking at how Sanders does in states that a democrat is more likely to win in the national election.
39
Sander's mirage:
A living wage of $15 per hour
A modern Glass-Stegall law
Medicare for all
Expansion of Social Security
Reform of our judicial system
SEC not run by Wall Street and holding banks accountable
A rejection of 'neo-con' foreign policy of regime change
Affordable college education for all
End of the for-profit privatized prison system
Next to the New Deal, it's peanuts, but I guess in Blow's world its now a mirage that is held together by wonder and determination. I wonder if Mr. Blow had been around about 1845 if he would have believed that the abolitionists were just dreamers and that we would never see the end of slavery because it was an impractical dream of wishful thinkers.
A living wage of $15 per hour
A modern Glass-Stegall law
Medicare for all
Expansion of Social Security
Reform of our judicial system
SEC not run by Wall Street and holding banks accountable
A rejection of 'neo-con' foreign policy of regime change
Affordable college education for all
End of the for-profit privatized prison system
Next to the New Deal, it's peanuts, but I guess in Blow's world its now a mirage that is held together by wonder and determination. I wonder if Mr. Blow had been around about 1845 if he would have believed that the abolitionists were just dreamers and that we would never see the end of slavery because it was an impractical dream of wishful thinkers.
36
I'm happy to vote for either Sanders or Clinton; personally, I feel Clinton would be much more effective as a Democrat in control of the Democratic Party than Sanders, an outsider for 30 years. Clinton and those like her have spent their careers building the party, helping to elect senators and governors and representatives. I applaud Sanders' commitments, and I wish him well. If he wins the nomination, I'll vote for him. But my money is on having a strong, confident Democrat as President.
11
First self disclosure: I am a fiscally and socially conservative man from Chester County, Pennsylvania. After Saturday night's debate, in spite of my advance degrees, affluence and snob, I am one hundred percent supportive of Trump. You are wrong to assume Trump's supporters are disgruntled and barely educated white men. There are upper middle class men and women who support Trump. To win the US presidency, the nominees of the two parties MUST win over the suburbanites like those living in Chester County, PA. Obama won my county twice. Before Obama's 2008 victory, Lyndon Johnson (in 1964) was the last Democrat to win my county: Nixon (twice), Reagan (twice), H. W. Bush and W. Bush (twice). The Establishment Republicans have much to ponder - to understate.
5
In sales, there is a universal mantra: "Sell the sizzle, not the steak"! Let the aroma sell the meat. Focus on the aura, rather than the fact. The ideals instead of reality.
Today, the most important issues are: the Economy; Health Care and National Security. This is why the GOP does't want to face her. Yet they keep raising these points!
The economy must be addressed in the context of both political and economic reality and proven principals. Not idealism. Bill Clinton was the last President to raise taxes significantly, create 22 million jobs--and balance the Budget.
Hillary led Bill's attempt to establish universal health care; so, she understands the pragmatism involved. And, how can any GOPer suggests what they would best here in foreign policy?
http://thetruthoncommonsense.com
Today, the most important issues are: the Economy; Health Care and National Security. This is why the GOP does't want to face her. Yet they keep raising these points!
The economy must be addressed in the context of both political and economic reality and proven principals. Not idealism. Bill Clinton was the last President to raise taxes significantly, create 22 million jobs--and balance the Budget.
Hillary led Bill's attempt to establish universal health care; so, she understands the pragmatism involved. And, how can any GOPer suggests what they would best here in foreign policy?
http://thetruthoncommonsense.com
5
Seriously Mr Blow? "[C]onsidering the political realities of an intransigent Congress that has attempted to block the current president at every turn", how is Hillary Clinton going to have a better chance of having her policies become law faced with it, than Bernie Sanders will have with his? I think she will not have a better chance, so I think your efforts to justify the alleged support of the overwhelming majority of African-Americans for her instead of Bernie makes no sense.
I think he is well aware that much more is needed than for someone like him to be in the oval office. Frankly I despair at the fate of my kind: human kind. I particularly despair at the state of the United States. Your country needs massive cultural, social and political change. But I don't think it likely that it is going to happen. So I despair. Still I support Bernie Sanders for president as a good first step towards a US that makes sense.
This is what Dr King had to say in 1967: " We must recognize that we cannot solve our problem now until there is a radical redistribution of economic and political power...this means a revolution of values and other things. We must see now that the evils of racism, economic exploitation and militarism are all tied together...you can't get rid of one without getting rid of the others. The whole structure of American life must be changed."
So - you tell me - who do you think Dr King would recommend the African-Americans of today vote for: Clinton or Sanders?
I think he is well aware that much more is needed than for someone like him to be in the oval office. Frankly I despair at the fate of my kind: human kind. I particularly despair at the state of the United States. Your country needs massive cultural, social and political change. But I don't think it likely that it is going to happen. So I despair. Still I support Bernie Sanders for president as a good first step towards a US that makes sense.
This is what Dr King had to say in 1967: " We must recognize that we cannot solve our problem now until there is a radical redistribution of economic and political power...this means a revolution of values and other things. We must see now that the evils of racism, economic exploitation and militarism are all tied together...you can't get rid of one without getting rid of the others. The whole structure of American life must be changed."
So - you tell me - who do you think Dr King would recommend the African-Americans of today vote for: Clinton or Sanders?
41
If South Carolina voters of any color or gender are pro-Obama, then no one is more likely not only to protect, and strengthen, President Obama's legacy, than Senator Sanders.
Senator Sander's criticisms of President Obama do not attack the things Obama himself is proud of. Sanders does not belittle the President's accomplishments.
Rather, Sander's criticism align with President Obama's own frustrations with his own agenda. The President has said, repeatedly, he has wished he could have gone further, done more, than he was able to do in the face of resistance from a Republican Congress.
What honors President Obama more: A future President who at best holds what the President has already accomplished, and might in important ways roll back the President's legacy? Who is more likely to keep us mired in the Middle East, or even get us further stuck there, Clinton or Sanders? It's Clinton, not Sanders, who is most likely to get us further enmeshed in the Middle East, at our peril. This would be anything but protecting and honoring President Obama.
If South Carolina Democrats want to truly honor President Obama, protecting not only his legacy but also the gains we have made under him, Senator Sanders is the candidate they should support.
Senator Sander's criticisms of President Obama do not attack the things Obama himself is proud of. Sanders does not belittle the President's accomplishments.
Rather, Sander's criticism align with President Obama's own frustrations with his own agenda. The President has said, repeatedly, he has wished he could have gone further, done more, than he was able to do in the face of resistance from a Republican Congress.
What honors President Obama more: A future President who at best holds what the President has already accomplished, and might in important ways roll back the President's legacy? Who is more likely to keep us mired in the Middle East, or even get us further stuck there, Clinton or Sanders? It's Clinton, not Sanders, who is most likely to get us further enmeshed in the Middle East, at our peril. This would be anything but protecting and honoring President Obama.
If South Carolina Democrats want to truly honor President Obama, protecting not only his legacy but also the gains we have made under him, Senator Sanders is the candidate they should support.
33
It's a primary so I'll vote for the candidate I like. The black citizens of South Carolina will do the same. After the Democratic candidate is selected I will vote for him, or her. This is not rocket surgery. Don't need no Ben Carson. Sanders is the first social democrat to command substantial national support. May there be many more. The Republican party cannot govern in a way that meets the needs of its own supporters. At some point they will have to seek sane alternatives, one of which is the social-democracy Sanders offers. They might be satisfied with the lip-service Clinton offers, but mere words of support and sympathy don't create jobs or meet any other of the basic needs her voters have.
33
I am an outsider, born in Quebec to a father of the same background as Bernie's parents. The Quebec I was born into was a place that has people like Ross Douthat and George Will drooling. Today my Quebec is still recovering from our 1980 quiet revolution. We have virtually everything Bernie is advocating but we don't call it socialism, we call it liberty and justice for all.
In the USA you also had a 1980 revolution that was so radical that in 2016 America you have the 1950s and same old same old.
Change is very scary especially if you are the number one military and economic power on the planet but sometimes you must look at the plight of your citizens and say that sometimes serving in Heaven is better than ruling in Hell.
We have problems here but the future looks better every day our children are getting the best education they want, they are healthy, they are getting good food and they have roofs over their heads. Places like South Carolina are about continuing to fight ancient battles and the utter stupidity of men like Lindsey Graham politics should be about the future and visions like those of Berne Sanders.
In the USA you also had a 1980 revolution that was so radical that in 2016 America you have the 1950s and same old same old.
Change is very scary especially if you are the number one military and economic power on the planet but sometimes you must look at the plight of your citizens and say that sometimes serving in Heaven is better than ruling in Hell.
We have problems here but the future looks better every day our children are getting the best education they want, they are healthy, they are getting good food and they have roofs over their heads. Places like South Carolina are about continuing to fight ancient battles and the utter stupidity of men like Lindsey Graham politics should be about the future and visions like those of Berne Sanders.
51
The only thing that will stop Clinton is Clinton’s actions like the Clinton Foundation. Was there is a conflict with contributions from foreign citizens and governments during the time Hillary was Secretary of State, now as a presidential candidate and huge speaking fees received by Bill Clinton from these same donors.
The original purpose of the Clinton Foundation in 1997 was to raise money to build the presidential Clinton Library in Little Rock Arkansas. At the time President Clinton wanted to do more after his term expired then building a library and President Jimmy Carter's post presidential activities were an inspiration. The foundation had $3 million after the library was completed and this became the seed money for the other activities.
The foundation's first major project was to drive down the cost of drugs in poor countries to fight the AIDS virus. To help fund this effort the foundation received a $500,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to implement and oversee the project. To this day one of the differences in the Clinton Foundation compared to others is it stays involved in its projects to oversee much of the operations to attain their given objectives. Providing low cost drugs to fight AIDS is still one of their major projects, but there are others.
http://lstrn.us/1J4J3Mr
The original purpose of the Clinton Foundation in 1997 was to raise money to build the presidential Clinton Library in Little Rock Arkansas. At the time President Clinton wanted to do more after his term expired then building a library and President Jimmy Carter's post presidential activities were an inspiration. The foundation had $3 million after the library was completed and this became the seed money for the other activities.
The foundation's first major project was to drive down the cost of drugs in poor countries to fight the AIDS virus. To help fund this effort the foundation received a $500,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to implement and oversee the project. To this day one of the differences in the Clinton Foundation compared to others is it stays involved in its projects to oversee much of the operations to attain their given objectives. Providing low cost drugs to fight AIDS is still one of their major projects, but there are others.
http://lstrn.us/1J4J3Mr
4
My heart and mind is with Bernie Sanders. I cannot in good conscious vote for a corporatist, centrist who continues to accept dirty money from Wall St which perpetuates the economic oppression of middle and lower income Americans. This rigged system is decimating our communities at an alarming rate particularly for people of color. No more free stuff for the billionaire class!
Bernie IS the most electable candidate. He has high trust and like-ability ratings, he is gaining broad support. Bernie outpolls Hillary against Trump, he isn't a scandal magnet, he isn't despised by the Republican base, and he is mobilizing millions of Americans who have felt disenfranchised by a rigged system.
Bernie is the candidate that will inspire a large turn out and swing voters to give Democrats a win in the general. Turn out and swing votes=a win for Democrats in a general.
I'm voting for real change and the most electable candidate. There is too much at stake. #feelthebern
Bernie IS the most electable candidate. He has high trust and like-ability ratings, he is gaining broad support. Bernie outpolls Hillary against Trump, he isn't a scandal magnet, he isn't despised by the Republican base, and he is mobilizing millions of Americans who have felt disenfranchised by a rigged system.
Bernie is the candidate that will inspire a large turn out and swing voters to give Democrats a win in the general. Turn out and swing votes=a win for Democrats in a general.
I'm voting for real change and the most electable candidate. There is too much at stake. #feelthebern
57
I've never voted for a Republican in my life and do not expect to in what's left, but I am sick of Democrats and their political incompetence. As much as I find President Obama an admirable person, his refusal to confront Republicans has allowed them to control most of the government while consistently operating against the public interest. A competent Democrat becoming president in 2008 would have put the Republican Party on the shelf for a quarter of a century. Now we have idealistic Democrats touting Bernie Sanders who the only candidate I can think of who would insure that our next president would be a Republican. It is a shame that the Democratic Party did not run Hillary in 2008, and it is another shame that she did not take a well deserved retirement after leaving the State Department, allowing a competent, electable, middle of the road, Democrat to emerge as a candidate. God help the country--at least 99% of us--if Democrats don't hold the White House in November, but Democrats just might blow it. At least this year, Republicans seem to be aiming for their foot as well.
15
"That lands like a wet blanket."
This is a description of this article.
Those. even partly in favor if the status quo, such as being a NY Times columnist, are working hard to discourage people rightly insisting on a change of direction in American politics. These writers are part ofa long history. I am sure that there were people who wrote that :
in the first century A.D., that a certain Jewish rabbi gave his life in vain and they should have listened to the more pragmatic leaders
In 1776, that a bunch of American colonists could never defeat the greatest military power in the world and should listen to more pragmatic royalists
In 1798, that the peasants of France should accept their fate and listen to those preaching the divine right of kings
In 1845, that the small number of anti-slavery abolitionists were only making trouble and they should listen to the more reasonable voices of compromise
In 1864, that the Civil War had killed too many people and that Americans in the North should listen to Gen. McClellan and make peace at any price
In 1932, that the government should stay out of economics and that out of work Americans should listen to the heads of industries who said just wait for the private sector to recover on its own
In 1954, that Brown v Board of Ed was bad law and could never really be enforced in the South
In 2016 that Bernie Sanders is impractical and voters should listen to the “pragmatic” approach of Clinton
and so on.
This is a description of this article.
Those. even partly in favor if the status quo, such as being a NY Times columnist, are working hard to discourage people rightly insisting on a change of direction in American politics. These writers are part ofa long history. I am sure that there were people who wrote that :
in the first century A.D., that a certain Jewish rabbi gave his life in vain and they should have listened to the more pragmatic leaders
In 1776, that a bunch of American colonists could never defeat the greatest military power in the world and should listen to more pragmatic royalists
In 1798, that the peasants of France should accept their fate and listen to those preaching the divine right of kings
In 1845, that the small number of anti-slavery abolitionists were only making trouble and they should listen to the more reasonable voices of compromise
In 1864, that the Civil War had killed too many people and that Americans in the North should listen to Gen. McClellan and make peace at any price
In 1932, that the government should stay out of economics and that out of work Americans should listen to the heads of industries who said just wait for the private sector to recover on its own
In 1954, that Brown v Board of Ed was bad law and could never really be enforced in the South
In 2016 that Bernie Sanders is impractical and voters should listen to the “pragmatic” approach of Clinton
and so on.
76
Charles, let Clinton and Sanders battle it out. No one is safe from being slammed as the Republicans are readily proving. Even so early into the cycle of debates, I am disgusted with the lot of them but the only alternative is to shut off the media. If ever the public was being literally abused, this is the time. Both the candidates and the media have shut the door on decent speech and reporting.
The older generation, the retirees, the needy, all stand to lose, but their loss is nothing like that awaiting our children and grandchildren.
The older generation, the retirees, the needy, all stand to lose, but their loss is nothing like that awaiting our children and grandchildren.
17
Hillary comes from the FDR, JFK philosophy of leadership. Bernie goes radically beyond that. He has a desire to instantly burn the house down and start over. Hillary wants to slow and reverse trends that are damaging the lower and middle class. That's done by creating jobs, fixing labor laws and investing in research, infrastructure and schools. Hillary also wants to provide some reasonable level of college cost relief. Bernie wants to instantly increase taxes dramatically. He then redistribute that tax money through giant new social programs. Hillary has a great chance to turn out worst economic trends around, achieving most of her goals. Bernie has virtually no chance to implement any of his core policies, let alone get elected in the first place. Love Bernie, think Hillary.
30
While Bernie Sanders may be espousing a vision of America that many so-called pragmatists consider unattainable or inconceivable, why should anyone believe that Clinton's uninspiring or practical approach would have any more success than Sanders' approach? 'Just because she says so? Let's be clear and fair. If Hillary Clinton is now wrapping herself in the Obama presidency, why would she be any more successful than President Obama in getting legislation through Congress? Wouldn't she suffer the same fate Obama has experienced with a Republican-controlled Congress? Be it Sanders or Clinton, either would have to tailor, compromise or reign in his or her platform if any of it were to have a chance of getting passed. So, why do so many assume that Clinton would be more successful than Sanders with Republicans? Does she have some magical remedy that Sanders does not have? Clinton and Sanders are likely to experience the same outcomes (without capitulating to the Republicans). Why not back Sanders, who at least has a worthy and inspiring message? Hillary Clinton essentially promotes political pragmatism without any clear over-arching direction or vision for America. Bernie Sanders looks to the future and gives hope. Hillary Clinton leans on the past and offers gradualism and a variation on the status quo. Many of us, however, want something more. And, we believe Sanders' message better captures our aspirations and desires.
76
Charles Blow normally offers a unique insight based on hard evidence. Sadly, this column contains neither. Readers hoping for a fresh look into an exciting presidential nominating contest instead receive a series of easily refutable talking points from the Clinton Campaign.
A few examples:
"The only question is, "How?" For some, the answers are unsatisfactory, particularly when considering the political realities of an intransigent Congress that has attempted to block the current president at every turn."
This ignores several truths: The president will have much authority to act on his own, independently of Congress. Elizabeth Warren made a very convincing case in this newspaper. Second, All 435 house seats and 33 senate seats are up for re-election this year. The Democrats need to flip only four Senate seats to regain the Senate. Third, the President has the power of the Bully Pulpit. He or she would by wise to use it order to influence legislation.
Hillary's message is not nuance, but cynicism. It is antithetical to the American ethos of Hope and Change. After Nevada, South Carolina will be the next state to Feel the Bern.
A few examples:
"The only question is, "How?" For some, the answers are unsatisfactory, particularly when considering the political realities of an intransigent Congress that has attempted to block the current president at every turn."
This ignores several truths: The president will have much authority to act on his own, independently of Congress. Elizabeth Warren made a very convincing case in this newspaper. Second, All 435 house seats and 33 senate seats are up for re-election this year. The Democrats need to flip only four Senate seats to regain the Senate. Third, the President has the power of the Bully Pulpit. He or she would by wise to use it order to influence legislation.
Hillary's message is not nuance, but cynicism. It is antithetical to the American ethos of Hope and Change. After Nevada, South Carolina will be the next state to Feel the Bern.
37
I'm surprised by Mr. Blow wrote this. For years, blacks in this country were told that they had to be patient about civil rights and that only very small steps could be taken.
And with regard to presidential races, in 1948 many Democrats warned Hubert Humphrey about giving a pro-civil rights speech at their convention or putting a civil rights plank in its platform as this would split the party resulting in a Republican president and Congress which would tear down FDR's New Deal legislation.
And in 1861, southern states warned that if Lincoln was elected president, they'd seceded. They did but can anybody argue that the country would have been better off if Lincoln had lost.
And with regard to presidential races, in 1948 many Democrats warned Hubert Humphrey about giving a pro-civil rights speech at their convention or putting a civil rights plank in its platform as this would split the party resulting in a Republican president and Congress which would tear down FDR's New Deal legislation.
And in 1861, southern states warned that if Lincoln was elected president, they'd seceded. They did but can anybody argue that the country would have been better off if Lincoln had lost.
17
How to "stop believing that the impossible is possible?" Sanders let the cat out of the bag in a recent interview.
When the interviewer pressed him on how he would accomplish the profound changes he envisions, his answer provided an a-ha moment. He's, in fact, leaving the driving to us. At least to those of us leaning left.
He's expecting that we, you and I, make enough noise, cause enough ruckus and put enough pressure on congress (now Republican dominated) that they will see the error of their ways and pass the laws necessary so we get free education, universal healthcare, family leave, pay equality, diminish the size and power of Wall Street while at the same time taxing them so they pay the cost of many of these programs. and so on.
It could be said that reaching Bernie's goals requires a revolution. Yet how many of us are willing to do that much less have the time. And realistically speaking would it even work.
That's not to say Bernie hasn't made a huge impact. He has. And especially regarding consciousness raising. And that's the first step required prior to the many tiny steps that major fundamental change requires.
When the interviewer pressed him on how he would accomplish the profound changes he envisions, his answer provided an a-ha moment. He's, in fact, leaving the driving to us. At least to those of us leaning left.
He's expecting that we, you and I, make enough noise, cause enough ruckus and put enough pressure on congress (now Republican dominated) that they will see the error of their ways and pass the laws necessary so we get free education, universal healthcare, family leave, pay equality, diminish the size and power of Wall Street while at the same time taxing them so they pay the cost of many of these programs. and so on.
It could be said that reaching Bernie's goals requires a revolution. Yet how many of us are willing to do that much less have the time. And realistically speaking would it even work.
That's not to say Bernie hasn't made a huge impact. He has. And especially regarding consciousness raising. And that's the first step required prior to the many tiny steps that major fundamental change requires.
19
Sanders has passion, but I am not sold.
I believe in dreaming big, but he won't tell people his signature proposal will require trade offs. There is simply no way to have a single payer system without a means to control costs and the measures he's discussed aren't nearly enough. It will require patients to accept limits. Based on the roar of discontent we saw with the ACA, I hold no conviction that a bitterly divided country would accept what he's selling.
There is absolutely nothing wrong in proposing a single payer system; there is, however, something profoundly wrong in not discussing what all single payer systems have and he hasn't done that. I do not mistake passion for honesty.
For people historically marginalized who've had to fight to gain traction in this country giving up hard fought gains is a hard sell--and asking people to turn their backs on the president who finally achieved what other presidents have tried to achieve for decades is a tall order. Saying that nothing short of Sanders' vision is worth fighting for is difficult when your fundamental rights are always under attack is an even tougher sell.
All said, there's no denying that he's struck a chord with many. It's fair to say that many who support him weren't around for the titanic shifts in culture and public policy this country made and may not have an appreciation for the years of hard work and advocacy required. We'll see if the wall holds back the fire.
I believe in dreaming big, but he won't tell people his signature proposal will require trade offs. There is simply no way to have a single payer system without a means to control costs and the measures he's discussed aren't nearly enough. It will require patients to accept limits. Based on the roar of discontent we saw with the ACA, I hold no conviction that a bitterly divided country would accept what he's selling.
There is absolutely nothing wrong in proposing a single payer system; there is, however, something profoundly wrong in not discussing what all single payer systems have and he hasn't done that. I do not mistake passion for honesty.
For people historically marginalized who've had to fight to gain traction in this country giving up hard fought gains is a hard sell--and asking people to turn their backs on the president who finally achieved what other presidents have tried to achieve for decades is a tall order. Saying that nothing short of Sanders' vision is worth fighting for is difficult when your fundamental rights are always under attack is an even tougher sell.
All said, there's no denying that he's struck a chord with many. It's fair to say that many who support him weren't around for the titanic shifts in culture and public policy this country made and may not have an appreciation for the years of hard work and advocacy required. We'll see if the wall holds back the fire.
20
I get your point Charles: South Carolina is clearly different. It is very different from IA and NH for reasons of demography, culture, history and geography.
But for those very same reasons, is it not fair to suggest that SC is not so much more representative of the country than were NH and IA? OH, FL or CA it is certainly not.
The vaunted 'firewall' states play a critical role in the democratic primary by giving voice to African American electorate, a key democratic constituency. However, it is notable that in a general election, almost none of these states actually contribute towards sending a Democrat into the White House.
To actually send a Democrat to the White House, you'd need a much more diverse coalition of not only the AAs but also the Latinos, the Young, the Blue Collar and the middle class and many others to win. It is unclear that other than playing the inevitable, strong-arming establishment democrats for endorsements, sounding racial dog whistles and and launching malicious character attacks, HRC has done any real outreach to this diverse coalition of voters.
So to flip the common argument, we may eventually be surprised to find out that it was Hillary, and not Bernie, who happened to have a demographic problem.
But for those very same reasons, is it not fair to suggest that SC is not so much more representative of the country than were NH and IA? OH, FL or CA it is certainly not.
The vaunted 'firewall' states play a critical role in the democratic primary by giving voice to African American electorate, a key democratic constituency. However, it is notable that in a general election, almost none of these states actually contribute towards sending a Democrat into the White House.
To actually send a Democrat to the White House, you'd need a much more diverse coalition of not only the AAs but also the Latinos, the Young, the Blue Collar and the middle class and many others to win. It is unclear that other than playing the inevitable, strong-arming establishment democrats for endorsements, sounding racial dog whistles and and launching malicious character attacks, HRC has done any real outreach to this diverse coalition of voters.
So to flip the common argument, we may eventually be surprised to find out that it was Hillary, and not Bernie, who happened to have a demographic problem.
45
What we forget is the republican strategy was to win the state houses and then they court apportion safe electoral districts for the house of representatives. As one person noted now the republicans could pick their voters instead of the voters picking their representatives.
President Obama won the popular vote. In a parliamentary system his representation in congress would be proportional.
Americans want these changes. They are denied them by a powerful moneyed minority. That minority has also used the Federalist Society to put justices into the court system culminating with Thomas, Roberts, Alito and Scalia into the Supreme Court. They would be attorneys for the court of Louid the XIV and the French aristocracy.
This minority has gutted voting rights, unions and inserted objects into the bodies of women. Coupled with the vilification of minorities and religious tests we have the equivalent of an emergent fascist state.
Note the republican nominees want to start wars with other people's children and grandchildren fighting in place of their own children and grandchilren.
Originalism is the republican version of the divine right of kings to rule.
We have the best electoral system that money can buy!
President Obama won the popular vote. In a parliamentary system his representation in congress would be proportional.
Americans want these changes. They are denied them by a powerful moneyed minority. That minority has also used the Federalist Society to put justices into the court system culminating with Thomas, Roberts, Alito and Scalia into the Supreme Court. They would be attorneys for the court of Louid the XIV and the French aristocracy.
This minority has gutted voting rights, unions and inserted objects into the bodies of women. Coupled with the vilification of minorities and religious tests we have the equivalent of an emergent fascist state.
Note the republican nominees want to start wars with other people's children and grandchildren fighting in place of their own children and grandchilren.
Originalism is the republican version of the divine right of kings to rule.
We have the best electoral system that money can buy!
21
The test will be at the polls, not on the pages of the Times. It seems to me not so long ago there were those who argued that running a black man for the presidency was a recipe for disaster for Democrats, that it was a bridge too far.
Yet here we are.
Whether or not Sanders can go the distance, his run has forced Clinton (and the Democratic Establishment) to define herself in terms of what being a Democrat really means, not whatever position triangulates best against the Republicans. It's long overdue.
I also suspect you are ignoring a critical aspect of Sanders' run. He's attempting to build connections to black voters, and in the process is getting them attention they would not have gotten otherwise. They stand to gain from Sanders if only for that.
Many of us on the left remember enthusiastically supporting Obama - only to have our support taken for granted once he was elected, and our desires ridiculed (Remember Rahm Emanuel?) while the White House chased a "Grand Bargain". Unquestioning allegiance to Hillary Clinton by black voters may find them seeing the same thing happen to them.
And what happens if it turns out Sanders is much better at turning out the votes and getting the support of the uncommitted who don't want the same old same old, but are turned off by the GOP lunatic brigade?
There's a long ways to go.
Yet here we are.
Whether or not Sanders can go the distance, his run has forced Clinton (and the Democratic Establishment) to define herself in terms of what being a Democrat really means, not whatever position triangulates best against the Republicans. It's long overdue.
I also suspect you are ignoring a critical aspect of Sanders' run. He's attempting to build connections to black voters, and in the process is getting them attention they would not have gotten otherwise. They stand to gain from Sanders if only for that.
Many of us on the left remember enthusiastically supporting Obama - only to have our support taken for granted once he was elected, and our desires ridiculed (Remember Rahm Emanuel?) while the White House chased a "Grand Bargain". Unquestioning allegiance to Hillary Clinton by black voters may find them seeing the same thing happen to them.
And what happens if it turns out Sanders is much better at turning out the votes and getting the support of the uncommitted who don't want the same old same old, but are turned off by the GOP lunatic brigade?
There's a long ways to go.
59
Yes Charles, Hillary will win the Democratic primary in the Southern states that she has no chance of winning in the general election. But can she win the primary in battleground states that will be up for grabs in November?
I wonder where African Americans would be if we always thought small and never dreamt big. Would we still have Jim Crow, separate but equal and minor civil rights enforcement? What did it take to open the schools in the South? What drove Dr. Martin Luther King? Certainly not "practicality" and small dreams. What did it take LBJ to get the civil rights laws passed by Congress (in the face of opposition from all of the Southern senators and Congressmen)? Big dreams or incrementalism? Great things occur because real leaders dream big and turn the impossible into the possible. Great leaders turn the impractical into the practical and the real.
All Blow is saying is that we should dream small, or not dream at all, because Hillary is not a real leader, and that all Hillary can do is doodle along the edges while income inequality grows bigger, as the principal amount of student debt grows bigger and bigger (even if the interest rate comes down), as the real level of unemployment and under-employment grows larger and larger for African Americans and as more Americans cannot afford their health insurance deductibles and copayments.
I wonder where African Americans would be if we always thought small and never dreamt big. Would we still have Jim Crow, separate but equal and minor civil rights enforcement? What did it take to open the schools in the South? What drove Dr. Martin Luther King? Certainly not "practicality" and small dreams. What did it take LBJ to get the civil rights laws passed by Congress (in the face of opposition from all of the Southern senators and Congressmen)? Big dreams or incrementalism? Great things occur because real leaders dream big and turn the impossible into the possible. Great leaders turn the impractical into the practical and the real.
All Blow is saying is that we should dream small, or not dream at all, because Hillary is not a real leader, and that all Hillary can do is doodle along the edges while income inequality grows bigger, as the principal amount of student debt grows bigger and bigger (even if the interest rate comes down), as the real level of unemployment and under-employment grows larger and larger for African Americans and as more Americans cannot afford their health insurance deductibles and copayments.
57
I do not understand why the African-American vote in South Carolina should just be handed to Hillary. Neither does Michelle Alexander. Read her devastating piece on the Clintons in last week's The Nation. Martin Luther King's words on pragmatism and reality and moderation are as relevant today as they were when he wrote in "Letter from Birmingham Jail":
"We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was 'well timed' in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word 'Wait!' It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This 'Wait' has almost always meant 'Never.' We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that 'justice too long delayed is justice denied.' We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter."
"We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was 'well timed' in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word 'Wait!' It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This 'Wait' has almost always meant 'Never.' We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that 'justice too long delayed is justice denied.' We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter."
59
Bernie represents a movement Hillary represents governance.
Hillary has the added advantage of being a known, and respected world leader right out of the starting gate.
Hillary's experience in dealing with the 'dark force' in American politics is a clear advantage, because, as Obama has shown, any semblance of progress in the United States of America will require the dragging of violent, screaming conservatives forward, but only at a great cost to the dragger.
We may continue to need Bernie and Elizabeth Warren to hold Hillary's feet to the fire, but at this particular moment in history, we cannot afford to cede our potential as a respected world leader to the uncertainty of either a radically driven US revolution or a Presidential learning curve.
Like or not, thanks to globalization, our lives and welfare are completely linked to the world at large, not just Washington D.C.
Hillary has the added advantage of being a known, and respected world leader right out of the starting gate.
Hillary's experience in dealing with the 'dark force' in American politics is a clear advantage, because, as Obama has shown, any semblance of progress in the United States of America will require the dragging of violent, screaming conservatives forward, but only at a great cost to the dragger.
We may continue to need Bernie and Elizabeth Warren to hold Hillary's feet to the fire, but at this particular moment in history, we cannot afford to cede our potential as a respected world leader to the uncertainty of either a radically driven US revolution or a Presidential learning curve.
Like or not, thanks to globalization, our lives and welfare are completely linked to the world at large, not just Washington D.C.
39
In 1972, as a young voter, I 'wrote in' Shirley Chisholm over Hubert Humphrey. Naively, I believed that there was no "real" difference between the mainstream candidates. And wait for this - I helped elect Richard Nixon. I remind myself of that vote nearly every election. Yes, there is guilt. Though the situation is not identical, I do not believe we have the luxury to put forward an 'almost' third party candidate in Bernie Sanders.
The problem I see here, even though I love some of Mr. Sanders's ideas (who on the liberal left doesn't), is his inability to get elected in a general election. Jen D said - "let's see what we can do." With the right opposing candidates, this might be the perfect opportunity for a candidate like Sanders. However, there is such a gulf between the two candidate pools - and such a frightening gulf - we cannot afford to risk it. My hope is that Mr. Sander's candidacy has changed the conversation and given a Hillary in the White House and a change in the Congress, we can see progressive actions.
The problem I see here, even though I love some of Mr. Sanders's ideas (who on the liberal left doesn't), is his inability to get elected in a general election. Jen D said - "let's see what we can do." With the right opposing candidates, this might be the perfect opportunity for a candidate like Sanders. However, there is such a gulf between the two candidate pools - and such a frightening gulf - we cannot afford to risk it. My hope is that Mr. Sander's candidacy has changed the conversation and given a Hillary in the White House and a change in the Congress, we can see progressive actions.
48
Despite all the rhetoric in the media about Bernie's revolutionary, but impractical ideas, Sanders is actually simply a liberal Democrat. Hilary Clinton is liberal on social issues, but a conservative on the big economic issues and on foreign policy. Both candidates support a woman's right to choose and neither as president will be able to do much about it, unless they end up nominating a member to the Supreme Court.
Both support voting rights, both favor some form of gun regulation although the court has given them little if any room to achieve anything. Both view global warming as a problem and both support more federal aid for higher education.
The critical issue is how they approach the increasing control of our economy, and with it our political system by big corporations. And therein lies the difference between the two. As for the black vote, our local politicians have offered only vague reasons for supporting Clinton, yet continue to do so. If they were to look closely at their constituents they will see people who have been super exploited by big business. Thousands of homes lost to the collapse of 08, jobs lost to trade agreements, environmental racism plaguing our health, agribusiness selling us manufactured, denatured food and economic policy that has and continues to ignore Main Street.
So will blacks vote their interests or their sentiment? I fear sentiment continues to exert an emotional hold on many. We should be getting better from our leaders. Much better.
Both support voting rights, both favor some form of gun regulation although the court has given them little if any room to achieve anything. Both view global warming as a problem and both support more federal aid for higher education.
The critical issue is how they approach the increasing control of our economy, and with it our political system by big corporations. And therein lies the difference between the two. As for the black vote, our local politicians have offered only vague reasons for supporting Clinton, yet continue to do so. If they were to look closely at their constituents they will see people who have been super exploited by big business. Thousands of homes lost to the collapse of 08, jobs lost to trade agreements, environmental racism plaguing our health, agribusiness selling us manufactured, denatured food and economic policy that has and continues to ignore Main Street.
So will blacks vote their interests or their sentiment? I fear sentiment continues to exert an emotional hold on many. We should be getting better from our leaders. Much better.
13
The fired-up Sanders is a winner for his convictions in a highly charged emotional arena, and its values seem universal. The only concern is, having a hostile and highly obstructive republican congress in front, the chances of making reality those ideals are close to none, a most unfortunate fact. And it would make us cry to see Sanders lose in the general election, lose to a demagogue that will create havoc and harm for years to come, including the nominating of partisan judges-for-life to the Supreme Court. For these reasons, it is imperative that Clinton wins this election to save the day, to embrace reality, and fairness, and science, and do something about climate change. I suspect that the framers of the constitution never imagined the unending stupidity of our current politicians, in a perverse reversal of basic values of coexistence, calling treason any bi-partisan compromise so things get done.
7
"Oceana was at war with Eurasia and in alliance with Eastasia. In no public or private utterance was it ever admitted that the three powers had at any time been grouped along different lines. Actually, as Winston well knew, it was only four years since Oceana had been at war with Eastasia and in alliance with Eurasia. But that was merely a piece of furtive knowledge, which he happened to possess because his memory was still under control. Officially the change of partners had never happened. Oceana was at war with Eurasia; therefore Oceana had always been at war with Eurasia."
- 1984
People who know their history know FDR implemented a New Deal not unlike many policies proposed by Bernie. All the naysaying about Sanders' policies being a fantasy, unicorn, pie in the sky, extremism etc. undermine historical precedent that the American people will embrace such policies if their leadership gets behind them. They're only viewed as pie in the sky etc. because the GOP has driven off a cliff and with, the help of faux-Democrats like the Clintons, has dragged the Democratic Party so far right many of us don't even recognize it as the party of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Hillary is one of the 'dragged far to the right' people. The impossibility of Bernie's policies working exists only if you choose to ignore our past history with progressive politicians and policies.
Don't be fooled. Ask 'why not'?
- 1984
People who know their history know FDR implemented a New Deal not unlike many policies proposed by Bernie. All the naysaying about Sanders' policies being a fantasy, unicorn, pie in the sky, extremism etc. undermine historical precedent that the American people will embrace such policies if their leadership gets behind them. They're only viewed as pie in the sky etc. because the GOP has driven off a cliff and with, the help of faux-Democrats like the Clintons, has dragged the Democratic Party so far right many of us don't even recognize it as the party of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Hillary is one of the 'dragged far to the right' people. The impossibility of Bernie's policies working exists only if you choose to ignore our past history with progressive politicians and policies.
Don't be fooled. Ask 'why not'?
42
Mr. Sanders has indeed lit the fire, and it is now burning brightly on its way to a conflagration that will annihilate the wall the weakening defenders of the status quo are standing on.
The NY Times, a newspaper I've been loyal to, for several decades, has lost my respect, not so much for its unbridled support of Mrs. Clinton, a stalwart defender of the status quo, but because of its equally unbridled comments deriding a senator, Mr. Sanders, who is known to all, across our land, as being a true advocate of equality, honest, and integrity, and who is hoping to carry those attributes back into the White House, when he is sworn in as our 45th President, next January.
The opportunity presented by the passing of Justice Scalia, if properly acted on, along with Mr. Sanders' election, will be the beginning of the restoration of our Democracy, as envisioned by our Founding Fathers, a nation that owes its greatness to a belief that equality empowers the citizenry and the example we set may once again be the template for all like minded nations on our planet.
We are standing on the first step of a new beginning, something I never expected to see, in this nation that has successfully disenfranchised the people and created a form of government that is now wholly owned by corporate America, and the military industrial alliance.
A Plutocratic Oligarchy rules our lives, and is intent on cementing that rule in place for generations.
The NY Times, a newspaper I've been loyal to, for several decades, has lost my respect, not so much for its unbridled support of Mrs. Clinton, a stalwart defender of the status quo, but because of its equally unbridled comments deriding a senator, Mr. Sanders, who is known to all, across our land, as being a true advocate of equality, honest, and integrity, and who is hoping to carry those attributes back into the White House, when he is sworn in as our 45th President, next January.
The opportunity presented by the passing of Justice Scalia, if properly acted on, along with Mr. Sanders' election, will be the beginning of the restoration of our Democracy, as envisioned by our Founding Fathers, a nation that owes its greatness to a belief that equality empowers the citizenry and the example we set may once again be the template for all like minded nations on our planet.
We are standing on the first step of a new beginning, something I never expected to see, in this nation that has successfully disenfranchised the people and created a form of government that is now wholly owned by corporate America, and the military industrial alliance.
A Plutocratic Oligarchy rules our lives, and is intent on cementing that rule in place for generations.
51
Bernie Sanders is a gift to the Democratic party, because we finally have an id to counter the tea party id on the right. However, Democrats should not be as quick to allow our id to run roughshod over our sanity like the GOP allowed their id to run roughshod over theirs. Still, it gives voice to the silenced majority (those without money cannot be heard above those with it). That is his gift to the American people, and I thank him for it.
But that is where my support for him ends. For he is right - a revolution is needed. Unfortunately people power is no longer enough (even if you could reach the other half in their media silo). He needs money power. He needs legislative power. Without these, his ideas are no closer to realization than Trumps building a wall and having Mexico pay for it. And what will happen once expectations meets with reality? How damaged will Progressives be after his people power revolution turns into failure? Elections are only the start - lobbying, legislating, and horse trading is needed for actual change, and that requires more than people power. That is where Hillary will excel. Expectations are lower, and change will be slower and more uneven, which is how Democracy typically works. Its uglier and more nuanced and more incremental than one would like, but that's Democracy.
I understand the desire to see things change NOW. But not at the expense of long term change.
But that is where my support for him ends. For he is right - a revolution is needed. Unfortunately people power is no longer enough (even if you could reach the other half in their media silo). He needs money power. He needs legislative power. Without these, his ideas are no closer to realization than Trumps building a wall and having Mexico pay for it. And what will happen once expectations meets with reality? How damaged will Progressives be after his people power revolution turns into failure? Elections are only the start - lobbying, legislating, and horse trading is needed for actual change, and that requires more than people power. That is where Hillary will excel. Expectations are lower, and change will be slower and more uneven, which is how Democracy typically works. Its uglier and more nuanced and more incremental than one would like, but that's Democracy.
I understand the desire to see things change NOW. But not at the expense of long term change.
16
Democrats are debating whether a standard-bearer who isn’t even a member of their Party is better or worse than one who is under FBI investigation for violating federal laws concerning her email practices (and possibly other crimes, now that the agency is looking into her family foundation).
Amazing times in America.
Amazing times in America.
5
"In last week’s debate, a testy, abrasive and often flat-out rude Sanders tried to navigate this terrain, and failed"
Seriously, Charles? What about Clinton's 'low blow' at the end of the debate? And why generalize about black voters "feeling protective" of the President? You surprisingly make some interesting assumptions that continue to be proven wrong every time Sanders secures a victory and the media has to come up with a way to spin everything Sanders.
It's disheartening to see Mr. Blow spew more spin about the Sanders campaign, following suit with the other Times columnists who are doing a disservice to their readers and themselves.
Seriously, Charles? What about Clinton's 'low blow' at the end of the debate? And why generalize about black voters "feeling protective" of the President? You surprisingly make some interesting assumptions that continue to be proven wrong every time Sanders secures a victory and the media has to come up with a way to spin everything Sanders.
It's disheartening to see Mr. Blow spew more spin about the Sanders campaign, following suit with the other Times columnists who are doing a disservice to their readers and themselves.
40
African-Americans are the last vestige of intellegence, forbearance and goodwill. Seemingly, young women are missing a few IQ points by backing Senator Sanders and remembering that SC started the Civil War and never took responsibility for a million deaths. And now, the GOP is denying democracy by their determination to block President Obama's Constitutional duty to replace a vacant SCJ due to the death of Scalia. America has gone nuts and the grand experiment is unraveling at warp speed.
3
"Some men see things as they are and say 'why.' I dream things that never were and say why not.'"
Robert Kennedy...democratic enough for you?
the problem for the clintons, and they know it full well, is that the allotment of liberal palliative allowed by their big biz benefactors (our corporate state government) is exceeded by the sanders vision.
minority communities should take a close look before they sign on for a yet another round of limited vision, the same old one that keeps asking for more patience (while private profits soar) while offering fewer gains (in opportunity of all sorts for we the people).
Robert Kennedy...democratic enough for you?
the problem for the clintons, and they know it full well, is that the allotment of liberal palliative allowed by their big biz benefactors (our corporate state government) is exceeded by the sanders vision.
minority communities should take a close look before they sign on for a yet another round of limited vision, the same old one that keeps asking for more patience (while private profits soar) while offering fewer gains (in opportunity of all sorts for we the people).
33
"Ya Gotta Believe"
If the voters had listened to a doubting Charles such as yourself, Barack Obama will still be a senator from Illinois instead of the POTUS.
If those fighting for Civil Rights and women's right to vote and LGBT rights had listened to the doubters, the country would still be unfair to a significant percentage of its population.
First "Ya Gotta Believe," then you have to work towards the goal. Sanders is not in a fantasy land and saying Mexico will pay the bill, as Trump says about his darn wall, but that we have to pay for it and rethink our spending priorities. He also says that without a political revolution it'd be impossible to accomplish some of the goals of his campaign.
As for Clintons' embrace of Obama, those of us who do not have amnesia remember the things the Clintons said about Obama in 2008 when Hillary was running against then Senator Obama. http://tinyurl.com/hfuojby [Incidentally, what Sanders said about President Obama not closing the gap "between Congress and the American people" is something the President himself admitted in his SOTU speech.]
In "The case against Hillary Clinton" in The Week, there is a link to Mrs. Clinton's statements regarding welfare reform in which she sounded more like Romney when she said that people on "welfare had known nothing but dependency all their lives." http://tinyurl.com/jls6tvf
But I guess that was then, but now she needs Obama and those who "had known nothing but dependency all their lives."
If the voters had listened to a doubting Charles such as yourself, Barack Obama will still be a senator from Illinois instead of the POTUS.
If those fighting for Civil Rights and women's right to vote and LGBT rights had listened to the doubters, the country would still be unfair to a significant percentage of its population.
First "Ya Gotta Believe," then you have to work towards the goal. Sanders is not in a fantasy land and saying Mexico will pay the bill, as Trump says about his darn wall, but that we have to pay for it and rethink our spending priorities. He also says that without a political revolution it'd be impossible to accomplish some of the goals of his campaign.
As for Clintons' embrace of Obama, those of us who do not have amnesia remember the things the Clintons said about Obama in 2008 when Hillary was running against then Senator Obama. http://tinyurl.com/hfuojby [Incidentally, what Sanders said about President Obama not closing the gap "between Congress and the American people" is something the President himself admitted in his SOTU speech.]
In "The case against Hillary Clinton" in The Week, there is a link to Mrs. Clinton's statements regarding welfare reform in which she sounded more like Romney when she said that people on "welfare had known nothing but dependency all their lives." http://tinyurl.com/jls6tvf
But I guess that was then, but now she needs Obama and those who "had known nothing but dependency all their lives."
17
The realities of the situation today are that any rational Democrat realizes two things: (1) a Republican president from the current contenders would be a horror (2) Unless the very unlikely occurs (Democratic majorities in the house and senate) the screaming tantrum of the Republicans will continue, likely get worse.
We are witnessing the end of the Republican party -- sanity, demographics, and deep internal schisms are all eating it up. Its two front-runners are unelectable in any ordinary America -- one peddling vulgar neo-fascist bling, the other a strange angry entirely-unchristian "evangelicalism." Anger is the only principle of Republicanism.
But it holds the majority of the Gerrymandered houses, and it will not go quietly. Scalia's death throws a clear light on it -- they won't confirm a Democratic appointment now. So what happens if the next President is a Democrat, but the senate is still in their control? Why change if you are them?
Soberly, unless the Democrats can retake the senate at least, a Democratic presidency will be another 4 years of increasing tantrum and hostage politics.
I like Bernie's hopes, but if Bernie wants my vote he must convince me that he's not going to wilt when the kumbayah goes nowhere. Bernie's big dreams are not going to happen. Swamp wrasslin' with gators and anacondas will.
We are witnessing the end of the Republican party -- sanity, demographics, and deep internal schisms are all eating it up. Its two front-runners are unelectable in any ordinary America -- one peddling vulgar neo-fascist bling, the other a strange angry entirely-unchristian "evangelicalism." Anger is the only principle of Republicanism.
But it holds the majority of the Gerrymandered houses, and it will not go quietly. Scalia's death throws a clear light on it -- they won't confirm a Democratic appointment now. So what happens if the next President is a Democrat, but the senate is still in their control? Why change if you are them?
Soberly, unless the Democrats can retake the senate at least, a Democratic presidency will be another 4 years of increasing tantrum and hostage politics.
I like Bernie's hopes, but if Bernie wants my vote he must convince me that he's not going to wilt when the kumbayah goes nowhere. Bernie's big dreams are not going to happen. Swamp wrasslin' with gators and anacondas will.
7
So Clinton and her "surrogates" can call Sanders a sexist, racist, and say that he "wants to take away your medicare and social security" and that is OK. But if Sanders tries to defend his record about whether he disrespected the President according to you, he was "a testy, abrasive and often flat-out rude." What exactly do you propose Sanders do in his campaign when allegations are made against him? Absolutely nothing?
Instead of constantly finding fault with Sanders, including his supporters by calling us unrealistic, wouldn't it be better to analyze Clinton's record a little bit, and explain how realistic it is for us voters to believe that Clinton will actually do anything at all to help voters in states like South Carolina or anywhere, considering the money she takes from Wall Street and the contributions to the Clinton Foundation and enormous speaking fees her husband got from nefarious dictators and banks, in exchange for favorable decisions from Clinton when she was secretary of state. All this is explained in great detail in Peter Schweizer's book, "Clinton Cash." Or why not at least mention Michelle Alexander's article in The Nation magazine, titled "Why Clinton Doesn't Deserve the Black Vote" which explains how the Bill Clinton's policies, which Hillary agreed with, decimated the black community. Don't you think these issues are more important to black voters or any voter than faux outrage at perceived slights against our President Sanders?
Instead of constantly finding fault with Sanders, including his supporters by calling us unrealistic, wouldn't it be better to analyze Clinton's record a little bit, and explain how realistic it is for us voters to believe that Clinton will actually do anything at all to help voters in states like South Carolina or anywhere, considering the money she takes from Wall Street and the contributions to the Clinton Foundation and enormous speaking fees her husband got from nefarious dictators and banks, in exchange for favorable decisions from Clinton when she was secretary of state. All this is explained in great detail in Peter Schweizer's book, "Clinton Cash." Or why not at least mention Michelle Alexander's article in The Nation magazine, titled "Why Clinton Doesn't Deserve the Black Vote" which explains how the Bill Clinton's policies, which Hillary agreed with, decimated the black community. Don't you think these issues are more important to black voters or any voter than faux outrage at perceived slights against our President Sanders?
29
To cast Hilary Clinton in the image of a frenemy of the youth of America, and a friend of the African Americans, is to give a skewered picture.
Bernie Sanders has come out of the mist of the Occupy Wall Street, a movement that was well nigh dominated by the white middle class. There were few participants from the African American and the poor communities. Likewise, a large swathe of the same Occupiers have taken up the liberal mantle in the Black Lives Matter movement, to flaunt their liberal credentials (though they will shirk from living in the neighborhoods where the Black Lives they so advocate for passionately, actually live and send their children to school).
It's these young white folks, both men and women, who support Sanders. Let's face it: Bernie Sanders has captured the young well-educated white voters' imagination. These voters have decent prospects in the current economy (the swelling non-profit crowd); they may be ideologically fired up but they're not quite part of the economically struggling sector of the white population.
Just as the Trump voters are not representative of "Americans" so the Sanders supporters are not representative of the American "ethos" either. If Clinton has the Southern Black support, it's because the Southern Blacks know better than to be seduced by ideology offered by Bernie Sanders. It's primarily because Sanders has not had much interfacing with that kind of Black demographic in the last two decades he has been a senator.
Bernie Sanders has come out of the mist of the Occupy Wall Street, a movement that was well nigh dominated by the white middle class. There were few participants from the African American and the poor communities. Likewise, a large swathe of the same Occupiers have taken up the liberal mantle in the Black Lives Matter movement, to flaunt their liberal credentials (though they will shirk from living in the neighborhoods where the Black Lives they so advocate for passionately, actually live and send their children to school).
It's these young white folks, both men and women, who support Sanders. Let's face it: Bernie Sanders has captured the young well-educated white voters' imagination. These voters have decent prospects in the current economy (the swelling non-profit crowd); they may be ideologically fired up but they're not quite part of the economically struggling sector of the white population.
Just as the Trump voters are not representative of "Americans" so the Sanders supporters are not representative of the American "ethos" either. If Clinton has the Southern Black support, it's because the Southern Blacks know better than to be seduced by ideology offered by Bernie Sanders. It's primarily because Sanders has not had much interfacing with that kind of Black demographic in the last two decades he has been a senator.
3
Hmm. I did not perceive Sanders as rude in the debate, not in the least. I wonder if folks who thought he was rude or impolite are reacting this way bc he was speaking emphatically and forcefully to a woman? I mean aside from the obvious bias of true believers such as Mr. Blow.
34
I wonder if Bernie's ideas would be deemed impossible if they came from a more "standard" candidate like Hillary. What would op-ed pieces be saying if presumed electability was not a consideration? If both Hillary and Bernie were calling for a $15 minimum wage would pundits be telling them to only go for $12? If Hillary was extolling single payer, would liberal commentators say she should aim for less? (or perhaps it would be a brilliant negotiating strategy)
Let Bernie bring fire to "the wall" and Bern it down. Hillary's limited dreams are only fueling the flames.
Let Bernie bring fire to "the wall" and Bern it down. Hillary's limited dreams are only fueling the flames.
39
"It says: Stop believing that the impossible is possible."
It's not that supporters of Sanders are believers in the impossible. It's not that "the impossible" is what liberals tend to go for. Instead, it's the higher goal, the loftier, perhaps, ideal of what we want this country to become that is what our sights are set on. Should not a President set goals that seem unattainable? Should a President not set sights on what is beyond our grasp?
When voting percentages are so low, making the claim of having a mandate or speaking for the republic hollow, doesn't the idea of a candidate inspiring people who would not otherwise be voting to come out deserve some support instead of denigration?
We set goals outside our immediate grasp all the time when it comes to business and science - men on the Moon or Mars, increasing mpg for cars, cures for diseases or replacements for body parts, for examples - so why not also do so for our society itself?
It's not that supporters of Sanders are believers in the impossible. It's not that "the impossible" is what liberals tend to go for. Instead, it's the higher goal, the loftier, perhaps, ideal of what we want this country to become that is what our sights are set on. Should not a President set goals that seem unattainable? Should a President not set sights on what is beyond our grasp?
When voting percentages are so low, making the claim of having a mandate or speaking for the republic hollow, doesn't the idea of a candidate inspiring people who would not otherwise be voting to come out deserve some support instead of denigration?
We set goals outside our immediate grasp all the time when it comes to business and science - men on the Moon or Mars, increasing mpg for cars, cures for diseases or replacements for body parts, for examples - so why not also do so for our society itself?
28
After Eisenhower it would have been impossible to think America would within a half century be fighting and losing its three longest wars (Vietnam 17 years, Afghanistan 14, Iraq 9) - none of them a Germany or warrior Japan. It would have been impossible for America to envision the amount of wealth the top 1% would hoard. It would have been impossible to imagine corporations and super pacs buying elections, a Supreme Court so conservative, the amount of debt that was to be handed down to the future generation to pay off, the astronomically increased cost of a college education. And yet Blow and other pundits keep up their denunciations of the possibility of our nation reversing and moving in a more liberal direction. Correct me if I am wrong but those past leaders we venerate above all others - the Founders, FDR, Teddy R and Lincoln were profoundly liberal for their times. I will hold steady with Sanders no matter what the NYTimes thinks.
45
As the writer of a published letter to the editor this week has said, it's ridiculous that two states that are relatively homogeneous with respect to race, culture, and industry, Iowa and New Hampshire, get to eliminate presidential candidates before voters in any other states have a chance to evaluate them.
One thought that occurred is that, were Hillary to be elected in November, and were it not filled prior to then, she could nominate President Obama for the Supreme Court seat vacated by the late Justice Scalia. So could Bernie, but, given his criticism of the President, whether Obama would be his first choice is a good question.
Bernie Sanders' popularity, particularly with younger voters, should be a wakeup call to both parties. People are angry, and rightly so, that fewer and fewer jobs seem to pay a living wage, regardless of increasing and expensive educational requirements, and that those that do are perceived to be allocated not on merit alone, but through family connections or other preferences. Socialism may be rejected by the majority this time around, but, if things don't change, it will be only a matter of time before Sanders' ideas gain enough traction to propel a like candidate into the White House.
One thought that occurred is that, were Hillary to be elected in November, and were it not filled prior to then, she could nominate President Obama for the Supreme Court seat vacated by the late Justice Scalia. So could Bernie, but, given his criticism of the President, whether Obama would be his first choice is a good question.
Bernie Sanders' popularity, particularly with younger voters, should be a wakeup call to both parties. People are angry, and rightly so, that fewer and fewer jobs seem to pay a living wage, regardless of increasing and expensive educational requirements, and that those that do are perceived to be allocated not on merit alone, but through family connections or other preferences. Socialism may be rejected by the majority this time around, but, if things don't change, it will be only a matter of time before Sanders' ideas gain enough traction to propel a like candidate into the White House.
24
Great insights into our early primary electorate. And the most salient point is "...in today’s politics, nuance loses." Our electorate, sadly responds more to emotion than on intellect. (That was so much on display in the Republican debate held Saturday night in SC--the audience put on a childish display; it was just as rude and obstreperous as most of the candidates on stage.)
The fact that 'nuance loses' is a dangerous sign; it suggests the electorate is either so angry it refuses to follow logic arguments, or that is is no longer capable of focusing attention to follow an argument; it portends electing a president who will more symbol than substance at a time when America needs the most capable person to occupy the oval office.
The fact that 'nuance loses' is a dangerous sign; it suggests the electorate is either so angry it refuses to follow logic arguments, or that is is no longer capable of focusing attention to follow an argument; it portends electing a president who will more symbol than substance at a time when America needs the most capable person to occupy the oval office.
21
This is a very critical election and we need to have a Democrat in the White House, too much at stake with the sudden demise of Justice Scalia.
Let`s not forget the Republicans are focusing on Hillary Clinton for a very long time.
In reality Sanders doesn't have a chance in the general election. If not, then why is the GOP is quietly supporting his nomination?
Let`s not forget the Republicans are focusing on Hillary Clinton for a very long time.
In reality Sanders doesn't have a chance in the general election. If not, then why is the GOP is quietly supporting his nomination?
44
All the talks about Fire (Sanders) vs Wall (Clinton) reminds me of a recent research from computer science departments of from the computer science departments at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and North Carolina State University. "Computer code written by women has a higher approval rating than that written by men - but only if their gender is not identifiable, new research suggests." Culturally, we have been wired to discount good ideas when they come from a woman yet praise the same ideas if it comes from a man. On the other hands, Sanders is a man who live his life doing what he think is right and that is greatness because he does not have even a single elitist bone and has little care for personal wealth.
The more fires Hillary going through, the better she gets ... if she survived. I hope that 2016 Presidential winning team will be Hillary and Sanders, no matter what the order is, because they both bring America to its best.
The more fires Hillary going through, the better she gets ... if she survived. I hope that 2016 Presidential winning team will be Hillary and Sanders, no matter what the order is, because they both bring America to its best.
19
Sanders promises free tuition and free health care as a result of a revolution. I can't believe that people who have paid any attention to Syria, Libya, Iraq, Egypt think that a revolution is an easy solution. And why is he considered so full of integrity when he makes impossible promises?
44
No revolution occurred or is occurring in Syria, Libya, Iraq or even Egypt. One. Since the end of the first world war, the West has virtually annexed the Near East for financial and strategic purposes, and its intervention has everything to do with current history in the region. Two, Sanders' 'revolution' is a call for an informed, highly engaged and coordinated citizenry in the political process to influence policy in such a way that the majority benefit from the potential inherent in our democracy.
8
We aren't going to have a violent revolution.
But why can't we have universal medical care like the rest of the western world? Why is it impossible when it is already being done? The only reason is because some people don't want it. That is a political problem. The procedural savings of a universal plan would be immense and coupled with competitive drug pricing should bring universal medical care well within the realm of being affordable.
But why can't we have universal medical care like the rest of the western world? Why is it impossible when it is already being done? The only reason is because some people don't want it. That is a political problem. The procedural savings of a universal plan would be immense and coupled with competitive drug pricing should bring universal medical care well within the realm of being affordable.
His contribution to history will acknowledge his role in helping to reassert democratic principles in America. It should not and hopefully will not reflect his failed attempt to make it happen overnight.
Bernie and Elizabeth Warren, and the entire Democrat establishment need to get behind Hillary, and hold her feet to the fire going forward.
They failed to do that with Obama (at least partly because he chose to be a President rather than a party leader), but we've languished in the ooze of the Republican 'rear view vision' for all too long. It's time to stop hating and fearing progress, and move forward with the intelligence and due caution of a government designed to build rather than dismantle the country. We simply have no bricks left to donate to Republican greed and ignorance.
Bernie and Elizabeth Warren, and the entire Democrat establishment need to get behind Hillary, and hold her feet to the fire going forward.
They failed to do that with Obama (at least partly because he chose to be a President rather than a party leader), but we've languished in the ooze of the Republican 'rear view vision' for all too long. It's time to stop hating and fearing progress, and move forward with the intelligence and due caution of a government designed to build rather than dismantle the country. We simply have no bricks left to donate to Republican greed and ignorance.
I for one am sick of being told that the solution to the stupidity of the so-called right is for all of us to coalesce around a candidate that will help certain African-Americans and certain women who are needed to help sell her campaign, so she can throw the rest of the 99% under the bus in the name of incremental progress.
I'm supporting Senator Sanders because Hillary Clinton is only going to give us four years of nonsensical partisan rancor and meaningless compromise. I live the dream that Senator Sanders is proposing outside the United States. If he fails, at least America tried to adopt policies that work in other parts of the world. All Clinton will do is kick the can down the road, pat herself on the back, and enrich her family while "suffering" under withering attacks and obstacles from the so-called right, many of which she creates herself.
At the end of the day, Hillary Clinton will be wealthy and connected, and still raking in money from the people who stole America's future. If we go down with Bernie Sanders, at least we go down fighting and not endlessly defending the Clinton's from their antagonists who use her as a target to keep us separated.
I'm supporting Senator Sanders because Hillary Clinton is only going to give us four years of nonsensical partisan rancor and meaningless compromise. I live the dream that Senator Sanders is proposing outside the United States. If he fails, at least America tried to adopt policies that work in other parts of the world. All Clinton will do is kick the can down the road, pat herself on the back, and enrich her family while "suffering" under withering attacks and obstacles from the so-called right, many of which she creates herself.
At the end of the day, Hillary Clinton will be wealthy and connected, and still raking in money from the people who stole America's future. If we go down with Bernie Sanders, at least we go down fighting and not endlessly defending the Clinton's from their antagonists who use her as a target to keep us separated.
152
There's Washington D.C., and then there's the world at large. Obama clearly demonstrated that nothing like the revolution that Bernie is proposing can occur in Washington DC.
And the world at large has clearly demonstrated that revolution (for the worse) is already happening in countries who will be the most impacted by global warming and our march into the Information Age.
Bernie is offering a good package of local wishful thinking. Hillary is offering a long of history practical experience, international respect, and weathering the storms of special interests and conservative backlash against progress and change.
And the world at large has clearly demonstrated that revolution (for the worse) is already happening in countries who will be the most impacted by global warming and our march into the Information Age.
Bernie is offering a good package of local wishful thinking. Hillary is offering a long of history practical experience, international respect, and weathering the storms of special interests and conservative backlash against progress and change.
6
And you'll be Taipei, when Roe goes down, so who cares?
i too find it more comfortable to maintain my principles at a nice safe distance, like the other side of the planet.
i too find it more comfortable to maintain my principles at a nice safe distance, like the other side of the planet.
And if you go down, you will take with you a generation of kids who languish with poor education and die from health care deferred or denied. Falling with them will be their parents who can not afford to live in far-away places and chat among themselves on NYT websites. How selfish the ideological purists are.
My attitude is, "Let's see what we can do". I make no assumption that Bernie is or is not electable, that his agenda is or is not do-able. I do know I support his ideas and I am relieved someone is expressing them for the people's benefit, and has done so for decades. Let's let the process play out, and let's see what the American people think. I sent his campaign some more money yesterday; I'm putting my money where my heart AND my brain are.
111
It turns out that he is not electable, regardless of your assumption. A large majority of Americans will not consider a candidate who describes himself as a socialist (whatever that is). And the GOP super-PACs have not even started yet on his accent or religion. Can you say "McGovern?"
In like fashion, his agenda, were he by some miracle to win a national election, is completely undo-able. The resistance to Obama's relatively modest initiatives demonstrate that. A large majority of Americans will not abide with a significant tax increase, even for so blessed a cause as universal health care or the dismantling of the insurance industry.
I hope that you will be as generous with your brain, heart and money when Hillary is nominated. The alternative for another generation is bad enough to ruin the lives of even NYT readers.
In like fashion, his agenda, were he by some miracle to win a national election, is completely undo-able. The resistance to Obama's relatively modest initiatives demonstrate that. A large majority of Americans will not abide with a significant tax increase, even for so blessed a cause as universal health care or the dismantling of the insurance industry.
I hope that you will be as generous with your brain, heart and money when Hillary is nominated. The alternative for another generation is bad enough to ruin the lives of even NYT readers.
Nobody's arguing against the process. We're arguing for thinkng about reality, and for making sure that you vote Democratic no matter what.
Why are your numbers based on a 2008 group of polls? Y'all know there is no black candidate now, right? Those who vote identity will assuredly not show up at the rate they did in 2012 let alone how they did in 2008. Racial politics are not in the favor of the Dems as you so hungrily want people to believe.
14
Blow's fire wall isn't working for Hillary in Nevada. Why should it work elsewhere? Blacks, Latinos and others can be just as idealistic as whites, and Bernie, unlike Clinton, feeds that idealism.
46
The main Nevada newspaper was recently bought by right wing billionaire Sheldon Addison. This is so that he can write all kinds of lies about Hillary Clinton and make it appear that this is mainstream thought. The republicans are scared to death Hillary will be the democratic candidate. She will smash any one of them in debates and in the election. Sanders on the other hand they will beat in a landslide. Ever wonder why the republicans support Sanders? Its because they know they can beat him in the presidential election and will retain the majority in the senate. Then they will vote in another right wing activist supreme court judge. So bad!
1
It is Clinton or Sanders as you say Mr. Blow Sanders trounced Hillary in new Hampshire. Now comes South Carolina. Sudden demise of Justice Scalia (RIP) it is more important to choose the Candidate who could win this race. Sanders have beautiful dreams but how is he going to achieve anything through the Republican Congress ?
You are talking about white America, Black America but note there are others like Asian Americans who have voices too.
This is a multi racial and multi cultural America in twenty first Century , only one possible candidate who could win the White House is Hillary Clinton.
You are talking about white America, Black America but note there are others like Asian Americans who have voices too.
This is a multi racial and multi cultural America in twenty first Century , only one possible candidate who could win the White House is Hillary Clinton.
33
I found Bernie not only rude but condescending to Hillary at the last debate. His continual hand waving and shaking his head as she made trueful criticism's of his votes was standard sexism by him. He has not done anything for women. He is not the smartest candidate. He has been entirely let alone by the republicans. He could never win the presidency. My support and vote is for Hillary Clinton who is by far the most qualified candidate. She will be looking out for all of us, minority's, including women.
52
Women are the majority, everywhere in the US, except in the veteran's cemeteries.
Speaking of nuance, a few things need to be sorted out that Mr. Blow seems to ignore. Hillary supports all of the things that Bernie does completely or to some degree, including reigning in Wall Street, universal health care, paid family leave and free community college and debt free university tuition. The difference is that her position on these issues is more nuanced and more doable. Building off Obama Care and getting the costs down is a better way to get to universal coverage. Her plan for free and affordable college is also more doable. The trouble with Sanders is that his free everything is cost prohibitive and that's a fact. And in a poll taken over the weekend in South Carolina not only shows Sanders over whelming support by African Americans but also a healthy ten point lead with white voters. Mr. Sander's is a regional candidate and his ideas are a perfect fit for naive and idealist youth. Mrs. Clintons ideas are well thought out policy and realistic given today's political climate.
19
We should not be starting with the "doable," which bakes in compromise. We should start far away from the Republican position so it is they who have to compromise. We have all been so intimidated by the Republicans that we only think of what is "doable" under the present circumstances. What if the circumstances change? What if more young voters come out and vote not only for Bernie but for Democratic Senate and House candidates? What if the makeup of the House and Senate changes over the next few years.
1
The Presidency is about leadership not nuance. That's why we have a horse race.
7
Bernie Sanders is not an ideal candidate and Hillary Clinton surely is not.
I can't take issue with your demographic analysis of South Carolina. South Carolina primary voters are black, female and old. So what?
The sad truth is that neither Hillary nor Bernie can win South Carolina in November.
The sad truth is that to win in November the Democratic candidate must do more than win a strong majority of black, female and young voters as well as a large number of white, male and working class voters. The Democratic candidate must motivate voters to turn out and vote.
Turnout is especially important among black, female and young voters. A Democrat is unlikely to win without that strong turnout. The sad fact is that the Democrat is not likely to win the white male vote, but must win a substantial minority of the white male vote. In practical terms, that means Hillary must develop a feminist dog whistle and Bernie must overcome the Socialist label.
South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Florida may be the firewall for Hillary Clinton. And, in the final analysis, Hillary may win the nomination before the young, minority and female voters in California, New Mexico and Colorado have their say. They won't turn out in the primary unless their vote matters. And they are more likely to turn out in November if they believe their vote matters just as it did in the primary. That does not bode well for Hillary if she is the Democratic candidate.
What a sad prospect.
I can't take issue with your demographic analysis of South Carolina. South Carolina primary voters are black, female and old. So what?
The sad truth is that neither Hillary nor Bernie can win South Carolina in November.
The sad truth is that to win in November the Democratic candidate must do more than win a strong majority of black, female and young voters as well as a large number of white, male and working class voters. The Democratic candidate must motivate voters to turn out and vote.
Turnout is especially important among black, female and young voters. A Democrat is unlikely to win without that strong turnout. The sad fact is that the Democrat is not likely to win the white male vote, but must win a substantial minority of the white male vote. In practical terms, that means Hillary must develop a feminist dog whistle and Bernie must overcome the Socialist label.
South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Florida may be the firewall for Hillary Clinton. And, in the final analysis, Hillary may win the nomination before the young, minority and female voters in California, New Mexico and Colorado have their say. They won't turn out in the primary unless their vote matters. And they are more likely to turn out in November if they believe their vote matters just as it did in the primary. That does not bode well for Hillary if she is the Democratic candidate.
What a sad prospect.
9
Some white voters vote based in race; some black voters do too. But now that the symbolic victory of a black President has been achieved, I believe that black voters will vote on policy rather than in blind defense of a man many thought too inattentive to black issues.
13
While pundits like Charles are busy cheerleading for Hillary Clinton yet again, citing her appeal among Black voters, there is a gaping lack of editorializing in The Times about her poll numbers among moderate independents in critical swing states.
I'll give you a hint: they're terrible.
Bernie Sanders, while on the left of Clinton, polls much better among crucial swing voters. Ironic to a point, yes. But it also highlights the major difference between their perception: Clinton is seen as an untrustworthy, corrupt Wall Street puppet who will say anything to get elected. Sanders is seen as a wildly optimistic dreamer who will never realistically accomplish much of what he plans to do, but his consistency of message is remarkable. It is these poll numbers, not those of reliable Democratic voters in the general election, we need to pay much more attention to.
So keep shilling for Hillary to win the Democratic nomination, Charles. Though do so understanding just how much you are helping Donald Trump or Ted Cruz take the White House.
I'll give you a hint: they're terrible.
Bernie Sanders, while on the left of Clinton, polls much better among crucial swing voters. Ironic to a point, yes. But it also highlights the major difference between their perception: Clinton is seen as an untrustworthy, corrupt Wall Street puppet who will say anything to get elected. Sanders is seen as a wildly optimistic dreamer who will never realistically accomplish much of what he plans to do, but his consistency of message is remarkable. It is these poll numbers, not those of reliable Democratic voters in the general election, we need to pay much more attention to.
So keep shilling for Hillary to win the Democratic nomination, Charles. Though do so understanding just how much you are helping Donald Trump or Ted Cruz take the White House.
63
This attitude that anyone not for Bernie is a "shill"...that it's impossible to actually think that Hillary would be better for the country...is one of the more obnoxious characteristics of many Sanders supporters. The fact that "Clinton is seen as an untrustworthy, corrupt Wall Street puppet who will say anything to get elected" is due to 20 years of GOP lies and yes, media hackery. If Bernie wins the nomination, the firestorm from the right will come as a shock to the Sanders supporters. He will be an "untrustworthy Communist who will say anything to elected". President Trump will win in a landslide.
Be careful what you wish for.
Dreams of another 8 years of Obama policies with stagnant economic growth?
Dreams of blindly following Clinton?
Dreams of more political rhetoric that stereotypes Black Americans,as a group, as different than other Americans when the opposite is needed?
Dreams of another 8 years of Obama policies with stagnant economic growth?
Dreams of blindly following Clinton?
Dreams of more political rhetoric that stereotypes Black Americans,as a group, as different than other Americans when the opposite is needed?
30
I keep hearing that Bernie will not be able to get anything done, so it's better to side with Hillary because she'll be able to work with Congress. And at that point I know that the person hasn't been paying attention for the past twenty years. A Republican-controlled Congress working with Hillary Clinton on anything resembling a progressive agenda is more pie-in-the-sky than universal healthcare. They with resist working with any Democrat. But the status quo, which Hillary represents, just isn't working for many people. That's why Bernie's No Adult Left Behind message resonates.
46
So, Congress will be happy to work with Bernie?
Universal health care was proposed by that socialist, Harry Truman. Free tuition at public colleges was championed by that radical, Thomas Jefferson. It is only because the country has veered so far to the right that these ideas are characterized as fringe.
94
Hillary Clinton has supported and worked for universal healthcare for 25 years. The difference between Bernie and Hillary on universal healthcare is not the goal, it's the way we get there.
1
Characterized as fringe by Hillary Clinton and her shills, not by the vast majority of Americans who feel the Bern.
Last week Donald Trump finally noticed Bernie Sanders. He referred to him as a "communist." He said he'd love to run against him, an entrepreneur vs. a communist. Given the stupidity of the American electorate, do you think it's possible to educate it on the difference between communism and a social democracy? I don't. It's wonderful to dream, to hope for change, but Bernie Sanders has a very big chance of losing the general election if nominated, and where are we then if the Republicans own the presidency? It's too scary to contemplate, but you should think about that while you're on the Bernie bandwagon. The reality is that the Sanders supporter is no different than the Trump supporter. They believe in the unbelievable, because candidate has a prayer of keeping the promises he's making. It's the Supreme Court, stupid. If we lose there will be three more Scalias who'll take us back to the Dark Ages. Bernie is too much of a risk.
38
Just before 9/11 Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that there was at least $2.3 trillion dollars missing from the Pentagon. The program, 60 minutes, said that the figure was much higher. Rumsfeld pledged that there would be an investigation. 9/11 happened and the investigation melted away.
Let's stop pretending that there is no money for social needs. There's plenty of money. It just seems to disappear down a black hole of the unaccountable military industrial complex.
It's interesting that no politician has ever touched the issue of the missing money; or, at least, pushed for a system of checks and balances.
Let's stop pretending that there is no money for social needs. There's plenty of money. It just seems to disappear down a black hole of the unaccountable military industrial complex.
It's interesting that no politician has ever touched the issue of the missing money; or, at least, pushed for a system of checks and balances.
73
Bernie has no issues. Hillary however, has many issues, and as President, would be constantly ridden by the nasty GOP... Bernie is accused of being a socialist: So, If you are not a SOCIALIST, give all your "Social Security" back to the US government when you get it... Don't drive on the roads, or call the fire department when you have a fire, because "Socialist" money paid for ALL of These..
Socialism: Any policy that does not directly and exclusively benefit the very wealthy...
Sanders should SUGGEST Elizabeth Warren NOW as his VP... In the event that he died during his Presidency, Warren would perfectly carry on his principals of breaking banks, taxing wall street, and fighting FOR single payer health care...!!!
Socialism: Any policy that does not directly and exclusively benefit the very wealthy...
Sanders should SUGGEST Elizabeth Warren NOW as his VP... In the event that he died during his Presidency, Warren would perfectly carry on his principals of breaking banks, taxing wall street, and fighting FOR single payer health care...!!!
19
Bernie claims to BE a Socialist, and in fact only caucuses with the Democrats, having run as a Socialist.
'In last week’s debate, a testy, abrasive and often flat-out rude Sanders tried to navigate this terrain, and failed. When Clinton attacked him for his criticism, an attack Sanders called a “low blow,” Sanders responded: “Last I heard we lived in a democratic society..."'
It is a low blow indeed to be told, as Bernie had been, "... the kind of criticism that we've heard from Senator Sanders about our president I expect from Republicans. I do not expect from someone running for the Democratic nomination to succeed President Obama."
Bernie has ample ammunition against Hillary; it is enough to reach to her 2008 campaign when Barack was attacked for his naivete, lack of managerial skills and mocked for inspirational message.
Candidate Clinton had not minced words then. One of the famous quotes was when decrying what she termed deceptive mailings in Ohio about her stances on universal health care and the North American Free Trade Agreement, she said ", Shame on you, Barack Obama."
It is a testimony to Sanders' decency that he does respond the way she would unquestionably would.
It is a low blow indeed to be told, as Bernie had been, "... the kind of criticism that we've heard from Senator Sanders about our president I expect from Republicans. I do not expect from someone running for the Democratic nomination to succeed President Obama."
Bernie has ample ammunition against Hillary; it is enough to reach to her 2008 campaign when Barack was attacked for his naivete, lack of managerial skills and mocked for inspirational message.
Candidate Clinton had not minced words then. One of the famous quotes was when decrying what she termed deceptive mailings in Ohio about her stances on universal health care and the North American Free Trade Agreement, she said ", Shame on you, Barack Obama."
It is a testimony to Sanders' decency that he does respond the way she would unquestionably would.
27
But you miss the fact that Mrs. Clinton was running against the now President at that time. There is a huge difference between criticizing an opponent, and attacking the sitting head of your political party.
But then of course he isn't, as the Senator is not a Democrat.
But then of course he isn't, as the Senator is not a Democrat.
Young people have dreams of a complete overhaul of the system but speaking as someone who has people I care about who rely on the social safety net, which the Republicans will proceed to decimate if they hold the Congress and gain the presidency, I am voting with the blacks.
9
Bill Clinton's role in the campaign seems to be making sure the Black folks stay on the ol' plantation. I'm not sure the Black folks agree with Boss Clinton on this one.
31
Now is the time to reflect on the critical importance of electing the Democratic nominee in November. As Bernie said (2/4/16): “I happen to respect (Hillary) very much...On our worst days… we’re a hundred times better than any Republican candidate.”
A battle for the ideological soul of the nation’s highest court looms as both sides prepare to "empty the arsenal" http://nyti.ms/1R33606
A battle for the ideological soul of the nation’s highest court looms as both sides prepare to "empty the arsenal" http://nyti.ms/1R33606
6
Bernie's message has resonated with very many, but a lot of those are young, and this is their first rodeo. Until now, little has resonated with many of them other than their pimples and their phones. Their unawareness of the issues is a reflection of the great desert American education has become with its dearth of civics and even of ideas. To say that Bernie’s message is new is an insult to the many who’ve been saying the same as he, and more than he, for decades. Some politicians, e.g., Clinton, have championed real issues for decades, and not just hot-button issues. It’s like Trump saying that until he brought up immigration, no one was talking about it; and that’s a patent lie.
If Sanders wants to go on being the leftie Trump, that’s his choice and his right. However, long before the unfortunate death of Justice Scalia, the dangers of such a realities-challenged candidacy were obvious. I suspect that black voters have had their faces jammed into reality for too long to be caught by another wave of pie in the sky. Elect a socialist? Where? Disney Land?
If Sanders wants to go on being the leftie Trump, that’s his choice and his right. However, long before the unfortunate death of Justice Scalia, the dangers of such a realities-challenged candidacy were obvious. I suspect that black voters have had their faces jammed into reality for too long to be caught by another wave of pie in the sky. Elect a socialist? Where? Disney Land?
23
Charles,
While it is clear who you are supporting, thank you for playing down Sanders' chances in SC. That way, if he beats expectations, he wins, and if he loses, well, then that's about as significant as Clinton losing in a state that is next to Sanders' home state, right?
By the way, what evidence or reasoning has Clinton put forth in a nuanced argument to explain how a Republican congress would be any less resistant to her proposals than Obama's or Sanders'? I've been looking for it, but as far as I can tell, the argument from the Clinton camp that Sanders' proposals would never get through congress are ignorant of the reality we live in where Clinton's proposals would meet the same resistance. She says she can get things done, and I hear "secret plan to end the war". I'm not old enough to have been fooled the first time, but I do learn from history.
While it is clear who you are supporting, thank you for playing down Sanders' chances in SC. That way, if he beats expectations, he wins, and if he loses, well, then that's about as significant as Clinton losing in a state that is next to Sanders' home state, right?
By the way, what evidence or reasoning has Clinton put forth in a nuanced argument to explain how a Republican congress would be any less resistant to her proposals than Obama's or Sanders'? I've been looking for it, but as far as I can tell, the argument from the Clinton camp that Sanders' proposals would never get through congress are ignorant of the reality we live in where Clinton's proposals would meet the same resistance. She says she can get things done, and I hear "secret plan to end the war". I'm not old enough to have been fooled the first time, but I do learn from history.
47
Sadly you've missed a most important lesson from our political history of the 'secret plan' era.
One that I learned then and have never forgotten, when the idealists of the Democratic party gained enough control to nominate Senator Gene McCarthy, and went down in flames with all flags still flying.
One that I learned then and have never forgotten, when the idealists of the Democratic party gained enough control to nominate Senator Gene McCarthy, and went down in flames with all flags still flying.
The only thing that will make the the pundits right who keep repeating their dull-witted mantra that Bernie can't be elected is listening to them.
17
"This country’s lore and its image of its own greatness is rooted in doing what had never been done, what no one thought could be done." Huh? Citizens of European countries already have the benefits that Bernie Sanders is championing. The only "political reality" impeding similar benefits to US citizens is the persistent misinformation by entrenched interests whose intent is to maintain the status quo. American exceptionalism exists, but unfortunately what makes us exceptional is our credulousness and solipsism.
19
There is no point in prognosticating Bernie Sanders's defeat or Hillary Clinton's victory in the Primaries and caucuses coming up soon. The Republican nominee, whomever he will be, will run riot for three months from July and might could win in November. But no point throwing the bones and looking at entrails now, time will pass and time will tell. The entrance of a dark horse (like Bloomberg or some other long-shot) may well change the fire and the wall.
2
El Warren wrote a op ed on the power of the president in this paper, so why does the times keep insisting Sanders won't be able to do anything.? His signature campaign elements are unlikely, but be honest with the use of his pen, and the ability to make appointments he is much more likely to be able to help the poor (Afriocan americans,included) than clinton ever will. A book, what's the matter with Kansas, describes how many whites got suckered into voting against their economic interests. With clinton its' the exact same thing among blacks , The nytimes is the voice of the dem establishment, the establishment wants more than anything to keep crony capitalism alive and maintain their veto power. Well that system gutted jobs for the african american community (as well as poor whites) all the time dems were speaking nice about getting rid of "racism". You can't legislate away racism, and the i over 40 million americans on food stamps. will not be fixed by ending racism. The modern democratic establishment dream (neo liberalism) is to make sure everyone is poor in equal measure.
40 years of no middle class wage gains, and an african american president where wages for blacks in the "recovery" have been a disaster should be more than enough proof that what is going on with dems is not doing a great job for the african american community. Voting in institutionalized corruption because clinton says the right thing is foolish. I'm not republican,
40 years of no middle class wage gains, and an african american president where wages for blacks in the "recovery" have been a disaster should be more than enough proof that what is going on with dems is not doing a great job for the african american community. Voting in institutionalized corruption because clinton says the right thing is foolish. I'm not republican,
16
Have you looked at the appointments process lately with a Republican Senate?
If I were a woman or a person of color this article by Mr. Blow would be very offensive. Even as a white male this article is insulting. It starts off with the curious claim that “You don’t need a firewall unless there’s a fire”. No…you need a firewall if there is a potential threat of a fire. The need for the firewall precedes the fire. He then continues (in summary) to claim that women will vote for Hillary because she’s a woman and that black people won’t vote for Bernie because he criticized our President who happens to be black. Huh? So women and black people don’t think about the issues? So women and black people can’t possibly be moved by Bernie’s call for a major social revolution against income inequality? If I recall, income inequality was a major issue raised by almost every Civil Rights leader and by almost every well-known Feminist over the last forty years. Sure…Bernie is planning on doing battle against all odds. Fine. But the battle can never be won if nobody ever fights it! Bernie has a dream…so did Martin Luther King, Jr.
35
I don't recall King saying that the arc of the moral universe is a hairpin curve, but maybe you could enlighten us all.
Interesting reading this delicate dance of Dems. Yes, tell people the world is awful and how and why they should vote, and compound the sneer with economic utopian nonsense. Free college! Utter insanity. Half the nation moans and rolls its eyes.
Bernie is popular because he's cool. That is, to say that you're for him is cool. Gives older Dems that little piquant edge and younger Dems the feeling of belonging. As an age group they are, like their grandparents, nostalgic for 'movement' politics. Though in the case of the kids, it's nostalgia for something they've only heard about and never had. Thin stuff here. The word hipster comes to mind.
Bernie is popular because he's cool. That is, to say that you're for him is cool. Gives older Dems that little piquant edge and younger Dems the feeling of belonging. As an age group they are, like their grandparents, nostalgic for 'movement' politics. Though in the case of the kids, it's nostalgia for something they've only heard about and never had. Thin stuff here. The word hipster comes to mind.
10
Blow, when does rude overcome dishonesty and lying, all trade marks of Mx. Hillary? The answer of course, is when you play the race card. Sadly, blacks never ask themselves when has the Democratic party delivered for them. It is always about race, not the substance of the policies that would advance there well being. Yes, Blow, it comes down to being authentic, not being a racist. Bernie is authentic, Mx. Hillary not.
23
It's also playing the gender card. Implicit in Mr. Blow's assertion of Bernie's "rudeness" is the assumption that women should be treated more deferentially than men, regardless of whether or not they also raise their voices, talk over others, gesticulate, bob their heads, and throw their hands about. In short, it's "rude" if Bernie does it, but I'd wager it's "necessary" or "just being assertive" if Clinton does it.
The piece is oddly flat and uninspired. Most of it reads as if it was written by factbot, not Mr. Blow. If the NYT had any sense, they'd assign one op-ed columnist to carry water for Sanders, instead of creating their own opinion firewall.
The piece is oddly flat and uninspired. Most of it reads as if it was written by factbot, not Mr. Blow. If the NYT had any sense, they'd assign one op-ed columnist to carry water for Sanders, instead of creating their own opinion firewall.
Facile, please stop repeating Republican and extreme conservative talk radio lies about a former (and very good) Secretary of State who was an extremely good Senator before that.
Mrs. Clinton won't rule out force because doing so in the current world is beyond naive, and exactly what wars did she, or her husband, start for that matter?
Oh and gee what has the Democratic party done for Black Americans, hmmm...you might want to look up the Civil Rights Issue, for just a start.
Mrs. Clinton won't rule out force because doing so in the current world is beyond naive, and exactly what wars did she, or her husband, start for that matter?
Oh and gee what has the Democratic party done for Black Americans, hmmm...you might want to look up the Civil Rights Issue, for just a start.
Yeah, them "blacks." Always forgetting about Truman's integrating the military, Brown v. Board of Ed, Kennedy's interventions in Alabama, the Civil Rights Acts, Social Security and Medicare, the PPACA, and all the stuff you guys always complain about them Democrats doing.
Why, if they'd just remember who did the Emancipation Proclamation, and realize that all the race-baiting from the Right is for they own good...
Why, if they'd just remember who did the Emancipation Proclamation, and realize that all the race-baiting from the Right is for they own good...
Here's what's possible for Hillary: another war in the Middle East. Against whom? She hasn't told us that yet, but you can bet that there's gonna be another war if Hillary is elected.
What's impossible? Single payer healthcare and free tuition at state colleges and universities (because wars are really expensive)..
Last week in NH a vote for Hillary was a vote for women. This week in SC a vote for Hillary is a vote for blacks.
That sure wasn't the message Bill and Hillary were delivering here in KY in 2008. They told us to vote for Hillary because Obama was unelectable. We knew what they meant.
Pitting whites against blacks is nothing new. Likewise, pitting blacks against whites isn't a new thing either. It's the politics of triangulation and it benefits the oligarchs at the expense of everyone else. The Clinton's are the current masters of this strategy.
What's impossible? Single payer healthcare and free tuition at state colleges and universities (because wars are really expensive)..
Last week in NH a vote for Hillary was a vote for women. This week in SC a vote for Hillary is a vote for blacks.
That sure wasn't the message Bill and Hillary were delivering here in KY in 2008. They told us to vote for Hillary because Obama was unelectable. We knew what they meant.
Pitting whites against blacks is nothing new. Likewise, pitting blacks against whites isn't a new thing either. It's the politics of triangulation and it benefits the oligarchs at the expense of everyone else. The Clinton's are the current masters of this strategy.
32
If you think gender is the primary reason to cast your vote, then you must think race is also a good reason. We still have three more races to do to disabuse ourselves of the fact that accidentals have nothing to do with substantials.
What we want is a true leader whose dreams match our own. HIllary fails on the first count, plus it's apparent she doesn't dream dreams. Bernie raises issues on the second part, but he's far more leader than Clinton could ever be.
Too many walls and not enough fire.
What we want is a true leader whose dreams match our own. HIllary fails on the first count, plus it's apparent she doesn't dream dreams. Bernie raises issues on the second part, but he's far more leader than Clinton could ever be.
Too many walls and not enough fire.
21
It's sad, but also fall-down funny, to see Republicans swear blind that they couldn't care less about race or gender.
It is bizarre that states like South Carolina are influential in picking the Democratic nominee, states like Massachusetts are influential in picking the Republican nominee, and the whole thing is usually decided by Ohio. Instead of thinking which nominee one agrees with, one really has to ask which nominee can play in Cleveland.
10
What I miss in this essay is any substantive analysis of WHY Black voters should prefer Clinton to Sanders. In both Iowa and New Hampshire, Sanders won the support of poorer voters. (Or, as the Times calls them in our classless society, "less-affluent voters.")
This may yet prove to be the case in South Carolina.
This may yet prove to be the case in South Carolina.
35
Bernie, bringing Venezuela to the American dream.
Free. It's about free. Free healthcare. Free education. Free phones. Free food. Free housing.
Free good. Greedy businesses, bad. That greedy bunch that pays 80% of the taxes must be made to pay their fair share! Walmart must pay it's workers more and be forced to keep open those stores they are now closing when they do.
Bernie has so much to do. If only we could get more of those wise and practical 18 yr. olds to vote, we could WIN!
If only government could take over these greedy businesses, they would serve the betterment of personkind. Like, say, Venezuela!
Free. It's about free. Free healthcare. Free education. Free phones. Free food. Free housing.
Free good. Greedy businesses, bad. That greedy bunch that pays 80% of the taxes must be made to pay their fair share! Walmart must pay it's workers more and be forced to keep open those stores they are now closing when they do.
Bernie has so much to do. If only we could get more of those wise and practical 18 yr. olds to vote, we could WIN!
If only government could take over these greedy businesses, they would serve the betterment of personkind. Like, say, Venezuela!
5
I respect John Lewis but was upset when he said that he never saw Bernie Sanders during the Civil Rights movement but he knew Bill and Hillary.
Did Bill and Hillary march? As I recall reading, Hillary was actually on the side of Goldwater during the Civil Rights Movement.
John Lewis is a good man. And Hillary will make a good President.
It's just too bad that it's going to come at the expense of a good man, Bernie Sanders.
I think that Bernie deserves a chance to plead his case to the American people.
And the media is showing some strange things on TV. People demanding that Bernie say the word "Black" instead of "African American" and to call for reparations. I am biracial and my father's family never got their 40 acres and a mule but am not understanding why reparations are suddenly a hot issue. If so, what is Secretary Clinton's stance on this matter?
In the end, if this is Bush vs. Clinton, I am going to be sick. At least Trump (AKA Charles Blow's "real estate developer") is telling the REAL truth about the Bushes.
Did Bill and Hillary march? As I recall reading, Hillary was actually on the side of Goldwater during the Civil Rights Movement.
John Lewis is a good man. And Hillary will make a good President.
It's just too bad that it's going to come at the expense of a good man, Bernie Sanders.
I think that Bernie deserves a chance to plead his case to the American people.
And the media is showing some strange things on TV. People demanding that Bernie say the word "Black" instead of "African American" and to call for reparations. I am biracial and my father's family never got their 40 acres and a mule but am not understanding why reparations are suddenly a hot issue. If so, what is Secretary Clinton's stance on this matter?
In the end, if this is Bush vs. Clinton, I am going to be sick. At least Trump (AKA Charles Blow's "real estate developer") is telling the REAL truth about the Bushes.
72
yup, the Clinton camp's cynical neoliberal intersectionalist take-down of bernie sanders is going to cost us all. Trump will eat Clinton for dinner like he is currently doing to Bush. Only Sanders can stop him.
1
Debra, just so you know, John Lewis clarified his statement. Although he did not meet Bernie, his statement was not meant to cast doubt or invalidate Bernie's involvement in the Civil Rights movement. He also clarified that he did not meet Hillary and Bill until he was working on the Voter Education Project in the 1970s. The quote is "The fact that I did not meet him in the movement does not mean I doubted that Senator Sanders participated in the civil rights movement, neither was I attempting to disparage his activism. Thousands sacrificed in the 1960s whose names we will never know, and I have always given honor to their contribution."
Why this clarification has not been covered by periodicals like the NYT, well, it should be obvious since the entire Op-Ed section is in the bag for HRC.
Additionally, Ta Nehisi Coates, the author who made Bernie's stance on reparations an issue, has openly stated he is voting for Bernie despite his reparations stance.
I'm so glad to hear voices like yours that echo mine. The democratic party and I'll say it, establishment media like NYT, is playing with fire glossing over us.
Why this clarification has not been covered by periodicals like the NYT, well, it should be obvious since the entire Op-Ed section is in the bag for HRC.
Additionally, Ta Nehisi Coates, the author who made Bernie's stance on reparations an issue, has openly stated he is voting for Bernie despite his reparations stance.
I'm so glad to hear voices like yours that echo mine. The democratic party and I'll say it, establishment media like NYT, is playing with fire glossing over us.
4
debra: Trump's" truthiness" is quite limited. He's lied about a lot, including the Muslims rioting in New Jersy, including immigration, with scores of Mexicans
racing to our border (a lying ad); including misogyny and refering to Secty. Clinton's
bathroom break, etc. etc. etc. nasty remarks about other candidates is just plain
ugly, lacks civility and is not presidential. Bernie is pleading his case, and you can
see from his appearances, people hear him. The problem is he stands less of a
chance of being elected by the country than does Secty. Clinton. And that's the truth....
racing to our border (a lying ad); including misogyny and refering to Secty. Clinton's
bathroom break, etc. etc. etc. nasty remarks about other candidates is just plain
ugly, lacks civility and is not presidential. Bernie is pleading his case, and you can
see from his appearances, people hear him. The problem is he stands less of a
chance of being elected by the country than does Secty. Clinton. And that's the truth....
It doesn't take genius to recognize that while Sanders' propositions would be better for many in the country in terms of education and health care, this is 1) not a society that holds the greater good to be more important than the individual, 2) the congress is controlled by those most disdainful of socialism and 3) there is no practical way to pay for single-payer health care and free higher education given the broken tax system we have.
So Hillary is right: Bernie's goals are unobtainable, and young voters asking why not need to learn how the legislative branch, not the president, makes the laws. In fact, thanks to young voters ignoring the 2010 and 2014 elections, they allowed Republicans to take greater control of the legislative branch.
Eclectic Pragmatist — http://eclectic-pragmatist.tumblr.com/
Eclectic Pragmatist — https://medium.com/eclectic-pragmatism
So Hillary is right: Bernie's goals are unobtainable, and young voters asking why not need to learn how the legislative branch, not the president, makes the laws. In fact, thanks to young voters ignoring the 2010 and 2014 elections, they allowed Republicans to take greater control of the legislative branch.
Eclectic Pragmatist — http://eclectic-pragmatist.tumblr.com/
Eclectic Pragmatist — https://medium.com/eclectic-pragmatism
80
"... no practical way to pay for single-payer health care and free higher education given the broken tax system we have."
I've listened to Mr. Sanders describe how both programs will be paid for, and frankly I have no issue with either plan.
Medicare for All, is 100% doable, and is simply an extension of the benefit enjoyed by retirees, to the general population at a cost, per individual, of less than $5,000 annually, which is what I pay for Part A, (Hospitalization), Part B, (Doctors Office Visits), and Part D, (Prescription Coverage); family coverage would be slightly more.
Where does the money to pay for such a program come from ?
Currently ACA, otherwise known as Obama Care, utilizes Big Insurance to collect premiums that are multiples of Medicare premiums, and include onerous deductibles that make it impossible for millions of families to obtain coverage, resulting in, at last count, 29 million still not covered.
Medicare for All, aside from saving Americans thousands annually, by not paying exorbitant premiums to Big Insurance, can be extended to cover all who cannot afford insurance through a small tax on the rest of us, a tax that would be acceptable as it would come from the premium savings.
Insofar as free public college goes, the only effect would be on corporate America, specifically Wall Street, who would be made to pay to educate their future hires, and in some small way pay us back for the 850 Billion Dollars of our tax funds, we so selflessly gave them.
I've listened to Mr. Sanders describe how both programs will be paid for, and frankly I have no issue with either plan.
Medicare for All, is 100% doable, and is simply an extension of the benefit enjoyed by retirees, to the general population at a cost, per individual, of less than $5,000 annually, which is what I pay for Part A, (Hospitalization), Part B, (Doctors Office Visits), and Part D, (Prescription Coverage); family coverage would be slightly more.
Where does the money to pay for such a program come from ?
Currently ACA, otherwise known as Obama Care, utilizes Big Insurance to collect premiums that are multiples of Medicare premiums, and include onerous deductibles that make it impossible for millions of families to obtain coverage, resulting in, at last count, 29 million still not covered.
Medicare for All, aside from saving Americans thousands annually, by not paying exorbitant premiums to Big Insurance, can be extended to cover all who cannot afford insurance through a small tax on the rest of us, a tax that would be acceptable as it would come from the premium savings.
Insofar as free public college goes, the only effect would be on corporate America, specifically Wall Street, who would be made to pay to educate their future hires, and in some small way pay us back for the 850 Billion Dollars of our tax funds, we so selflessly gave them.
9
There's no practical way because our tax policy has been held hostage for years by Grover Norquist. End his stranglehold on tax policy and many things now considered impossible will be possible. Grover Norquist is not a public servant, he's never been elected to anything. He's a shadowy dark force who has been given enough dark money support by the Koch Brothers and others to determine our tax policies. Our tax policies have been bought by corporate interests. It shouldn't be that way.
1
Edwardo: certainly you are not the only one saying it, but I just don't get "there is no practical way to pay for single-payer health care...". Maybe not ala Britain's National Health, but who wants government run hospitals anyway? Go to CIA World Factbook and take a look at the mainland European countries healthcare expenditures by % of GDP. NONE of them are spending anywhere near what we are, and ALL of them have better outcomes based in life expectancy and infant mortality numbers. And while you are at it, take a look at Singapore and Taiwan. Those numbers should really open your eyes. Universal health care is not a costly proposition compared to our non-system. Everyone else in the world seems to know it, what on earth is wrong with us?
1
Charles, you miss the point. Bernie and Hillary are mostly on the same side, the difference being that Bernie thinks big and Hillary is an incrementalist. I don't regret voting twice for Barack Obama; he was the right president for the time and considering the hole he had to dig us out of, his incrementalism was what was needed to stabilize the country.
But, the 2008 crash apart, the middle class has been "stable" (ie stagnated) for three decades, incrementalism won't cut it any more, and Bernie's big thinking is needed. If you have ambitious goals you may achieve half of what you want; incrementalism is a recipe for more of the same.
You may be right, the obstacles to Bernie's nomination may be too high. But that's now. Neither you nor I can predict how he might capture the hearts and imaginations of primary and caucus voters. You probably thought Iowa and NH were completely out of his reach a couple of months ago.
But, the 2008 crash apart, the middle class has been "stable" (ie stagnated) for three decades, incrementalism won't cut it any more, and Bernie's big thinking is needed. If you have ambitious goals you may achieve half of what you want; incrementalism is a recipe for more of the same.
You may be right, the obstacles to Bernie's nomination may be too high. But that's now. Neither you nor I can predict how he might capture the hearts and imaginations of primary and caucus voters. You probably thought Iowa and NH were completely out of his reach a couple of months ago.
172
The point is simply that what Sanders wants cannot be achieved now. Look at the brick wall the right has thrown up to block a judicial nominee, remember the fight over cell phones.
As a voter, I would like to have some of something, rather than all of nothing.
As a voter, I would like to have some of something, rather than all of nothing.
1
Dear mancuroc: First, let me state outright I am a Hillary supporter, and will be voting for her in April. Since I will be out of the country, I am awaiting an absentee ballot, which are due the first week of March.
Since you are also from New York, as of today Bernie has not yet qualified to be on the ballot. Bernie has the misfortune of being an Independent running in a Democratic primary. Hillary is automatically on there, but Bernie's petitions to the BoE in Albany have to be gone through with a fine-toothed comb before meeting muster. New York remains a far greater firewall than South Carolina. It is a closed primary. only DEMs registered months in advance may vote. Independents can NOT vote in a primary in New York. On top of that, it is has a 250 delegate-rich winner-take-all prize. It and California (500 delegates) are enormous hills for Bernie to conquer. Yes, it can be done, it is not impossible, technically. But as Bernie himself probably already knows like the financial institutions he rails against Democratic politics especially here in NY is a "rigged" game. The clock for Bernie is ticking. And time is getting short.
DD
Manhattan
Since you are also from New York, as of today Bernie has not yet qualified to be on the ballot. Bernie has the misfortune of being an Independent running in a Democratic primary. Hillary is automatically on there, but Bernie's petitions to the BoE in Albany have to be gone through with a fine-toothed comb before meeting muster. New York remains a far greater firewall than South Carolina. It is a closed primary. only DEMs registered months in advance may vote. Independents can NOT vote in a primary in New York. On top of that, it is has a 250 delegate-rich winner-take-all prize. It and California (500 delegates) are enormous hills for Bernie to conquer. Yes, it can be done, it is not impossible, technically. But as Bernie himself probably already knows like the financial institutions he rails against Democratic politics especially here in NY is a "rigged" game. The clock for Bernie is ticking. And time is getting short.
DD
Manhattan
1
I'd like to remind you of a simple, practical promise Bernie Sanders has made, and then ask you a couple of questions. The promise is that under a Sanders administration, when anybody dies in police custody, someone like Eric Garner, for example, the death would AUTOMATICALLY trigger a FEDERAL investigation. And the first question is: Can you envision the change that would make in the lives of the black community? The second question is: Why aren't you down in South Carolina, stumping for Bernie Sanders?
91
@Billy Glad,
I've just blown you a kiss. ; - )
2-15-16@12:00 pm
I've just blown you a kiss. ; - )
2-15-16@12:00 pm
1
“You see things; and you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say, ‘Why not?’" - George Bernard Shaw, repeated of course by John & Robert Kennedy
So far all I've heard is the mechanics of the improbability of a Sanders presidency. What I have yet to hear is the advantages of a Sanders presidency.
I will continue to support Bernie until and unless he is no longer a candidate. The reason is simple: his vision for the future of America, combined with his established record of integrity and optimism, is exactly the vision America desperately needs.
I can't speak for others, but I'm had enough cynicism and despair to last a dozen lifetimes. I need some hope.
So far all I've heard is the mechanics of the improbability of a Sanders presidency. What I have yet to hear is the advantages of a Sanders presidency.
I will continue to support Bernie until and unless he is no longer a candidate. The reason is simple: his vision for the future of America, combined with his established record of integrity and optimism, is exactly the vision America desperately needs.
I can't speak for others, but I'm had enough cynicism and despair to last a dozen lifetimes. I need some hope.
118
Sanders ain't Bobby Kennedy, this ain't 1968, and it's loopy to look at our President and his many achievements and feel no hope.
@TM,
You've yet to hear of the advantages of a Sanders presidency? I wonder if some are too invested in trashing the idea even consider it with anything that approaches a genuinely open and respectful mind.
Your last two sentences are beauties. Here's a heartfelt thank you.
2-15-16@11:49 am
You've yet to hear of the advantages of a Sanders presidency? I wonder if some are too invested in trashing the idea even consider it with anything that approaches a genuinely open and respectful mind.
Your last two sentences are beauties. Here's a heartfelt thank you.
2-15-16@11:49 am
You hear it time and again from NYT columnists, that Bernie won't get anything through Congress. What evidence is there that Hillary will "get things done" with the present Congress? What needs to happen is that the people need to lead and the politician and pundits need to follow. The bums need to be thrown out and judging by the Sanders campaign and particularly the way it's being funded, that idea is catching on. We don't exist so that pundits have something to comment about. This is about us and is not some game.
96
Why Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Deserve the Black Vote
From the crime bill to welfare reform, policies Bill Clinton enacted—and Hillary Clinton supported—decimated black America.
http://www.thenation.com/article/hillary-clinton-does-not-deserve-black-...
From the crime bill to welfare reform, policies Bill Clinton enacted—and Hillary Clinton supported—decimated black America.
http://www.thenation.com/article/hillary-clinton-does-not-deserve-black-...
72
Thx, Robert.
Bernie is pulling his punches. He cannot win unless he discusses her corruption and abuse of power AND the Clintons' horrific history with blacks.
(Also, he should yell from the rooftops that the system is rigged, that the superdelegates ensure victory for a losing Clinton.) The Clinton Machine is making Bernie's candidacy an illusion and Bernie votes a joke.
Rwanda alone should disabuse anyone, black or white, of Clinton nostalgia.
Clinton's calculated indifference to the Rwandan genocide is documented by Samantha Power, ("A Problem From Hell").
Bernie is pulling his punches. He cannot win unless he discusses her corruption and abuse of power AND the Clintons' horrific history with blacks.
(Also, he should yell from the rooftops that the system is rigged, that the superdelegates ensure victory for a losing Clinton.) The Clinton Machine is making Bernie's candidacy an illusion and Bernie votes a joke.
Rwanda alone should disabuse anyone, black or white, of Clinton nostalgia.
Clinton's calculated indifference to the Rwandan genocide is documented by Samantha Power, ("A Problem From Hell").
1
We keep on hearing about various things we need to be realistic about. Right at the top is the idea that HRC will be able to work with a GOP Congress better than Sen. Sanders.
Let's imagine Mich McConnell's private talk to his caucus:
"We vowed to oppose Pres. Obama at every turn, we won't fulfill our basic constitutional responsibility to evaluate any presidential nominee for Suoreme Court Justice, but we would be delighted to work cooperatively with our long-time friend Hillary Clinton."
Doesn't sound very realistic to me.
Let's imagine Mich McConnell's private talk to his caucus:
"We vowed to oppose Pres. Obama at every turn, we won't fulfill our basic constitutional responsibility to evaluate any presidential nominee for Suoreme Court Justice, but we would be delighted to work cooperatively with our long-time friend Hillary Clinton."
Doesn't sound very realistic to me.
84
A very important point. Unless the GOP loses its Congressional majority, a key task for the new (Democratic) president will be to articulate a stark counter-narrvative so as to rally more and more of the public to accept and demand the policies of the Democratic wing of the Democratic party. In other words, changing the terms of debate is critical, even when one isn't able to push through legislative priorities in the short term.
For all of Secretary Clinton's positives, there is no one who actually believes that she is as likely to stay true to a progressive message as is Senator Sanders. This isn't a matter of speculation. Secretary Clinton is ALREADY saying that advocacy for a single-payer health care system is beyond the pale.
For all of Secretary Clinton's positives, there is no one who actually believes that she is as likely to stay true to a progressive message as is Senator Sanders. This isn't a matter of speculation. Secretary Clinton is ALREADY saying that advocacy for a single-payer health care system is beyond the pale.
1
While serving as Burlington's mayor Bernie got the snow cleared and much more. He has both vision and proven experience in practical politics. His style is abrasive but, indeed, there's a lot to be angry about.
No one, I mean not one of my liberal baby boomer friends trusts Hillary. Her support doesn't just lag with young people. All of us will support her if she wins the nomination and some (most? all?) of us secretly hopes she wins it based on her style and experience. But for now we want want to send a message and Bernie is the messenger. That might lead to an unexpected result!
No one, I mean not one of my liberal baby boomer friends trusts Hillary. Her support doesn't just lag with young people. All of us will support her if she wins the nomination and some (most? all?) of us secretly hopes she wins it based on her style and experience. But for now we want want to send a message and Bernie is the messenger. That might lead to an unexpected result!
36
The fact that you feel his clearing the roads in the very small city of Burlington, VT, prepared Bernie in any way for today's very complicated national and international stages says everything about the naivetée and lack of real-world substance that percolates throughout his campaign.
We still haven't been given the transcripts from Hillary's speeches to Goldman Sachs, but we have a good idea of what Hillary regards as possible and impossible if she were to be elected President. Another war in the Middle East is possible and even probable. Single payer healthcare and free tuition at State universities is impossible.
Historically speaking, putting your eggs in South Carolina's basket is a poor choice. Hillary spent last week in NH telling women that "a vote for me is a vote for women." This week in SC she has been nonstop "a vote for me is a vote for Obama."
Pitting poor whites against blacks is nothing new saw Bill and Hillary doing it here in KY in 2008. They told me to vote for Hillary because Obama was unelectable. They didn't have to finish the sentences. We knew what they meant.
Single payer is possible and makes good sense. We pay way too much for healthcare in this country. Expanding Medicare and allowing Uncle Sam to negotiate with drug manufacturers are two steps that ought to have been taken long ago. Free tuition at state
Historically speaking, putting your eggs in South Carolina's basket is a poor choice. Hillary spent last week in NH telling women that "a vote for me is a vote for women." This week in SC she has been nonstop "a vote for me is a vote for Obama."
Pitting poor whites against blacks is nothing new saw Bill and Hillary doing it here in KY in 2008. They told me to vote for Hillary because Obama was unelectable. They didn't have to finish the sentences. We knew what they meant.
Single payer is possible and makes good sense. We pay way too much for healthcare in this country. Expanding Medicare and allowing Uncle Sam to negotiate with drug manufacturers are two steps that ought to have been taken long ago. Free tuition at state
103
Medicare is an 80/20 coinsurance plan with deductibles on services and drugs, that does not include dental or vision, and which typically requires people to buy supplemental insurances.
Oh, and its premiums are four times what Bernie says he'll provide. And you pay them for roughly 45 years before collecting benefits.
Might wanna find out what you're supporting.
Oh, and its premiums are four times what Bernie says he'll provide. And you pay them for roughly 45 years before collecting benefits.
Might wanna find out what you're supporting.
Perhaps you should look into how single-payer fared in Vermont—Bernie's own state—before you state it can work nationwide.
Intermittent idealism and optimism can sound wise, but it is ultimately just tiring. And the problems we face are large enough that those with public platforms should focus more on how to solve them, less on whether we will. Save the sports calling for sports, where the outcomes don't matter.
3
"The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of new ideas and bold projects. Rather it will belong to those who can blend vision, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the ideals and great enterprises of American Society. Our future may lie beyond our vision, but it is not completely beyond our control. It is the shaping impulse of America that neither fate nor nature nor the irresistible tides of history, but the work of our own hands, matched to reason and principle, that will determine our destiny. There is pride in that, even arrogance, but there is also experience and truth. In any event, it is the only way we can live."
Robert Kennedy 1966
Robert Kennedy 1966
40
I find myself struggling with the characterization of Sanders as “the clarity candidate.” You say his message is clear and resonant. I’m just not hearing it. What I hear is a broad-brush attack on Wall Street (with all the attendant jabs at Clinton) but the message is garbled with anger and exists on a cul-de-sac that fails to lead to a path of completion. Perhaps what is understood to be clear and resonant is what the masses are projecting onto him; they see a kind of Santa Clause, messiah and folk hero all wrapped up in one. Yet I see an emperor with no clothes.
51
Clinton is likely to win the democratic nomination by carrying in the primaries the southern states that she has no hope of winning in the general election.
46
But she will carry the more populated north and coasts, and that will be the winning difference.
Charlse's own burning fires have often come up against massive walls of homophobia and racism. He has written with great passion, poetry and insight about his struggles against those wall. So I think there is a real tension here as he with great reluctance helps re-enforce the wall of corporate geed and militarism that Clinton (and to a lesser extent Sanders) is a mainstay of.
14
I had thought attacking simple statements of physical reality as evidence of insidious conspiracy was a Republican thing.
If nuance means that when he said: one of us on this stage ran against Barack Obama and that person was not me, then I like that type of clarity. Call it "nuance" or"rudeness" if you like, but I for one am tired of the Kochs' and Abelsons' votes counting ten millions times more than mine and my neighbors' be they white or black.
Enough!
Go Bernie
Enough!
Go Bernie
171
Bernie was splitting hairs. Hillary ran against Obama before he was elected President. Sanders wanted to run an opponent against him while he was a sitting President. Those are two different things.
You are correct, Mr. Blow. The firewall for Democrats is the Black vote. A voting bloc that, year after year, votes for the party that has done little if anything to raise their prospects.
The Democrats have not provided sound economic guidance, leading to job growth. They have continued to provide family-destroying welfare, crippling a tenuous grip on family structure that is the bane of Black families and turning Black mothers into wards of the State. They have promoted the "Black lives matter" (more than other lives) mantra that even the Washington Post has pointed out is based on falsehoods and misinterpreted data. And they have quietly fomented victimhood, talking down to Blacks and convincing them that their salvation comes from a strong arm government who courts them during elections and leaves them the day after their sell-by date.
If this is your idea of a good strategy, then you have me puzzled. I understand that it benefits Democrats. And I realize that anointed tastemakers, like Jackson and Sharpton and West, enjoy access to power despite their evident flaws and deficiencies as leaders and great thinkers. But the Black "vote" has settled for a reliable "quarter loaf is better than no loaf" for so long, it would be difficult to part now.
And I most enjoy the Liberal elite. These strange bedfellows with Blacks love having the permanent votes on their side of the ledger, while they shrug and blame intolerance when the policies fail, decade after decade.
The Democrats have not provided sound economic guidance, leading to job growth. They have continued to provide family-destroying welfare, crippling a tenuous grip on family structure that is the bane of Black families and turning Black mothers into wards of the State. They have promoted the "Black lives matter" (more than other lives) mantra that even the Washington Post has pointed out is based on falsehoods and misinterpreted data. And they have quietly fomented victimhood, talking down to Blacks and convincing them that their salvation comes from a strong arm government who courts them during elections and leaves them the day after their sell-by date.
If this is your idea of a good strategy, then you have me puzzled. I understand that it benefits Democrats. And I realize that anointed tastemakers, like Jackson and Sharpton and West, enjoy access to power despite their evident flaws and deficiencies as leaders and great thinkers. But the Black "vote" has settled for a reliable "quarter loaf is better than no loaf" for so long, it would be difficult to part now.
And I most enjoy the Liberal elite. These strange bedfellows with Blacks love having the permanent votes on their side of the ledger, while they shrug and blame intolerance when the policies fail, decade after decade.
15
It is no surprise that a minority would be most likely to be taken advantage of in our democracy. Even if everything you say is true, they would fare much better with a Democratic POTUS or Congress than a GOP one and they are not stupid. The biggest fallacy of the last 40 years is that Reagan's economic policies (rightly derided as "voodoo" by his own VP and OMB director, Stockman) saved the country from disaster, with wealth "trickling down" to the lower class. We're all poorer, except the top 10%, as a result and yet Reagan is the model held up by all Republicans running for office. Voting against one's better interests has become a way of the world.
It's okay that you haven't the faintest idea what's gone on with "welfare," since 1998, but it is a mite disturbing that you obviously can't be bothered to go find out.
Hillary represents a real dilemma. On the one hand she is clearly better than anybody the Republicans will ultimately select, since the Republican nominee will have to support an agenda of looting the country with special viciousness to the vulnerable and poor.
On the other hand, as Granny D (Doris Hadlock) summed it up in the 2007 primary in NH -- "Hillary is bought and paid for" by the Washington establishment and she caters to their interests. And that was before the special speaking fees from Goldman Sachs and the full development of the Clinton Foundation's web.
For Republicans, they worry about the supply of angry old white men running out. For Hillary the worry is the supply of affluent older women running out!
On the other hand, as Granny D (Doris Hadlock) summed it up in the 2007 primary in NH -- "Hillary is bought and paid for" by the Washington establishment and she caters to their interests. And that was before the special speaking fees from Goldman Sachs and the full development of the Clinton Foundation's web.
For Republicans, they worry about the supply of angry old white men running out. For Hillary the worry is the supply of affluent older women running out!
33
Why do you think that? Hillary has been a progressive her whole life, including fighting the good fight on health care. She made health care central in 2008 and Obama picked up on it. She is also battle-tested. Sanders in debate has been rude and abrasive. He is a 76 y.o. guy, also angry but coming from the left, whose energies will be declining and who offers no hope of enacting anything.
Sometimes you can vote on which candidate you prefer. And sometimes you must vote on which candidate you think has the best chance of winning in the general election.
Thanks to Mitch McConnell the next President will have at least one and probably three Supreme Court vacancies to fill. These people will decide the future of Citizens United, of gun control, of abortion rights, and even our very right to vote. We know what Trump, Cruz, or Rubio will do; we also know what Hillary or Bernie will do.
There used to be a joke in the developing world that democracy meant "One Man, One Vote, One Time." This November could be such a time, if we elect a President who will surely appoint Justices who make Scalia look moderate.
So, the most important think is for the Democrats not to give up on their candidate, but to be sure not to do anything between now and the convention that will injure the eventual nominee.
Both sides agree on the ends. They disagree on the means. The only threat is not being united.
Thanks to Mitch McConnell the next President will have at least one and probably three Supreme Court vacancies to fill. These people will decide the future of Citizens United, of gun control, of abortion rights, and even our very right to vote. We know what Trump, Cruz, or Rubio will do; we also know what Hillary or Bernie will do.
There used to be a joke in the developing world that democracy meant "One Man, One Vote, One Time." This November could be such a time, if we elect a President who will surely appoint Justices who make Scalia look moderate.
So, the most important think is for the Democrats not to give up on their candidate, but to be sure not to do anything between now and the convention that will injure the eventual nominee.
Both sides agree on the ends. They disagree on the means. The only threat is not being united.
83
Mr. Graubard, that was very well said. I agree with you, the campaign for nomination must be civil and clearly display differences, but not damage.
Thank you for that clear thought.
Thank you for that clear thought.
24
Your first paragraph says it all. We cannot afford to allow the Republicans to take the Presidency so, as much as you might prefer one Democrat over the other, the selection must be made for the one who will win.
The Democrats need to put up a candidate who can crush the Republicans. That candidate is Bernie Sanders.
Bernie Sanders will never get the nomination. If he won it would not be America. He is a very dangerous man; I have read everything about him. Democrats are embarrassed he is running. As for Clinton she has always had the south. Many people do not know the issues much less vote on them so it works in her favor.
18
Bernie Sanders is not a dangerous man. Democrats are not embarrassed he is running. Current nationwide polls show that Bernie beats every Republican rival. On what are you basing your belief that "Bernie Sanders will never get the nomination. If he won it would not be America." Considering the laughable quality of each Republican candidate, Bernie is the only hope 99% of Americans have of attaining a more equitable life going forward.
Many people don't know the issues, and that's a reason they should vote for Hillary? That is quite an endorsement!
Nothing Bernie is proposing is at all radical - if you're a working class American it's pretty common sense stuff. Establishment Democrats are scared out of their wits that their pre-programmed candidate is not being rubber stamped, and they should be embarrassed by their actions putting their thumbs on the scales. Lifting Obama's ban on lobbyist contributions to the DNC to drown Sanders out with Super PAC money while Clinton clings tightly to Obama's legacy is the height of hypocrisy, and is going to turn off a lot of voters.
Nothing Bernie is proposing is at all radical - if you're a working class American it's pretty common sense stuff. Establishment Democrats are scared out of their wits that their pre-programmed candidate is not being rubber stamped, and they should be embarrassed by their actions putting their thumbs on the scales. Lifting Obama's ban on lobbyist contributions to the DNC to drown Sanders out with Super PAC money while Clinton clings tightly to Obama's legacy is the height of hypocrisy, and is going to turn off a lot of voters.
Janis -- I'm a pro-Hilary Democrat, but I am not embarrassed in the least that Bernie is running, see much that is admirable about him, will happily vote for him if he can take the nomination.
The idea that "it would not be America" applies to Trump and Cruz.
The idea that "it would not be America" applies to Trump and Cruz.
It remains unclear whether Sanders' message of social and economic justice can, in a short period of time, reach the majority of the voters of South Carolina. I am just an old white guy who grew up during a period when America embraced and-- outside of our miltary misadventures in Vietnam-- did the impossible. So I still believe it is possible that the best is yet to come.
And while I don't pretend to understand what it means to live as an African American in this country, especially in the south, I do know that Sanders (like that Scotch they used to advertise) never varies. Listen to his 1988 endorsement of Jesse Jackson and you'll see that-- like him or hate him-- there's nothing inconsistent about what he believes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66fyBz2GhCA
And remember this came from a politician who lived in a lily white state where black support didn't matter.
Many of Sanders' critics call him a one trick pony. Following this reductive logic, these same folks might just as well say that Nelson Mandela was a one trick pony with his life long single minded commitment to ending apartheid. And how can anyone deny that Ronald Reagan was something of a one trick pony himself with his endlessly repeated mantra that government was the problem, not the solution to our national ills? Didn’t most of his agenda flow from that single “trick”?
Maybe this crusty old one trick pony is exactly what South Carolina and America needs.
Let the people decide.
And while I don't pretend to understand what it means to live as an African American in this country, especially in the south, I do know that Sanders (like that Scotch they used to advertise) never varies. Listen to his 1988 endorsement of Jesse Jackson and you'll see that-- like him or hate him-- there's nothing inconsistent about what he believes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66fyBz2GhCA
And remember this came from a politician who lived in a lily white state where black support didn't matter.
Many of Sanders' critics call him a one trick pony. Following this reductive logic, these same folks might just as well say that Nelson Mandela was a one trick pony with his life long single minded commitment to ending apartheid. And how can anyone deny that Ronald Reagan was something of a one trick pony himself with his endlessly repeated mantra that government was the problem, not the solution to our national ills? Didn’t most of his agenda flow from that single “trick”?
Maybe this crusty old one trick pony is exactly what South Carolina and America needs.
Let the people decide.
44
If Mrs. Clinton prevails in this election, it will be the fault of the mainstream media for engaging in a conspiracy of silence surrounding Hillary's tenure as SoS.
The fact is that as the Arab Spring got underway, Hillary, the CIA, and our great allies, Turkey, Israel and Saudi Arabia, saw an opportunity to score a geopolitical advantage by creating unrest in Syria.
The strategy was to arm small groups of mostly Sunni rebels who would, in short order, bring down Assad's Alawite (Shia) government.
One of Hillary's emails released this weekend from 2012 discussed how to manage the post-Assad period. But in 2016, Assad is still in power.
The brilliant strategy of deposing Assad (which is against international law) was derailed when the Iranians (Shia) provided assistance to Assad, along with the Russians, who are in Syria at the request of the government.
Hillary, to demonstrate her allegiance to Israel, wanted to come down hard on the Iranians, and even now she is too bellicose toward Iran. She ridiculed Sanders for wanting to normalize relations with Iran as quickly as realistically possible, which is clearly the right answer for the U.S.
But now Hillary also wants to claim credit for the Iran treaty, concluded by Kerry & Obama.
All of the chaos, misery and destruction we see in Syria & Libya was made possible by Hillary, in conjunction with the CIA, Israel & Saudi Arabia.
She has not served Obama well, and shame on the NYT for failing to report on this subject.
The fact is that as the Arab Spring got underway, Hillary, the CIA, and our great allies, Turkey, Israel and Saudi Arabia, saw an opportunity to score a geopolitical advantage by creating unrest in Syria.
The strategy was to arm small groups of mostly Sunni rebels who would, in short order, bring down Assad's Alawite (Shia) government.
One of Hillary's emails released this weekend from 2012 discussed how to manage the post-Assad period. But in 2016, Assad is still in power.
The brilliant strategy of deposing Assad (which is against international law) was derailed when the Iranians (Shia) provided assistance to Assad, along with the Russians, who are in Syria at the request of the government.
Hillary, to demonstrate her allegiance to Israel, wanted to come down hard on the Iranians, and even now she is too bellicose toward Iran. She ridiculed Sanders for wanting to normalize relations with Iran as quickly as realistically possible, which is clearly the right answer for the U.S.
But now Hillary also wants to claim credit for the Iran treaty, concluded by Kerry & Obama.
All of the chaos, misery and destruction we see in Syria & Libya was made possible by Hillary, in conjunction with the CIA, Israel & Saudi Arabia.
She has not served Obama well, and shame on the NYT for failing to report on this subject.
39
Bernie is pulling his punches. He cannot win unless he discusses Clinton corruption & abuse of power AND their horrific history with blacks.
(Also, he should yell from the rooftops that the system is rigged, that the superdelegates ensure victory for Clinton irrespective of vote count.)
Rwanda alone should disabuse anyone of Clinton nostalgia.
"Over the years, Mrs. Clinton has shown an unfortunate tendency to oscillate between harshness and compassion on immigration questions."
–The Times Editorial Board
"Oscillation" and calculated indifference are the Clinton way.
• The purpose of Clinton "oscillation" is political advantage; their positions shift with the political winds.
• Political advantage will always trump political asylum, even when there is a well-founded fear for one's life, recall the Haitian refugees that Mr. Clinton sent back to certain death in the 90s.
Indeed, recall Clinton's calculated indifference to the systematic butchering of 800,000 Rwandans in 100 days, as documented by Samantha Power–"A Problem From Hell."
Recall that Power called Hillary Clinton "a monster."
US government documentation confirms Clinton failure to act was fully informed & deliberate.
A NYT review of Power's book perhaps summed it up best: The picture of Clinton that emerges is that of an "amoral narcissist."
Mrs. Clinton's period of oscillation is T=2π (l /g)^1/2
where
T = Time period for one oscillation
l = Legal jeopardy
g = acceleration due to political gravity
(Also, he should yell from the rooftops that the system is rigged, that the superdelegates ensure victory for Clinton irrespective of vote count.)
Rwanda alone should disabuse anyone of Clinton nostalgia.
"Over the years, Mrs. Clinton has shown an unfortunate tendency to oscillate between harshness and compassion on immigration questions."
–The Times Editorial Board
"Oscillation" and calculated indifference are the Clinton way.
• The purpose of Clinton "oscillation" is political advantage; their positions shift with the political winds.
• Political advantage will always trump political asylum, even when there is a well-founded fear for one's life, recall the Haitian refugees that Mr. Clinton sent back to certain death in the 90s.
Indeed, recall Clinton's calculated indifference to the systematic butchering of 800,000 Rwandans in 100 days, as documented by Samantha Power–"A Problem From Hell."
Recall that Power called Hillary Clinton "a monster."
US government documentation confirms Clinton failure to act was fully informed & deliberate.
A NYT review of Power's book perhaps summed it up best: The picture of Clinton that emerges is that of an "amoral narcissist."
Mrs. Clinton's period of oscillation is T=2π (l /g)^1/2
where
T = Time period for one oscillation
l = Legal jeopardy
g = acceleration due to political gravity
31
I'm not disagreeing with the asessment of Clinton. But Power most likely isn't your best messenger there. Don't forget she was the one who got Clinton to convince Obama to intervene in Libya. That worked out well.
Hillary Clinton has been portrayed by the far right media for years as dishonest, hard, hypocritical and unlikeable. Any hope of criticizing her for anything at all is worth at least a year of headlines. I would like to know how much money has been spent looking for any way at all to make her look bad.
Yet in this very paper not long ago, she published a nuanced, brilliant proposal of how to deal with the banks that are continuing to cause the world's economic instability. One reaction? She's grandstanding. No, grandstanding is an egomaniac standing up in front of people promising to demolish all our enemies and make America great again - and he'll take care of you, don't worry. I last heard that kind of a speech from a used car salesman.
The continuing hostile attitude towards Clinton - even in her own party - is a monument to the power of propaganda. No one can stand a smart woman.
Yet in this very paper not long ago, she published a nuanced, brilliant proposal of how to deal with the banks that are continuing to cause the world's economic instability. One reaction? She's grandstanding. No, grandstanding is an egomaniac standing up in front of people promising to demolish all our enemies and make America great again - and he'll take care of you, don't worry. I last heard that kind of a speech from a used car salesman.
The continuing hostile attitude towards Clinton - even in her own party - is a monument to the power of propaganda. No one can stand a smart woman.
26
Stop playing the gender card. It is unseemly. Just ask Madeleine Albright and Gloria Steinem.
Bernie Sanders appeals to idealists, and even for jaded pragmatists like me, his message is a breath of fresh air. I know he cannot possibly accomplish, in this day, with this Congress, anything that he has argued for. But I can't help being inspired by a politician who genuinely believes that he works for me. Not just for some greater good, not just for good governance, but for me.
We can parse the numbers, and we can talk about who will like Clinton better and who will want Sanders. We can talk about the reality that Sanders in unique in Congress - no one else whom we have elected, except maybe Elizabeth Warren, share his vision. We can argue that idealism in Presidential races combined with absenteeism in midterm elections yields no change. We can even argue that our Constitution put Congress in charge of making laws. We can point out that with the Congress we've got, Democrats are largely voting for a secured veto and Supreme Court nominations.
None of it will have an effect, because it is the ideal that appeals. Hillary needs to figure out how to tap into that energy.
We can parse the numbers, and we can talk about who will like Clinton better and who will want Sanders. We can talk about the reality that Sanders in unique in Congress - no one else whom we have elected, except maybe Elizabeth Warren, share his vision. We can argue that idealism in Presidential races combined with absenteeism in midterm elections yields no change. We can even argue that our Constitution put Congress in charge of making laws. We can point out that with the Congress we've got, Democrats are largely voting for a secured veto and Supreme Court nominations.
None of it will have an effect, because it is the ideal that appeals. Hillary needs to figure out how to tap into that energy.
8
Well reasoned and fact-filled piece.
Also the media continues daily to say all Bernie speaks to is "economics." This scares me because i have never failed to see and hear him mention campaign finance reform.
And isn't free college, etc. something not wholly "economics"?
I grew up poor but was given a free college education at the City College of New York, dubbed the "proletarian Harvard" and which is no longer free.
I then took a masters degree there for 12 bucks a credit.
A PhD followed and eventually a scholarly book with plaudits received from very famous Harvard, Yale, Rockefeller and Princeton professors.
Oh, and my parents were immigrants, and my father a laborer.
God bless that America.
I'm voting for the Bern
Also the media continues daily to say all Bernie speaks to is "economics." This scares me because i have never failed to see and hear him mention campaign finance reform.
And isn't free college, etc. something not wholly "economics"?
I grew up poor but was given a free college education at the City College of New York, dubbed the "proletarian Harvard" and which is no longer free.
I then took a masters degree there for 12 bucks a credit.
A PhD followed and eventually a scholarly book with plaudits received from very famous Harvard, Yale, Rockefeller and Princeton professors.
Oh, and my parents were immigrants, and my father a laborer.
God bless that America.
I'm voting for the Bern
65
Th quality of City University was higher back when it was free, because you actually had to have good grades to be admitted, just like in the handful of elite high schools in the city. Then some one decided "open enrollment" was a great idea and anyone who wanted was guaranteed a spot somewhere in the system, even if it was not their first choice. This lead to remedial classes Next came tuition.
When I was accepted by all four colleges which I was required to apply, I chose NYU where I was offered a scholarship. Before open enrollment, I would not have hesitated to attend "City".
Free college onlyif you have the "right stuff".
When I was accepted by all four colleges which I was required to apply, I chose NYU where I was offered a scholarship. Before open enrollment, I would not have hesitated to attend "City".
Free college onlyif you have the "right stuff".
This is the second column I believe in which Mr.Blow has suggested the Black vote, in this case, in South Carolina, is just not there for Bernie Sanders. He references a month-old poll. He talks about the fire wall. This is old news. What isn't old news is that while it may not be sufficient to win him the primary, the Black vote (the people) are taking a second and a third look at Bernie Sanders, as are other voters in South Carolina. They are not monolithic. They see the weight of the 'establishment' endorsements being (I would say desperately) trotted out by the Clinton Campaign and they look at the young, vital, excited young people, including young African Americans, supporting Sanders, and they are curious, interested, open. Apart from that, and back to this column: as I said, it's old news this firewall and the putative done deal of the Black vote in SC, and it's more "we can't" "you won't" "give it up". We can't, we won't, give up. There can be a better world.
48
I don't have a Facebook account so I will never be one of the Verified Commenters (part of the requirement for that privilege).
It is a bit annoying when two Facebook account so I will never be one of the turn their comments turn into a unmodified debate squad between them. I know you can't exactly take your Punch and Judy show offline but still...
(here come the zingers?)
It is a bit annoying when two Facebook account so I will never be one of the turn their comments turn into a unmodified debate squad between them. I know you can't exactly take your Punch and Judy show offline but still...
(here come the zingers?)
6
I didn't see, '...testy, abrasive and often flat-out rude." in Mr. Sander's remarks in the last debate. Perhaps we project our realities from our prejudices.
Aside from that, I agree with the logos of your article in general Mr. Blow. However I am so inspired by Mr. Sander's pathos that I am driven to inspire others to dream, to follow their hearts, just like we did with Obama and MLK.
Considering that 9/11 happened, I believe that anything is possible. And that America re-elected George W. Bush, the unimaginable can happen.
Aside from that, I agree with the logos of your article in general Mr. Blow. However I am so inspired by Mr. Sander's pathos that I am driven to inspire others to dream, to follow their hearts, just like we did with Obama and MLK.
Considering that 9/11 happened, I believe that anything is possible. And that America re-elected George W. Bush, the unimaginable can happen.
31
Thank you for this column. As I read it and read the commentary I think that Hillary Clinton's pragmatism and experience would have been a better choice 8 years ago and Mr. Obama's soaring rhetoric would have been the better choice this year. One of the reasons his tenure was so disappointing was his initial naiveté and inexperience working with a gerrymandered and hostile Congress. I sympathize with the criticisms of Ms. Clinton (some days I want to reach into my TV and give her a good slap) but history is full of great leaders who have had similar flaws to hers or much worse ones. The biggest hurdle for her to overcome is our tendency to hold women to a different standard when they aspire to leadership, even when we intellectually understand the unfairness of it. I also think that young liberals do not grasp why many poor or working class people will never vote for Mr. Sanders. I think they cannot quite believe that it will be a hard sell to get them to vote for a Democrat never mind a self-described socialist. Surely everyone will see what they see in Mr. Sanders.
10
It is bizzare that South Carolina, where 55% of voters are black, still maintains a white, conservative power structure.
Something is wrong with this system, and not just in SC.
Something is wrong with this system, and not just in SC.
35
The more Republican "debates" there are, the better things look for Hillary Clinton.
13
Is it free healthcare and free college for everyone, or "anyone other that Hillary". None of Sanders voters are coming from the right, and very few are independents.
I do have one question for Bernie. when you need a plumber, who you going to call? Because there aren't many with a degree for Harvard. The skills gap in this country has nothing to do with college.
I do have one question for Bernie. when you need a plumber, who you going to call? Because there aren't many with a degree for Harvard. The skills gap in this country has nothing to do with college.
5
You are wrong on both counts. Bernie won the independent vote in NH by a 3-1 margin. He always polls better than her among indies. He received over 20% of the vote from Republicans in his last election in Vermont.
As for free college, he has stated that it would include trade schools too. Learn the facts.
As for free college, he has stated that it would include trade schools too. Learn the facts.
1
Bernie captured 72% of the independent vote in NH. 72% is a far cry from "very few" is it not?
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/02/09/3747988/bernie-sanders-prim...
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/02/09/3747988/bernie-sanders-prim...
Let the democrat in-fighting rage. I'll sit back with some popcorn and enjoy!
3
Eat all the popcorn you want. By the time the GOP campaign is over, its nominee (whoever it is) will have been rendered completely unelectable by their behavior at the debates. So much for Reagan's 11th Commandment.
Then you should be following the Republicans.
Trust me, Walter, they're selling a lot more popcorn to Democrats than Republicans this year.
I have to disagree, Mr. Blow. I didn't find Bernie the least bit rude. I thought he was frank, direct, and most of all clear. I thought Hillary came off the worst in the debate by playing politics with a man who does not, at least not in the same way. In fact, I love how gracious he is-- making concessions, agreeing outright with some of Clinton's observations and ideas. It is extremely refreshing especially given the ordeal we've been put through with this nasty Republican Congress and their current presidential contenders. I may or may not vote for him in the primary, but I certainly understand why someone would, polls notwithstanding.
103
I say this not to be combative, but sincerely. Why do liberals and those on the left lack so much of a backbone? Bernie is an unapologetic liberal, like his counterparts on the right. And that's actually refreshing.
For years, I have watched the right wing argue passionately for their cause. Voting in midterm elections, standing firmly on their values. But liberals? They're not only afraid of being called a liberal or socialist, they are always willing to sacrifice anything, ANYTHING, to "compromise" and be moderate. This is seen as some badge of honor, when it is actually spineless
So Charles, yes, we know Bernie's ideas are a tall order. Some of us are actually willing to fight for it, and volunteer, and vote, and make sure we can one day get it done. People like yourself, unfortunately are so afraid to stand for leftist principles that you allow conservatives to control the conversation. Some of us actually like that Bernie will stand ideas that matter, and even half of what he wants is major progress. Also, Hillary is despised and less electable than Bernie
For years, I have watched the right wing argue passionately for their cause. Voting in midterm elections, standing firmly on their values. But liberals? They're not only afraid of being called a liberal or socialist, they are always willing to sacrifice anything, ANYTHING, to "compromise" and be moderate. This is seen as some badge of honor, when it is actually spineless
So Charles, yes, we know Bernie's ideas are a tall order. Some of us are actually willing to fight for it, and volunteer, and vote, and make sure we can one day get it done. People like yourself, unfortunately are so afraid to stand for leftist principles that you allow conservatives to control the conversation. Some of us actually like that Bernie will stand ideas that matter, and even half of what he wants is major progress. Also, Hillary is despised and less electable than Bernie
117
I suggest campaign fundraising is at least one answer to your question. Sanders's operation may make a reliance on wealthy donors less important in the years ahead, but cooperating with corporate interests has been an important motivation for the former Democratic Leadership Council and its friends like the Clintons and Al Gore.
Where were these liberals in 2010 and 2014, when diminished turnout turned the House and Senate? Obama was nothing if not aspirational (and inspiring).
"...a testy, abrasive and often flat-out rude..."
Sorry, Mr. Blow, but Bernie Sanders is plain high minded. He can't help it; he was born that way, and there's nothing you or others can do or say now, or in the future, to change that basic element of his personality. So try all you can...
Sorry, Mr. Blow, but Bernie Sanders is plain high minded. He can't help it; he was born that way, and there's nothing you or others can do or say now, or in the future, to change that basic element of his personality. So try all you can...
102
There is a difference between disagreeing with somebody and saying "I agree but we need to go further".
I heard a guy called Thomas Geoghegan on the radio yesterday. He wrote this book "Were you Born on the Wrong Continent" making a case for German style social democracy. You can read about it here.
http://www.amazon.com/Were-You-Born-Wrong-Continent/dp/1595587063
The "impossible is possible" Mr. Blow? The thesis Mr. Geoghegan puts forth is that it is actually the American model that is impossible. According to him, the impossible model of Germany is selling goods to China and beating the pants off the American model that is borrowing to by Chinese goods, a process that cannot last.
Could it be that the way forward with Clinton/Bush is actually the impossible dream and that Bernie's socialism is the savior?
I heard a guy called Thomas Geoghegan on the radio yesterday. He wrote this book "Were you Born on the Wrong Continent" making a case for German style social democracy. You can read about it here.
http://www.amazon.com/Were-You-Born-Wrong-Continent/dp/1595587063
The "impossible is possible" Mr. Blow? The thesis Mr. Geoghegan puts forth is that it is actually the American model that is impossible. According to him, the impossible model of Germany is selling goods to China and beating the pants off the American model that is borrowing to by Chinese goods, a process that cannot last.
Could it be that the way forward with Clinton/Bush is actually the impossible dream and that Bernie's socialism is the savior?
29
Please do not mention Jeb! in the same breath as Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Only one of them is a woman and she will make history in America when she stands at the top to represent over one-half of America's population - women. Finally.
15
I agree, there is no comparison between HRC and Jeb Bush. A college drug dealer who, as governor of Florida, deleted tens of thousands of minority voters from the rolls just before the 2000 election and obstructed the ballot recount, just to get his incompetent brother installed in the White House. HRC never did anything that flat-out criminal. Nor did Secretary Clinton ever choose to invade the home of brain-dead Terri Schiavo and abduct her from her family--an act the Supreme Court rightly ruled was unconstitutional.
The GOP continues to falsely claim HRC is "a felon" or worse. If they're looking for actual criminals who are confident that they're above the law, they should check their own debate stage.
The GOP continues to falsely claim HRC is "a felon" or worse. If they're looking for actual criminals who are confident that they're above the law, they should check their own debate stage.
1
Thanks to Senator Bernie Sanders for setting the democrat/independent agenda for the next 100 years. He will make an excellent STRONG Vice President to President Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Everybody who believes in democracy in America wins because with the support of OUR grassroots synergy and a predominantly socially conscious democrat/independent Congress WE can move America ahead for 99% of us.
11
Dear njglea: Though I like Bernie enough, since he is too old to be president he is most definitely too old to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. Who will back up Bernie, Paul Ryan? I don't think so.
I like the idea that Bernie twilight years should be spent in the Senate fighting the good fight as an Independent in a H. Clinton Administration.
DD
Manhattan
I like the idea that Bernie twilight years should be spent in the Senate fighting the good fight as an Independent in a H. Clinton Administration.
DD
Manhattan
1
Democracy in America from the Democratic party? One word for starters - superdelegates. Try harder next time.
njglea writes: "Senator Bernie Sanders... will make an excellent STRONG Vice President to President Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton."
While I support Senator Sanders, I also concede that Secretary Clinton is still the odds on favorite to win the nomination. So while I want the primaries to continue, I also think we must come together this July behind the winner and (regardless of which candidate comes out ahead) a combined ticket with both candidates will be the best way forward to victory.
One other comment: If it is a Clinton/Sanders ticket, President Clinton will be able to sleep easier knowing that the GOP will never dream of impeaching her if Bernie Sanders is her vice president.
While I support Senator Sanders, I also concede that Secretary Clinton is still the odds on favorite to win the nomination. So while I want the primaries to continue, I also think we must come together this July behind the winner and (regardless of which candidate comes out ahead) a combined ticket with both candidates will be the best way forward to victory.
One other comment: If it is a Clinton/Sanders ticket, President Clinton will be able to sleep easier knowing that the GOP will never dream of impeaching her if Bernie Sanders is her vice president.
'So, Sanders continues to pick up steam as voters, particularly young ones, say, “Why not?” '
I can tell you why not. As well meaning as Sanders and his young followers are, that's now how Washington works. If you're electing a president, you are voting for the system, regardless which party the candidate represents. The president is, in fact, the leader of the system - one who shares power across several branches of government.
It is impossible to lead a revolution from within. From within, the most you can do is make modest course corrections. Obamacare was one of those, and that's about as big as it can get - and it was the result of tremendous compromise (even though no Republicans voted for it, they had plenty of input, and it was originally modeled on Mitt Romney's Mass health care initiative).
If you want a revolution, you have to lead it from without - like MLK. In fact, his movement revealed the corruption and prejudice of the system to everyone. And as a result, laws changed.
If you run for president, you must lead from within. And you can't bring together two feuding parties with a platform of Democratic Socialism. There are too many citizens who disagree with the fundamental principles, and as convenient as it would be for young people to ignore them, those views have to be factored in.
Bernie's platform, much like the far Right, does not allow for compromise.
I can tell you why not. As well meaning as Sanders and his young followers are, that's now how Washington works. If you're electing a president, you are voting for the system, regardless which party the candidate represents. The president is, in fact, the leader of the system - one who shares power across several branches of government.
It is impossible to lead a revolution from within. From within, the most you can do is make modest course corrections. Obamacare was one of those, and that's about as big as it can get - and it was the result of tremendous compromise (even though no Republicans voted for it, they had plenty of input, and it was originally modeled on Mitt Romney's Mass health care initiative).
If you want a revolution, you have to lead it from without - like MLK. In fact, his movement revealed the corruption and prejudice of the system to everyone. And as a result, laws changed.
If you run for president, you must lead from within. And you can't bring together two feuding parties with a platform of Democratic Socialism. There are too many citizens who disagree with the fundamental principles, and as convenient as it would be for young people to ignore them, those views have to be factored in.
Bernie's platform, much like the far Right, does not allow for compromise.
51
Yes, and Senator Sanders will make a stellar STRONG Vice President to President Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
7
Excellent comment. I suspect many of Bernie's supporters don't yet have pension plans. When they do, will they rail against Wall St.? Many have parents with pension plans, undoubtedly invested via Wall St. Will Bernie ask his supporters to attack their parents' pension plans? This is not to defend the greed and crime rampant on the Street, but to support your point that when we want to extract ourselves from a thorn bush, we need to be very careful.
2
Common Sense writes: "If you want a revolution, you have to lead it from without - like MLK."
I suspect that that substantial portion of the electorate that admires President Reagan and the revolution which he set in motion would draw a starkly different conclusion (e.g., his appointment of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia).
I suspect that that substantial portion of the electorate that admires President Reagan and the revolution which he set in motion would draw a starkly different conclusion (e.g., his appointment of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia).
2
Bernie Sanders seems to be very familiar with the enclosed Eleanor Roosevelt quotation. I hope South Carolina Democrats too are familiar Mrs. Roosevelt's words, and the words are: "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
I distinctly remember watching on the television in 1963 a speech about the dream of another person, Dr. Martin Luther King. We continue to struggle to achieve Dr. King's dream, and I think Bernie Sanders will help the nation honor the "promissory note" signed by the Founding Fathers of the United States; a note to which every American is the heir and that says all men "would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech can be read here: http://www.archives.gov/press/exhibits/dream-speech.pdf .
I distinctly remember watching on the television in 1963 a speech about the dream of another person, Dr. Martin Luther King. We continue to struggle to achieve Dr. King's dream, and I think Bernie Sanders will help the nation honor the "promissory note" signed by the Founding Fathers of the United States; a note to which every American is the heir and that says all men "would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech can be read here: http://www.archives.gov/press/exhibits/dream-speech.pdf .
48
Dear John S.: Eleanor and Martin, though political, did not hold elected office as Bernie does. Easy to pontificate over the important issues before us when one does not have to deal with the masses out there, both bright and dim and in-between, who by a simple pull of the lever and touch of a screen can decide whether to give a thumb-up or down to Bernie's future.
MLK paid an even greater price to be sure, he gave his life to a cause worth fighting for. Indirectly he and Eleanor's influence remains relevant to this day and beyond. Bernie is just too darn old, but a four years shy of Justice Scalia. Hillary need not use being VP as a back door to the presidency. She is the most qualified of all, and deserves it outright.
New York's 250 winner-take-all delegates in April and California's 500 will prove enormous firewalls should Bernie still be in the fight, which the Clintons assume he will, to thwart an idealist youth-empowered campaign. One hopes that come Summer Sanders supporters do become sullen pack up their backpacks shrug, head home, and are absent on Election Day.
DD
Manhattan
MLK paid an even greater price to be sure, he gave his life to a cause worth fighting for. Indirectly he and Eleanor's influence remains relevant to this day and beyond. Bernie is just too darn old, but a four years shy of Justice Scalia. Hillary need not use being VP as a back door to the presidency. She is the most qualified of all, and deserves it outright.
New York's 250 winner-take-all delegates in April and California's 500 will prove enormous firewalls should Bernie still be in the fight, which the Clintons assume he will, to thwart an idealist youth-empowered campaign. One hopes that come Summer Sanders supporters do become sullen pack up their backpacks shrug, head home, and are absent on Election Day.
DD
Manhattan
1
Dr. King never stood for election. Had he done so, he'd still be alive, because Congress is the place where dreams go to die. How long has Bernie been in DC, and only now coming to life as if there'd never been politics in America before?
1
And if we the people fail to dream of a utopian democracy then the only certainty is that our children will never witness it.
I suspect Sen. Sanders also lost some African-American voters with his insistence that he will do better with race relations than President Obama. That just sounds off. Sen. Clinton knew to avoid that. She also knew to bring up the attitudes of white people. Sen. Sanders only spoke of race relations in terms of African-American poverty and assumed it would get better because there would be more jobs in an equal society. That struck me on a wrong note as well. After all, those segregated cities occurred with his hero FDR. Of course, South Carolina may fall to him as well, who knows. But if he does end up being the front runner, he's got to clean up his act. He simply can't behave that way again in a debate. Trump or Cruz will eat him alive.
32
Trump, Cruz, Marco, HRC are very polished orators in a formal platform of a presidential debate. Bernie, could or may not match them in the joust.
What people are tired of is the slick slam dunk of establishment and money politics. That is what Bernie Revolution is all about - a very simple message of hope and inspiration to the hopeless and trodden regardless of race, creed, color.
What people are tired of is the slick slam dunk of establishment and money politics. That is what Bernie Revolution is all about - a very simple message of hope and inspiration to the hopeless and trodden regardless of race, creed, color.
Considering that for all his brash bluster, Trump is really an empty suit, with hair to go with it.
And, for those who say Sanders has no chance of winning anything, neither does Cruz; a despicable idealogue, who is blind to the reality that America is not a "Christian nation."
And, for those who say Sanders has no chance of winning anything, neither does Cruz; a despicable idealogue, who is blind to the reality that America is not a "Christian nation."
No , Bernie will roast any Repub candidate in 30 seconds.
Charles,
You have a forum, and with it a certain degree of influence that very few people possess.
Instead of saying it can't be done, why don't you help us to find what can be done. If you agree that it is good to rein in big business, to get people access to health care, paid family leave, and public college, then why do you just sit back and attempt to call the shots between two candidates' access to black voters?
You and I will do the exact same thing this year. We will hope that when the people of this country choose the Democratic nominee, all Democrats will show up at the polls and enthusiastically vote for that candidate and the rest of the democratic slate. But you are in a better position than I to unite our party. I wish you and the Times would stop disdaining one Democrat over the other, whether its you and Krugman and most of the editors telling us to vote Bernie is too idealistic or Maureen telling us Hillary how much she doesn't like the Clintons.
We are fortunate to have two good candidates. Both are flawed by the very things that make them attractive - Bernie by his idealism, Hillary by the compromises she has made over the years to stay in the game. Let's highlight the fact that the Democratic Party offers more to the country than the Party of Greed. Let's rise above this and leave the Republicans to their nasty campaign of racism, misogyny, hatred and fear. Let's work together to promote our principles, and expose the lies of their corporatocracy.
You have a forum, and with it a certain degree of influence that very few people possess.
Instead of saying it can't be done, why don't you help us to find what can be done. If you agree that it is good to rein in big business, to get people access to health care, paid family leave, and public college, then why do you just sit back and attempt to call the shots between two candidates' access to black voters?
You and I will do the exact same thing this year. We will hope that when the people of this country choose the Democratic nominee, all Democrats will show up at the polls and enthusiastically vote for that candidate and the rest of the democratic slate. But you are in a better position than I to unite our party. I wish you and the Times would stop disdaining one Democrat over the other, whether its you and Krugman and most of the editors telling us to vote Bernie is too idealistic or Maureen telling us Hillary how much she doesn't like the Clintons.
We are fortunate to have two good candidates. Both are flawed by the very things that make them attractive - Bernie by his idealism, Hillary by the compromises she has made over the years to stay in the game. Let's highlight the fact that the Democratic Party offers more to the country than the Party of Greed. Let's rise above this and leave the Republicans to their nasty campaign of racism, misogyny, hatred and fear. Let's work together to promote our principles, and expose the lies of their corporatocracy.
137
HDNY,
Nice sentiment, but false equivalency in your statement about "flawed" candidates.
Bernie would certainly lose the general election to Kasich or Jeb! and maybe some others. What you call Hillary's "flaw", which is being willing to compromise, is one of her strengths in the general election.
There is no downside to electing Hillary that compares to the downside of losing the Presidency and SCOTUS to perhaps decades of ultra-conservative domination.
Hillary is a pretty good general election candidate, and Bernie is just not attractive or inspiring-- whether as a potential Commander-in-Chief, or "someone you could have a beer with", or a maker of history. He's no Barack Obama; he's maybe Jimmy Carter, and the Republicans will not people forget that.
If you want Dems to work together, let's have them working at the State level on governerships and congressional races, which has been the successful Republican strategy. Let's produce a bench of potential candidates for 2020, even to challenge Hillary, who may run out of steam by then.
Nice sentiment, but false equivalency in your statement about "flawed" candidates.
Bernie would certainly lose the general election to Kasich or Jeb! and maybe some others. What you call Hillary's "flaw", which is being willing to compromise, is one of her strengths in the general election.
There is no downside to electing Hillary that compares to the downside of losing the Presidency and SCOTUS to perhaps decades of ultra-conservative domination.
Hillary is a pretty good general election candidate, and Bernie is just not attractive or inspiring-- whether as a potential Commander-in-Chief, or "someone you could have a beer with", or a maker of history. He's no Barack Obama; he's maybe Jimmy Carter, and the Republicans will not people forget that.
If you want Dems to work together, let's have them working at the State level on governerships and congressional races, which has been the successful Republican strategy. Let's produce a bench of potential candidates for 2020, even to challenge Hillary, who may run out of steam by then.
31
This seems to me the last word on American politics, today or tomorrow. We get caught up in the frenzy to separate the candidates, making small differences more important than the larger ones. The differences between Sanders and Clinton are minor. The differences between the two of them and the Republican field are world changing. That's what we should be emphasizing now, not waiting till after the nominations. Journalists owe the country a much more responsible recognition of these issues, compounded now by the vacancy on the Supreme Court.
Sorry, Arty. Your assertions about the general election are baseless. Sanders polls better than Hillary there. It's truly fantasy to believe a figure as polarizing as Hillary Clinton will pick up more swing voters. It's all about turn out anyway.
Mr. Blow, the mirage comes not from Sanders but from Clinton and yourself. Clinton can realisically accomplish what she promises only because she makes promises pre-approved by Wall Street & corporate America. If you and she want us to embrace that sort of corruption and pretend that it's democracy, then you are the dreamer, and I'm here to throw a wet blanket on your plutocratic visions.
218
Well said, Martin!
Although Bernie Sanders knows the game of politics too well compared to many contenders among the Democratic as well as the Republicans but he came into the game of Presidential Race a way too late.
He could've capitalized on his march for equality in his college days about 50 years back but now with the gentrified new post Barack Obama's America where the Blacks and Latinos have taken such a prominent role in electing their choice of Candidates that a couple of million of College going male and female students that Bernie Sanders is attracting in his campaigns, is not going to give him the White House.
Although Bernie's mayoral stints in Vermont and a prominent role as a Senator of the United States is giving him a huge advantage but that still is not enough to overcome the percentage of votes that Hillary is going to get from the Blacks and Latinos .
Bernie won in new Hampshire primary on the back of the young White voters.
But South Carolina is totally a different ball game with Black and middle-aged White women of South Carolina voting for Hillary in the primary on 20th just like they did with a young Senator of color called Barack Obama in 2008.
So its my gut feeling that Hillary will take the nomination all the way in September on the backs of her coalition of Black, Hispanic, middle aged White women and the Senior (Citizen) Democrats, minus all the young male and female college students who'll either vote for Bernie the Rock Star or no one at all.
He could've capitalized on his march for equality in his college days about 50 years back but now with the gentrified new post Barack Obama's America where the Blacks and Latinos have taken such a prominent role in electing their choice of Candidates that a couple of million of College going male and female students that Bernie Sanders is attracting in his campaigns, is not going to give him the White House.
Although Bernie's mayoral stints in Vermont and a prominent role as a Senator of the United States is giving him a huge advantage but that still is not enough to overcome the percentage of votes that Hillary is going to get from the Blacks and Latinos .
Bernie won in new Hampshire primary on the back of the young White voters.
But South Carolina is totally a different ball game with Black and middle-aged White women of South Carolina voting for Hillary in the primary on 20th just like they did with a young Senator of color called Barack Obama in 2008.
So its my gut feeling that Hillary will take the nomination all the way in September on the backs of her coalition of Black, Hispanic, middle aged White women and the Senior (Citizen) Democrats, minus all the young male and female college students who'll either vote for Bernie the Rock Star or no one at all.
13
It's not just young people who respond to Bernie Sanders. I am 70 years old and all of my friends and relatives are voting for Sanders. I need single payer health care; my grandchildren, thankfully, have European passports and so will probably attend college in Europe free of charge. They will not graduate with thousands of dollars in debt, which is the way the American 1% want it.
1
When a Clinton supporter has a "gut feeling" of their candidate's eventual win rather than a feeling of inevitability, it might signify that confidence is shrinking.
1
We get it Mr. Blow. Your columns all spout your support for the coronation of HRC. But I wonder why you sell out the black community in your support of HRC? Do you really think she is going to undo the harm done to this community by her husband's actions when he was POTUS? You do know that black men as disproportionately incarcerated and that WJC is going all over the country to "apologize" for his mistake in signing bills that permitted this atrocity? How many black children and mothers suffered with his ending welfare as we know it" but yet HRC has supposedly worked her entire life for the betterment of children? How many black families in the GOP states don't have health insurance after the passage of ACA because recalcitrant and racist legislators refused to expand Medicaid? Mr. Sanders speaks to all Americans as to what should be their birth rite: healthcare, education and a living wage. Why would the black community want to vote against their interests by casting their lot with a candidate who will say and do anything just to get their vote? It's just like poor whites who cast their lot with the caustic Republicans. And as a gay man, I really don't get why you (also a gay man) would support someone who only recently "evolved" into accepting you and me as a full participants in American society. Or did you forget about DOMA and DADT?
7:26 AM February 15, 2016
7:26 AM February 15, 2016
226
We've had fifty years of legislators at every level of government, from both parties, being "tough on drugs, tough on crime" and villainizing the underclass. Hillary Clinton was not in office, Bill was, and it's simplistic and really not an accurate view of history to place the entire justice, prison and social service systems at their feet. It's a dream to think that it's all going to change overnight, especially with a Republican Congress and Senate. As President Obama said recently, it will take a generation to reform the justice system. The analogy that the Federal Government is like a battleship that takes time to turn around applies.
And the states that have not expanded Medicaid under Obamacare have instituted that position under the rule of Republican governors and Republican legislatures, not Hillary Clinton.
And as a gay man you need to consider that if the Pied Piper of Burlington doesn't succeed in enticing the moderate middle the way he has young people on social media, pretty much all of the Republican candidates have committed to appointing Supreme Court justices who would vote to overturn same sex marriage.
And the states that have not expanded Medicaid under Obamacare have instituted that position under the rule of Republican governors and Republican legislatures, not Hillary Clinton.
And as a gay man you need to consider that if the Pied Piper of Burlington doesn't succeed in enticing the moderate middle the way he has young people on social media, pretty much all of the Republican candidates have committed to appointing Supreme Court justices who would vote to overturn same sex marriage.
2
An inconvenient truth. BERNIE SANDERS VOTED FOR THE SAME BILL THAT BILL CLINTON PUSHED THROUGH!! Why do you think he hasn't trotted that out yet.
Come on people. Get real. If Bernie Sanders can bring up the Iraq war vote I can bring up his vote on the crime bill that was passed. He does NOT get a pass on his past voting record - sorry.
Furthermore people can evolve. I am sure many parents supporting their gay children "evolved." That is what life is all about.
Maybe Bernie might evolve on reparations too.
Come on people. Get real. If Bernie Sanders can bring up the Iraq war vote I can bring up his vote on the crime bill that was passed. He does NOT get a pass on his past voting record - sorry.
Furthermore people can evolve. I am sure many parents supporting their gay children "evolved." That is what life is all about.
Maybe Bernie might evolve on reparations too.
When a black person (in this case, one who has advocated tirelessly for the black community) disagrees with you about how to reach goals, is he inevitably a "sell out"?
Gloria Steinem says women should vote for Hillary because she's a woman. You say blacks will dislike Sanders because he criticized Obama, and they're black. I don't see much difference.
199
Here is the difference:
The first is an admonition (although it is that of Madeline Albright and not Gloria Steinem).
The second is a prediction.
The first is an admonition (although it is that of Madeline Albright and not Gloria Steinem).
The second is a prediction.
"But saying to people who believe in Sanders’s vision that it is a mirage is injurious to their sense of wonder and determinism. It says: Stop believing that the impossible is possible."
Hogwash. What it's saying to people who believe in Sanders's vision is that they are oblivious and too foolish to calculate risks, rewards and political realities; that it is pointless to stop negotiating with ourselves and unimportant that the conversation -- and possibilities -- be forcibly dragged back from the precipice of becoming established, acceptable right-wing reality; that there is a remote chance that Clinton will be any less opposed, obstructed and vilified than Sanders would be.
This leads me to think that you, Mr. Blow, are the dreamer, rather than your imagined, condescending version of Sanders's supporters.
There are many pragmatic, nuanced arguments that could be made for nominating Sanders, but not allowing the Republicans to choose the starting ground and frame the acceptable limits during the bruising battles to come is surely not the least of them.
Hogwash. What it's saying to people who believe in Sanders's vision is that they are oblivious and too foolish to calculate risks, rewards and political realities; that it is pointless to stop negotiating with ourselves and unimportant that the conversation -- and possibilities -- be forcibly dragged back from the precipice of becoming established, acceptable right-wing reality; that there is a remote chance that Clinton will be any less opposed, obstructed and vilified than Sanders would be.
This leads me to think that you, Mr. Blow, are the dreamer, rather than your imagined, condescending version of Sanders's supporters.
There are many pragmatic, nuanced arguments that could be made for nominating Sanders, but not allowing the Republicans to choose the starting ground and frame the acceptable limits during the bruising battles to come is surely not the least of them.
95
There is nothing wrong with believing that the impossible is possible. 'The Impossible Dream' or 'the Quest' is a song that will be felt through the ages.
But one also has be able to accept that even if that dream is fulfilled, the ones fighting for it now, might not be able to see the fruits of their labor. And this is what I see many folks wanting to do, parading down the street and kissing strangers like at the end of WWII.
I hear what Bernie Sanders is saying. But destroying capitalist corporations and the works will only happen if we the people stop helping them by using their products, I get that there are some products that are necessary. But at least can stop with the purchasing of expensive items that soon wear out. Or we can stop giving in to the commericiallzation that we find ourselves looking at on TV or hearing on the radio.
We complain about these companies, but we don't take the time to find out which companies these companies are affiliated with. Boycotts were very affected way back when. When we the people make companies aware that we know that their 'bottom line' is helped by us, then eventually, something will have to give.
But one also has be able to accept that even if that dream is fulfilled, the ones fighting for it now, might not be able to see the fruits of their labor. And this is what I see many folks wanting to do, parading down the street and kissing strangers like at the end of WWII.
I hear what Bernie Sanders is saying. But destroying capitalist corporations and the works will only happen if we the people stop helping them by using their products, I get that there are some products that are necessary. But at least can stop with the purchasing of expensive items that soon wear out. Or we can stop giving in to the commericiallzation that we find ourselves looking at on TV or hearing on the radio.
We complain about these companies, but we don't take the time to find out which companies these companies are affiliated with. Boycotts were very affected way back when. When we the people make companies aware that we know that their 'bottom line' is helped by us, then eventually, something will have to give.
They ARE oblivious and too foolish to calculate risks, rewards, and political realities. If Sanders and Clinton had roughly equal chances of winning in November, I'd vote for Sanders. But there's a reason Republican operatives are working to get him the nomination. They too have calculated risks, rewards, and political realities.
1
What a shock that Blow is a stooge for the Wall St. establishment!
I'm tired of the media putting voters into small little boxes and telling us how our box is suppose to vote. I'm tired of the media telling us it's not possible to do the things the voters want done. We need to stop listening to what the media talking heads say (I don't see why their opinion is anything better than another opinion and the comment section is more informative and reflective of the people's opinions) and vote for who will pursue the policies we feel are best for the Country. Leave the Republicans out of it. They will block EVERYTHING any democrat tries to do be it Clinton or Sanders. Ignore Republicans who break their oath of office and spit on the Constitution. Perhaps the bully pulpit of a President who can inspire us will allow more like minded voters to elect Democrats who will help make the vision an reality. Why would we elect a millionaire, establishment, big bank supporter, war hawk, who informs us that we should not dream? I find her campaign to be uninspiring and her attitude to be in effect entitlement personified.
232
Bernie mentions Teddy Roosevelt and FDR all the time now. He picked FDR as his most important president. Both were part of the 1% and -in relative terms-the billionaires of their times. Both were bigger hawks than Hillary Clinton but he ignores that too. Bernie badmouths Hillary for taking pac money but he backed Obama who took as much pac funds as she did or more. We were able to fight republicans and level the playing field in spending because we used pac money too.
The minute Scalia died, Bernie lost: without pac money 2016 is no longer winnable. Spending for senate and the presidential race will increase 10 fold with the future of the court involved and Bernie refuses to be any part of pac money. Winning the 2016 and picking Scalia's replacement is now the revolution we need, bigger than any Bernie could have engineered. It is between two parties now, not third party outsiders like Bernie or Bloomberg or Trump. Bernie is already gone.
The minute Scalia died, Bernie lost: without pac money 2016 is no longer winnable. Spending for senate and the presidential race will increase 10 fold with the future of the court involved and Bernie refuses to be any part of pac money. Winning the 2016 and picking Scalia's replacement is now the revolution we need, bigger than any Bernie could have engineered. It is between two parties now, not third party outsiders like Bernie or Bloomberg or Trump. Bernie is already gone.
2
The question is who can win in November. Neither Clinton or Sanders will be able to do anything, you say (except appoint a Supreme Court Justice to two). Okay, then, but Trump or Cruz or Kasich will be able to do plenty. So whichever one -- Clinton or Sanders -- has the better chance to winning will be the main determinate of my vote.
1
What about Nevada? Wasn't that one of the firewall states?
I think asking Clinton "how?" is just as valid as Sanders, and he has an even more detailed platform than she does. Plus you've missed the fundamental point---if you don't disagree with Sanders' platform, why do you think it would be difficult to achieve those goals, especially since poll after poll shows broad public support for those ideas (GIYF)? Sanders has said why. You know why. Sanders has identified the key issue: money/corruption in politics. The future of American Democracy itself is at stake here and young people are acutely/instinctively aware of this.
I think asking Clinton "how?" is just as valid as Sanders, and he has an even more detailed platform than she does. Plus you've missed the fundamental point---if you don't disagree with Sanders' platform, why do you think it would be difficult to achieve those goals, especially since poll after poll shows broad public support for those ideas (GIYF)? Sanders has said why. You know why. Sanders has identified the key issue: money/corruption in politics. The future of American Democracy itself is at stake here and young people are acutely/instinctively aware of this.
267
I almost fell out of my chair when Hillary said in her closing statement that we needed to take on racism, sexism, and discrimination against the LGBT community, after repeatedly making the case that Sanders was being unrealistic. Of course we need to fight those things, but Hillary, pray tell, "how?"
The future of American democracy is not here in the form of Bernie Sanders. Why?
He cannot win a general election, and no amount of wishing will make it so.
Let's pretend for a minute that Bernie Sanders could win the general election. He gets even a sliver of his agenda through Congress how?
He cannot win a general election, and no amount of wishing will make it so.
Let's pretend for a minute that Bernie Sanders could win the general election. He gets even a sliver of his agenda through Congress how?
1
well,I yes I (hehehe) have total faith on how events in the world will meet my spiritual communism coming out of my enchanted forest to serve all the people.
As of today,what I noticed is how 75 year old Bernie sander's voice began to crack with a strange cough as Hillary Clinton's voice remained strong and her movements in the debate was a sign of her robust health,I believe
On the other hand I can see how her beautiful daughter ,Chelsea , says to her : Sometimes listening to Bernie Sanders he makes me want to vote for him
Hillary says to her daughter:" Me too. But look what happened to Angela Merkel when she began to talk like Bernie and now they want to hunt her down tar and feather her and send her to live with the "losers" as a Mother Theresa without the support of the Roman Catholic Church and among men if left alone would grab her by the hair and rape her. we have to be careful how fast we move in bringing spiritual communism to the rif raf
As of today,what I noticed is how 75 year old Bernie sander's voice began to crack with a strange cough as Hillary Clinton's voice remained strong and her movements in the debate was a sign of her robust health,I believe
On the other hand I can see how her beautiful daughter ,Chelsea , says to her : Sometimes listening to Bernie Sanders he makes me want to vote for him
Hillary says to her daughter:" Me too. But look what happened to Angela Merkel when she began to talk like Bernie and now they want to hunt her down tar and feather her and send her to live with the "losers" as a Mother Theresa without the support of the Roman Catholic Church and among men if left alone would grab her by the hair and rape her. we have to be careful how fast we move in bringing spiritual communism to the rif raf
2
Charles are all people classified as "black" by the US Census Bureau African-Americans?
According to Christina Greer, author of Black Ethnics (2013), there are three ethnic groups put by the USCB in the black box. You only mention African Americans whom you also refer to as "black". But Christina Greer writes about African immigrant Americans and Caribbean immigrant Americans (and their children) and I believe that you will find that these ethnicities do not always fit very well into your "one-name fits all" system.
I do not know how many of these two never-mentioned ethnicities there are in the US since the Census Bureau registers by "race" rather than country of birth, which it should be doing. Perhaps you can tell me.
My prime example is Professor Dorothy Roberts, self-described to me as black by color but not African American. I wonder who she will vote for in the primary in Pennsylvania. I won't ask her but you might talk with her to learn about her thoughts on the ethnicities you never mention.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen USA-SE
According to Christina Greer, author of Black Ethnics (2013), there are three ethnic groups put by the USCB in the black box. You only mention African Americans whom you also refer to as "black". But Christina Greer writes about African immigrant Americans and Caribbean immigrant Americans (and their children) and I believe that you will find that these ethnicities do not always fit very well into your "one-name fits all" system.
I do not know how many of these two never-mentioned ethnicities there are in the US since the Census Bureau registers by "race" rather than country of birth, which it should be doing. Perhaps you can tell me.
My prime example is Professor Dorothy Roberts, self-described to me as black by color but not African American. I wonder who she will vote for in the primary in Pennsylvania. I won't ask her but you might talk with her to learn about her thoughts on the ethnicities you never mention.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen USA-SE
8
Are there large numbers of these two other classifications of black people in, say, South Carolina?
This crop, a very small one of Democratic challengers for the Presidency are fine with me. Frankly, I do not care which one wins. After the frightening circus of Republican offerings for the Presidency I feel confident that none of the Democratic potential candidates would mean America's standing in the world would fall. So, it is with confidence I pay little attention to any candidates of either party. I have heard enough. My strategy is to vote BLUE because this election season that is where rational, reasonable people are residing.
16
Charles your right about many many things NOT this one. Sanders was authentic convincing and had a true eye on the prize mission
Hillary was phony untrustworthy condescending and trying to run with Obamas goals but she is not black and not Obama. I despise the ego entitled Clinton approach that they deserve the persistency. No one does!
It has to be earned.
Yes the black vote is diverse as are black people. So let's see what happens.
Hillary was phony untrustworthy condescending and trying to run with Obamas goals but she is not black and not Obama. I despise the ego entitled Clinton approach that they deserve the persistency. No one does!
It has to be earned.
Yes the black vote is diverse as are black people. So let's see what happens.
86
Everyone keeps saying Sen. Clinton is phony and only out for herself while Sen. Sanders is authentic and cares only for others but I see no evidence of this. If Sen. Clinton were a phony only out for herself, she would have baked cookies happily, wore dresses not pantsuits, wore helmut head not hairbands, and not, definitely not tried to implement health care. She would have worn pearls and gone to pretty causes, as most modern first ladies have.
So this doesn't cut it for me.
Sen. Sanders has not much claim to authentic other than calling himself a socialist and being an old unkept man with a loud voice. Options not available to Sen. Clinton. The last time she let herself go at all (by wearing a scrunchy as Sec. of State) people started whispering she had cancer. And his claim to caring about others, is his sticking to an ideal, but that is an idea, not people, not human beings, and it shows when he talks. He has no time for how people feel about an issue or individual responses. He does a Rubio and give the same canned response to everything.
Nope, your interpretation is all about gender, because really, there is no situation women are considered "authentic" and also socially acceptable, let alone professional and presidential. To be female is to be considered phony, before you put so much as lipstick on—and its isn't as if make up is optional for female politicians.
Or to put it another way. Why hasn't British labor party put up a female prime minister, ever?
So this doesn't cut it for me.
Sen. Sanders has not much claim to authentic other than calling himself a socialist and being an old unkept man with a loud voice. Options not available to Sen. Clinton. The last time she let herself go at all (by wearing a scrunchy as Sec. of State) people started whispering she had cancer. And his claim to caring about others, is his sticking to an ideal, but that is an idea, not people, not human beings, and it shows when he talks. He has no time for how people feel about an issue or individual responses. He does a Rubio and give the same canned response to everything.
Nope, your interpretation is all about gender, because really, there is no situation women are considered "authentic" and also socially acceptable, let alone professional and presidential. To be female is to be considered phony, before you put so much as lipstick on—and its isn't as if make up is optional for female politicians.
Or to put it another way. Why hasn't British labor party put up a female prime minister, ever?
16
South Carolina is also part of the old Confederacy as has a different culture than the much more liberal NE. It not only has different demographics but It's a red state, not a blue.
A presidential candidate cannot win with only the support of the extreme left liberals. They also have to garner support from moderates and some swing conservatives who will vote against the extremist Republican candidate on the ballot.
A presidential candidate cannot win with only the support of the extreme left liberals. They also have to garner support from moderates and some swing conservatives who will vote against the extremist Republican candidate on the ballot.
1
Bernie Sanders mild criticism of Obama, the endorsement of the Congressional Black Caucus, and the dominate voter demographic in South Carolina of older, black women women, mean game over for Bernie Sanders in South Carolina. Despite self serving, disingenuous attempts by the ratings obsessed cable media to suggest that an aging Jewish socialist has a chance against Hillary Clinton, the shift from the paleness of Iowa and New Hampshire to the relative deep color of South Carolina, foreshadows the inevitable sunset on Bernie's presidential ambitions.
16
"An aging Jewish socialist." Is is the Jewish part or the old part or the socialist part that you think is so upsetting. Or is it the combination of the three.
Mr. Shipp,
Important clarification here. The Congressional Black Caucus did not endorse Clinton. Check out Rep. Keith Ellison from Minnesota and others.
It was only a PAC suspiciously named the Congressional Black Caucus Political Action Committee. It's made up of several lobbyists and a couple of representatives to try and fool us all.
Slitherin-style omit-ese, glossy PR journalism, are hard at work. I do not accept that lobbying, and other corporate bribery must continue.
Important clarification here. The Congressional Black Caucus did not endorse Clinton. Check out Rep. Keith Ellison from Minnesota and others.
It was only a PAC suspiciously named the Congressional Black Caucus Political Action Committee. It's made up of several lobbyists and a couple of representatives to try and fool us all.
Slitherin-style omit-ese, glossy PR journalism, are hard at work. I do not accept that lobbying, and other corporate bribery must continue.
In thinking about South Carolina and the competition of the candidates versus Barack Obama's popularity there: impossible to picture any of the Republican candidates singing "Amazing Grace" there, probably not Bernie Sanders either, and maybe Hillary Clinton.
Could it be possible a vote could be determined by a song? This year anything could be a determining factor at the polls.
Say all you want about Barack Obama, Marco Rubio. You will never come close to Barack Obama's sensitivity or his "Amazing Grace."
Could it be possible a vote could be determined by a song? This year anything could be a determining factor at the polls.
Say all you want about Barack Obama, Marco Rubio. You will never come close to Barack Obama's sensitivity or his "Amazing Grace."
15
For those who argue for incrementalism I offer a four word rejoinder: "with all deliberate speed".... that was the phrase used by the Supreme Court in the Brown vs. Board of Education case 1954 to describe the pace at which we would eliminate the "separate but equal" practices of Plessy v. Ferguson... over six decades later, we're pretty much stuck where we were at that time in terms of integration... worse off in terms of income and wealth equality... worse off in terms of our infrastructure.... and STILL spending billions on defense. I haven't been classified as a "young voter" for nearly four decades but I am among those who believes we have dithered enough! If nothing else Mr. Sanders is forcing to look at the pace of social change in the country and ask the question: "Why not NOW?"
99
The 2016 election is now the most important in memory, with the future of the Supreme Court at stake.
The only thing that should matter is that the Democrats win, or the country will retreat back to the 19th century, courtesy of the GOP.
If Democratic bickering causes this calamity, then I would blame Sanders who sounds like a Tea Party crank, bellowing purity, as if words alone are enough.
Are you listening Democrats?
The only thing that should matter is that the Democrats win, or the country will retreat back to the 19th century, courtesy of the GOP.
If Democratic bickering causes this calamity, then I would blame Sanders who sounds like a Tea Party crank, bellowing purity, as if words alone are enough.
Are you listening Democrats?
44
And i would blame the Democratic Party, who dug their own grave here, they have no one to blame but themselves. I'll bang this drum again - your party had 8 years to develop a field of worthy and electable candidates, but you chose to kung fu them out of the way for a mess of a candidate that was always going to be unpalatable to a large chunk of the electorate, with very good reason. Keep digging, what with the rigged debate schedule, superdelagates, and soliciting lobbyist cash now for their PAC.
But no worries, i'm sure the Democrats (29% of the registered electorate) will fall in line. Good luck with the Independents though, they're only 44% of the electorate, who needs them anyway.
But no worries, i'm sure the Democrats (29% of the registered electorate) will fall in line. Good luck with the Independents though, they're only 44% of the electorate, who needs them anyway.
5
Trump v Sanders. I'm guessing you think Trump will take it.
Trump v. Sanders? Each one has been declared unelectable. So where does that leave us?
So we're not supposed to support Sanders because he pledges to do wondrous things we all support? And we can't believe in that because it's impossible? Huh? We're talking restoring American ideals here, not building a unicorn. I personally am not ready to accept defeat before we've even tried. And I can't believe a New York Times columnist I respect would urge that. Strange times indeed.
358
You sound like my wonderful idealistic friends who voted for Nader. A lot of us learned our lesson from that fiasco.
Given that the Republican debate featured non-stop screaming and many accusations of lying and dirty tricks, it's a pretty weak argument to say that Bernie Sanders was rude.
Hillary may have the most detailed policy statements, but she is far from being either a credible or inspirational spokesperson for her views. She is a weak Presidential candidate and always has been. That isn't because of Bernie, she manages to look bad on her own.
It makes me sick when I hear Republicans fawn over Reagan who was in fact not very smart. The last thing we need is liberals saying no one can criticize a Clinton, whether it is Bill or Hillary.
Hillary may have the most detailed policy statements, but she is far from being either a credible or inspirational spokesperson for her views. She is a weak Presidential candidate and always has been. That isn't because of Bernie, she manages to look bad on her own.
It makes me sick when I hear Republicans fawn over Reagan who was in fact not very smart. The last thing we need is liberals saying no one can criticize a Clinton, whether it is Bill or Hillary.
42
Oh for heaven's sake, Jerry. Can you think of one other political figure who has endured so much criticism than Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton? Yet, she fights on for women around the world. Fortunately, there are enough thinking men and women in America who know that she is the MOST QUALIFIED CANDIDATE WITH THE MOST POLITICAL CAPITAL to be OUR next President.
13
Don't worry -- liberals and progressives don't just criticize their own; they cannibalize them.
What baffles me is why so many of the best NYT readers/commenters, obviously highly educated and incisive, have staked their reputation on support of Mr. Sanders.
I am also worried that in their wild support for Sanders, they have joined the Republicans in a vicious attack of Hillary Clinton, such that should she become the nominee (as I expect), she might be too wounded to withstand Republican onslaught.
Even more worrying, given the huge emotional investment of Sanders' supporters, it is not inconceivable that some of them might actually not vote at all in November if Sanders loses the nomination - so far have they gone in rejecting Mrs Clinton.
This is critical, given the battle now sure to come over the nomination of Antonin Scalia's replacement (whether or not President Obama's nominee is blocked). Sanders' extreme progressive supporters might be emotionally exhausted and politically deflated if Sanders loses, so much so that the Democratic flank will be diminished - just at the moment we'll need energetic mobilization for the fight ahead.
Finally, I'm beginning to detect a trait of character in Bernie Sanders that's not appealing. His success so far appears to be making him more disrespectful of Mrs Clinton. He interrupts her, wags his fingers, and displays the condescending impatience of someone who imagines that he only is right on the issues. I fear that if he loses, he might not be gracious enough to rally for a Democratic victory in the general election.
I am also worried that in their wild support for Sanders, they have joined the Republicans in a vicious attack of Hillary Clinton, such that should she become the nominee (as I expect), she might be too wounded to withstand Republican onslaught.
Even more worrying, given the huge emotional investment of Sanders' supporters, it is not inconceivable that some of them might actually not vote at all in November if Sanders loses the nomination - so far have they gone in rejecting Mrs Clinton.
This is critical, given the battle now sure to come over the nomination of Antonin Scalia's replacement (whether or not President Obama's nominee is blocked). Sanders' extreme progressive supporters might be emotionally exhausted and politically deflated if Sanders loses, so much so that the Democratic flank will be diminished - just at the moment we'll need energetic mobilization for the fight ahead.
Finally, I'm beginning to detect a trait of character in Bernie Sanders that's not appealing. His success so far appears to be making him more disrespectful of Mrs Clinton. He interrupts her, wags his fingers, and displays the condescending impatience of someone who imagines that he only is right on the issues. I fear that if he loses, he might not be gracious enough to rally for a Democratic victory in the general election.
34
The DNC cast its lot with Hillary, abandoning its core principles. I suspect she was promised this in 2008, along with the Sec. of State position. She has used her and her husband's entire time in office to blatantly fill her family's treasury with hundreds of millions of dollars, most of which was donated by corporate, foreign, and Wall Street interests, and she panders to every audience with her carefully vetted "message" of just keeping things the same. She has no problem calling herself strong (she will in fact be a hawk on foreign affairs, an area where she has botched up most everything), but if Bernie so much as questions her grifter behavior, suddenly she's being slammed for being a woman! Good luck with that. The DNC (and Planned Parenthood, for that matter) will pay a heavy price for trying to sell us the Clintons again. I hope to God we don't all pay the price with a Republican president.
1
Unlike Hillary's masterful speech in support of Obama in 2008! It's definitely concerning as Bernie is not a real Democrat and has never shown fealty to the party.
1
Because clnton is clearly corrupt. And I'd be asking the clinton supporters why they can't easily wee that. Ultimately corruption hurts everyone regardless of race, religion etc. How do you think we got to the position we are currently in. Gilens has proven (along with others) that the donor class gets veto power. There is no other way to fix things. Clinton will not fix that, it's why the family has been given well over 100 million dollars,and hundred, and hundreds of millions more in a slush fund called the clinton foundation. Try reading this, https://editorialexpress.com/cgi-bin/conference/download.cgi?db_name=SAE...
As long as government functions for the increasing wealth of the wealthy african americans are going to be stuck in poverty, and more white americans weil join them. It's that simple
As long as government functions for the increasing wealth of the wealthy african americans are going to be stuck in poverty, and more white americans weil join them. It's that simple
1
Once again the establishment is counting on fooling uneducated blacks into believing that the so-called criticisms of another black (Obama) should be enough to vote for the status qui candidate. Well, I have news for you...many uneducated blacks have children and grandchildren are educated and who will get them up to speed on Hillary's intentions.
It is no surprise that the establishment is against the idea of free college, as it is based on an old concept used when we were slaves: keep them stupid and they will have to work for you forever.
It is no surprise that the establishment is against the idea of free college, as it is based on an old concept used when we were slaves: keep them stupid and they will have to work for you forever.
38
The more Sanders' message about economic and legal justice gets out to black Americans, the more prominent black thinkers and leaders get behind his message, the more black Americans realize that the clintons threw them under the bus in favor of placating the radical right and wall street, they will realize that Sanders is an ally. Sanders has a vision of a better America for all, but a much much better America especially for demographics with high percentage of poor and working class people such as blacks and Latinos.
As much as I love your writing Charles Blow, you do your readers, especially your black readers, a huge disservice with your blatant pro HRC bias.
As much as I love your writing Charles Blow, you do your readers, especially your black readers, a huge disservice with your blatant pro HRC bias.
82
Sad to see the product of the newsroom and decades of "No, we can't" in your column today. It has been done, and in this country, yet. If you want to join the chorus of naysayers, it will not be the nail in anyone's coffin. Hillary is too corrupt to inspire, so Bernie it is, brokered convention be damned.
52
Hillary is NOT corrupt. If she was you would have included proof, but of course you are just trying to smear her with lies.
1
I am a longtime fan of Charles Blow's quantitative analyses of political and social/cultural issues. However, in this case I think he has made the classic error - long recognized in financial analysis - of making predictions based upon historical data that has not been adjusted to account for material changes that have occurred more recently. Specifically, Mr. Blow's primary sources for comparison are from the 2008 Democratic primary. In 2008, however, the devastating effects of the huge financial collapse and deep recession were only just beginning to be felt, and its causes and "causers " not yet clearly identified. Therefore, I think that the voter data cannot reflect the level of rage that has since emerged to fuel the totally unanticipated success so far of both Sanders and Trump. I would advise people to withhold acceptance of Mr. Blow's opinions while they consider this standard investment industry caveat:
"While due care has been used in the preparation of forecast information, actual results may vary in a materially positive or negative manner. Past performance is not a reliable indication of future performance. "
"While due care has been used in the preparation of forecast information, actual results may vary in a materially positive or negative manner. Past performance is not a reliable indication of future performance. "
54
Although Obama has done a good job, the economic growth did not trickle down to African American community in every aspect of life such as health, education, employment and housing. This is because all the money borrowed went to bailout the banks. Sanders will break up the banks, tax the rich and send the money to poor in the form free college education and health care. African Americans know whether their lives improved or not. Obama has no experience in 2008. Clinton ran against him and said whole bunch of things why Obama should not get democratic nomination. But, blacks voted for him. Now, Clinton is doing the same thing to Sanders, and blacks are not going to vote for him because he is white. The vote is for future, not the past. Clinton is past, Sanders is future.
49
Sanders has not a chance that he can break up even one bank. Enough with the fairy wishes.
And while you are at it. Just what has Bernie accomplished in his 30 year in government for us? I'm waiting.
And while you are at it. Just what has Bernie accomplished in his 30 year in government for us? I'm waiting.
6
Time to connect the dots on Secretary Clinton's clearest, yet unacknowledged criticism of President Obama. The core claim of Secretary Clinton's candidacy is she is a progressive who gets things done. In President Obama's first two years in office, he was a progressive President who got things done with almost exclusive support from elected Democrats in Congress. Then Republicans gained majorities in the House then the Senate and all legislative progress on domestic issues ended. President Obama was never able to get things done with Republicans in Congress. Why does Secretary Clinton think she will succeed where the President failed? She won't. Her policies are not possible without new Democratic majorities in Congress. And only Senator Sanders is calling for the political revolution necessary to reclaim the Congress.
92
President Obama got alot of things done! That is why the republicans hate him so much. He outsmarted them at every corner.
3
I completely agree with you, Kevin. Senator Sanders will energize the electorate in a way Secretary Clinton never will. I know of many Independents and moderate Republicans who would never even consider anyone with the last name Clinton. Yet many are giving Sanders a second look, agreeing with his message of getting the money out of politics.
1
Obama got HillaryCare passed so I don't think he failed with "Her policies".
2
Please people, I too think well of Sen. Sanders, but now, more than ever, with
the Supreme Court a political football, we MUST be able to elect a democratic
president. Ergo, I think we have to get behind Secty. Clinton as she has a better
chance of the election by the whole country than does Sanders. Young people,
especially young women - think carefully! You have a lot of rights to lose if a
republican, especially the slate of them we see know, are elected.
the Supreme Court a political football, we MUST be able to elect a democratic
president. Ergo, I think we have to get behind Secty. Clinton as she has a better
chance of the election by the whole country than does Sanders. Young people,
especially young women - think carefully! You have a lot of rights to lose if a
republican, especially the slate of them we see know, are elected.
38
I disagree. Hillary is hated by millions already, and untrusted by a 100 million. Sanders would have a much better shot at defeating a Republican in the general election than Hillary ever will.
1
This argument of "we have to get Clinton there if we want another Democrat as president," is the one I find most pathetic of all. Not even Trump uses it!
1
How does Clinton have a better chance in the general election? Republicans seem to despise her. Bernie, so far, has done much better with undecideds. I don't know if he has a better chance than Clinton, but i haven't heard a compelling argument that favors her chances.
1
It's odd that Bernie Sanders' ideas are viewed as radical, or "wondrous wishfulness". Other western, industrialized countries have had most of the things he's proposing, if not all of them, for decades. Britain, for example, introduced universal health care in 1948. Just think of the advantages that something like free tuitions at public colleges would have for American businesses; I'm surprised that Republicans themselves haven't proposed it.
100
I am hoping that the Reverend Al Sharpton, after he meets with Hillary Rodham tomorrow, will endorse her.
9
He likely will, since, like Wasserman Schultz, etc, is all part of the status quo establishment. Its rigged in HRCs favor, so he will want to go along for the ride.
3
I hear Arawak Brawley now lives in the south. Maybe she can join and "add" to the legitamcy.
3
I am hoping if he supports Bernie that you will follow his lead.
2
Point taken for South Carolina but Nevada is different; we have two really great Democratic candidates for President with Bernie and Hillary. We have a meaningful discussion of methods and even goals. I am happy with any voter decision because either would be 10 times better than any Republican. Democrats owe a great debt to Bernie for raising awareness of the core economic issues of the very rich looting the nation. Hillary is masterful, has excellent intentions, and her skill is a joy to watch.
The primaries will tell the tale. Soon lets us battle the wacko Republicans, be it narcissistic know-nothing Trump, callow wind up doll Rubio, or the billionaires' deceitful puppet Cruz.
The primaries will tell the tale. Soon lets us battle the wacko Republicans, be it narcissistic know-nothing Trump, callow wind up doll Rubio, or the billionaires' deceitful puppet Cruz.
24
A better column would have been one that explores WHY blacks support Clinton over Sanders 3-1, rather than one that simply accepts this at face value.
38
Blacks know reality much more than Whites do.
2
This weekend PBS has been replaying the monumental series by Ken Burns, "The Civil War". It has reminded me that our nation has lived through darker days and democracy survived. Lincoln, FDR and Obama in my opinion have presided over our nation during it's darkest hours. I hope to see Clinton in the White House next year as I feel she is the best candidate from either party, not because she is a woman, like me. But whomever is elected, we have lived through worse times and we will continue as a nation. It is of my opinion that we have never been shown to not be a great nation.
18
Banksters, waterboarding, heck, slavery - we are not a great nation. We muddle through, deciding to do the right thing when all else has failed. Best thing about the US is we keep trying; we roll with change, and it's time for a change.
3
Bernie Sanders would lose to Kasich or even Jeb! in the general election.
That would mean one of them-- or even Mitt the last-minute savior, who knows-- would appoint at least a couple of Justices.
The current SCOTUS is the way it is because of President Clinton's evil, un-idealistic triangulation, and that soft, over-conciliatory President Obama, who didn't magically give us single payer system and other betrayals. Otherwise, there would be 8 ultraconservatives, to which a ninth would be added this year.
Oh, and there might be a couple more rational and less partisan Justices if not for Noble, Truth-Telling Ralph Nader.
Look, all you young (and older) Berniebots, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but you should be putting your energy and your money into flipping the Senate and creating a bench of candidates for 2020, when Hillary would either retire or be ripe for a younger challenger who could actually win the general election.
Don't be like the Republicans in 2012 who convinced themselves (by virtue of only talking to each other) that everyone hated President Obama so much that Mitt would sweep to victory. Hillary is the best shot to win, and the downside of losing is really awful.
That would mean one of them-- or even Mitt the last-minute savior, who knows-- would appoint at least a couple of Justices.
The current SCOTUS is the way it is because of President Clinton's evil, un-idealistic triangulation, and that soft, over-conciliatory President Obama, who didn't magically give us single payer system and other betrayals. Otherwise, there would be 8 ultraconservatives, to which a ninth would be added this year.
Oh, and there might be a couple more rational and less partisan Justices if not for Noble, Truth-Telling Ralph Nader.
Look, all you young (and older) Berniebots, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but you should be putting your energy and your money into flipping the Senate and creating a bench of candidates for 2020, when Hillary would either retire or be ripe for a younger challenger who could actually win the general election.
Don't be like the Republicans in 2012 who convinced themselves (by virtue of only talking to each other) that everyone hated President Obama so much that Mitt would sweep to victory. Hillary is the best shot to win, and the downside of losing is really awful.
34
Bernie Sanders would lose to Kasich or even Jeb! in the general election.
Same argument HRC and the Establishment used against Obama. Hmmm...
Same argument HRC and the Establishment used against Obama. Hmmm...
6
jojo,
As one of those who supported President Obama from the start, two thoughts:
1. Bernie Sanders is no Barack Obama.
2. Barack Obama beat a grumpy, opinionated old white guy.
Just sayin'.
As one of those who supported President Obama from the start, two thoughts:
1. Bernie Sanders is no Barack Obama.
2. Barack Obama beat a grumpy, opinionated old white guy.
Just sayin'.
3
So true. Everyone should be focusing on supporting the Democratic candidates down ticket. I'm sure that Bernie Sanders has spent years and countless hours at small and large Democratic events over the past 30 years, throwing his significant Independent weight behind their very tough battles against the Republicans.
Oh. Forgot that he has only been a member of the Democratic Party for only 3 months. I suspect all of those successful and unsuccessful Democratic candidates out there who have worked for years to get things done, won't mind throwing themselves into the fray to get him elected.
Hillary was there all along, of course. She helped them for years and years. Now seriously, who has the most to offer the candidates down ticket?
Oh. Forgot that he has only been a member of the Democratic Party for only 3 months. I suspect all of those successful and unsuccessful Democratic candidates out there who have worked for years to get things done, won't mind throwing themselves into the fray to get him elected.
Hillary was there all along, of course. She helped them for years and years. Now seriously, who has the most to offer the candidates down ticket?
2
"injurious to their sense of wonder and determinism."
No we must not injure their sense of wonder and determinism by mentioning realism. Are we talking about Republicans or Democrats here?
No we must not injure their sense of wonder and determinism by mentioning realism. Are we talking about Republicans or Democrats here?
12
Now Sanders, the clarity candidate, has to do a nuanced dance around his criticisms of Obama, of whom these black voters are likely to be protective and to whom they are likely to have allegiance.
--------------------------
So, blacks vote black, especially black women?
Is that the takeaway from this piece?
Nobody covers the people, or the issues, they're all just opining on the horse race, and even when they do, they try to "maybe this..." and "maybe that"... stick their finger in the wind to measure, without coming down one way or the other.
Blacks vote black seems to be the only prediction here?
--------------------------
So, blacks vote black, especially black women?
Is that the takeaway from this piece?
Nobody covers the people, or the issues, they're all just opining on the horse race, and even when they do, they try to "maybe this..." and "maybe that"... stick their finger in the wind to measure, without coming down one way or the other.
Blacks vote black seems to be the only prediction here?
16
Senator Sanders had just won NH by a substantial amount. He came close to winning in Iowa. Considering these two facts, I wondered during the debate of which Charles Blow spoke why his behavior from the beginning and throughout was "testy, abrasive and often flat-out rude". I also wondered why earlier in the day, prior to the debate, he chose to criticize the President to a MSNBC reporter knowing that he would be facing a big contest in South Carolina, a state where President Obama has won twice so handily. His actions are a mystery to me, especially since he is a veteran politician and obviously intelligent.
12
Honesty and integrity. HRC has done plenty of criticizing of the President, until it was politically unwise to do so.
7
Mr. Blow, I'm terribly disappointed in this column. You, as so many of your Times lodge brothers and sisters do, continue to look under the hood of the Pinto Bernie Sanders is driving without once doing the same for the Rolls-Royce in which Hillary Clinton is chauffeured. What you're really writing is that black folks should be grateful to the Clintons for paying any attention to them at all because no one else did. HRC, in my view, treats the AA voting bloc much like Stevie Wonder sang back in the day: Signed, Sealed and Delivered. What, exactly, have the Clintons done to assume any "right" to the black vote? Please name one accomplishment of lasting value. You complain that the Vermont Senator's "criticisms" of President Obama were "rude"? They're mild compared to the disapproval she registered in the fall of 2014 when Hillary Clinton said Mr. Obama (and Attorney General Eric Holder) dropped the ball post-Ferguson. Maybe the Clinton cartel think they've sewn up South Carolina's AA vote because, 2008 excepted, it's come too easily to them before. Mr. Blow, you should know that it's impossible to respect a people you think you own. I want a different direction and Bernie offers that; the Madame Secretary promises more of the tired same. Let's wait and see how the "heavyweight" states (Ohio, Pennsylvania, California, Illinois, for example) judge his candidacy. What will you write the morning after those primary results come in?
307
Ït´s impossible to respect a people you think you own.¨....
That puts a finger right on it.
One candidate has this sense of entitlement, and says the words she thinks we want to hear, depending on her audience, while the other has the same message for all of us, and includes us in the process.
Bernie 2016!
That puts a finger right on it.
One candidate has this sense of entitlement, and says the words she thinks we want to hear, depending on her audience, while the other has the same message for all of us, and includes us in the process.
Bernie 2016!
Charles, by way of summary, as is the case with his economic plan to provide fee free services for everyone and everything, neither will Bernie's primary numbers.
4
The dripping condescension of this piece is stomach-churning. Sanders and his supporters are dismissed as pathetic dreamers. "Reality" demands Hillary and more of the same. Big change isn't even worth talking about, never mind voting for.
What a depressing, defeatist attitude. It cedes all political territory to the intransigent Republicans. It validates their obstructionism by accepting it as a given. In effect, it advocates collaborating with Congressional sclerosis.
It invites America not to hope and work for better, but to endure the status quo.
I will not vote for any of that while a valid, challenging alternative is at hand. Bernie needs to go as far as possible in the primaries to keep his vision alive and keep his proposals on the table.
What a depressing, defeatist attitude. It cedes all political territory to the intransigent Republicans. It validates their obstructionism by accepting it as a given. In effect, it advocates collaborating with Congressional sclerosis.
It invites America not to hope and work for better, but to endure the status quo.
I will not vote for any of that while a valid, challenging alternative is at hand. Bernie needs to go as far as possible in the primaries to keep his vision alive and keep his proposals on the table.
500
Poor little Bernie and his supporters.
8
"I will not vote for any of that while a valid, challenging alternative is at hand. Bernie needs to go as far as possible in the primaries to keep his vision alive and keep his proposals on the table"
OK, that sounds reasonable.
And I do hope that you will turn out and vote for Hillary in the general election IF Bernie fails to secure the Democratic nomination. I hope all Sanders supporters can see how critical it is to turn out and vote Democratic, and not hold onto however disappointed and anti-Hillary they may feel, when it comes to the general election.
There is too much at stake.
OK, that sounds reasonable.
And I do hope that you will turn out and vote for Hillary in the general election IF Bernie fails to secure the Democratic nomination. I hope all Sanders supporters can see how critical it is to turn out and vote Democratic, and not hold onto however disappointed and anti-Hillary they may feel, when it comes to the general election.
There is too much at stake.
3
Well, the NYT has been for HRC for ever, so why stop now?
4
So apparently if Sanders doesn't win South Carolina he and his supporters should just pack it in, and cede to Hillary Clinton? Are we talking about the same the South Carolina that hasn't sided with the Democratic candidate in a presidential election in more than 30 years? Why on God's green Earth should South Carolina, of all states, be given veto power over who the Democratic candidate is? Hillary Clinton's ability to win South Carolina is meaningless. Let's see which candidate voters in actual blue states want.
419
i think it is fair to say that any of us who believe that the impossible is possible should stop believing that. probably ditch out your feeling that the improbable is probable or the incoherent coherent, etc.
4
We'll always have slavery, women will never get the vote, and you can't get a man to the moon.
1
"on the horizon are many more states that look more like South Carolina than Iowa and New Hampshire." This is true for the Confederate states, but not true for the rest. The most striking thing about South Carolina is the low level of education for the average resident.
Whoever the Democratic nominee is, South Carolina will go into the Republican column in November. (Uneducated voters tend to vote for Republicans.)
The question pundits need to ask is, which of the two Democratic candidates is more electable in November?
Clinton's biggest problem is that for most states, she has the highest unfavorable rating. That is not likely to change. She is perceived as a panderer and a hypocrite, especially on social issues, whereas most states are either moderate or conservative on social issues.
Bernie will lose in South Carolina, particularly because the Clintons have orchestrated a "campaign" by unprincipled African Americans to pepper him with questions about reparations. (Note how they never ask Hillary Rodham about reparations.)
Any Presidential candidate who supports reparations would not stand a chance in November, and the Clintons know this. That is why they instigated this dirty campaign to ask Sanders about reparations.
Whoever the Democratic nominee is, South Carolina will go into the Republican column in November. (Uneducated voters tend to vote for Republicans.)
The question pundits need to ask is, which of the two Democratic candidates is more electable in November?
Clinton's biggest problem is that for most states, she has the highest unfavorable rating. That is not likely to change. She is perceived as a panderer and a hypocrite, especially on social issues, whereas most states are either moderate or conservative on social issues.
Bernie will lose in South Carolina, particularly because the Clintons have orchestrated a "campaign" by unprincipled African Americans to pepper him with questions about reparations. (Note how they never ask Hillary Rodham about reparations.)
Any Presidential candidate who supports reparations would not stand a chance in November, and the Clintons know this. That is why they instigated this dirty campaign to ask Sanders about reparations.
174
Neither candidate may be electable, given the factor ignored by most commentators--the periodic swing of the political pendulum. At the same time, too many so-called Democrats have bought the GOP message that Hillary is a liar, a crook, impeachable on day one. Democrats are no wiser than Republicans--neither party has a firm grasp on reality.
2
Your comment is full of unsubstantiated slurs. I am so glad you are not Team Clinton.
3
"on the horizon are many more states that look more like South Carolina than Iowa and New Hampshire."
Well, until you get to upper mid-west , etc. They are more like Bernie Territory.
Well, until you get to upper mid-west , etc. They are more like Bernie Territory.
2
Tip of the hat to you, Charles M. Blow. Finely written, clearly stated. If with Bernie, voters must ask how, then with Hillary, voters must ask why? For good or bad, she is tied to Bill. I remember his immediate withdrawal of the nomination of Harvard professor Lani Guinier for Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, based on GOP objections to her writings on affirmative actions. I remember, too, that Prof. Guinier had been in their wedding, as a bridesmaid! I remember his sitting out Africa's most horrific genocide in Rwanda. I remember his dismal failure in Haiti twice, an invasion and after the hurricane. He could not intervene in Africa to save a million lives but did invade Haiti in peace time, ironically, in Operation Upholding Democracy. The touch of the Clintons have been more mess than Midas.
If Bernie is a dreamer (and I am not yet sure he gets racism as a structural system with its own tangled matrix of denials and support (like the white supremacist robo-calls made in Iowa for Trump that no GOP candidate disavowed), Hillary is a fighter; but too often the conflicts are of her own making!
If Bernie is a dreamer (and I am not yet sure he gets racism as a structural system with its own tangled matrix of denials and support (like the white supremacist robo-calls made in Iowa for Trump that no GOP candidate disavowed), Hillary is a fighter; but too often the conflicts are of her own making!
38
Charles...this column lacks nuance and lacks the serious Blow luster of your normally fine and impeccable thoughts.
Your failure to mention Bernie Sanders' leading role at the 1962 civil rights sit-in at the University of Chicago administration building to protest the segregated campus housing policy deserves a South Carolina loudspeaker.
Here's student Bernie speaking truth to university power in 1962:
“We feel it is an intolerable situation, when Negro and white students of the university cannot live together in university owned apartments”.
Do South Carolina's Democratic and black voters know about that ?
According to TIME Magazine, Sanders was also part of the effort to desegregate Chicago public schools and participated in the 1963 March on Washington led by Martin Luther King and Sanders was arrested for his actions.
These events took place over 50 years ago.
Don't South Carolina voters at least deserve an honest history lesson from you, Mr. Blow, one of the great champions of African-American rights and civil rights ?
Why isn't your entire column about these critical civil rights contributions from Bernie Sanders ?
It's a bit curious, isn't it ?
Bernie Sanders has been fighting for the least of us - black and white - his entire life.
That may be too much 'Bernie-splaining' for your tastes, but you know I have a point that you have inexplicably whitewashed from your column.
There is simply no reason for South Carolina's black voters not to Feel The Bern.
Your failure to mention Bernie Sanders' leading role at the 1962 civil rights sit-in at the University of Chicago administration building to protest the segregated campus housing policy deserves a South Carolina loudspeaker.
Here's student Bernie speaking truth to university power in 1962:
“We feel it is an intolerable situation, when Negro and white students of the university cannot live together in university owned apartments”.
Do South Carolina's Democratic and black voters know about that ?
According to TIME Magazine, Sanders was also part of the effort to desegregate Chicago public schools and participated in the 1963 March on Washington led by Martin Luther King and Sanders was arrested for his actions.
These events took place over 50 years ago.
Don't South Carolina voters at least deserve an honest history lesson from you, Mr. Blow, one of the great champions of African-American rights and civil rights ?
Why isn't your entire column about these critical civil rights contributions from Bernie Sanders ?
It's a bit curious, isn't it ?
Bernie Sanders has been fighting for the least of us - black and white - his entire life.
That may be too much 'Bernie-splaining' for your tastes, but you know I have a point that you have inexplicably whitewashed from your column.
There is simply no reason for South Carolina's black voters not to Feel The Bern.
735
Except maybe that he lives in and represents a state that is 95% white?
9
Bernie's been in Congress over a quarter century, and you blame the media for his lack of name recognition?
2
Good, Socrates, tell Charles Blow, like it is.
"Why isn't your entire column about these critical civil rights contributions from Bernie Sanders ?
It's a bit curious, isn't it ?"
Of all people, the great moralist and eloquent writer, who is usually criticizing our appalling criminal justice and civil rights problems, and our huge inequality, but now, it's different.
But in this election it seems he, like some other liberals on the paper, will stay resolutely with the centrist, establishment Democratic party. It's a matter of influence and prestige.
So what is the Dem party establishment protecting? Obviously, their lifeline to the big money elites, who finance their politicians.
This is the problem Bernie Sanders has to surmount. His policies were once accepted--with taxes, regulation, unions, education, etc. They worked to support a strong middle class that other countries hoped to emulate.
Now these other countries have surpassed us in support of the majority of citizens. But Sanders ideas are labeled quixotic. Our own history goes down the memory hole.
When the establishment sees a big threat to their excessive power, these are the labels they use--quixotic, pie in the sky, unworkable, too expensive, politically unacceptable.
We see through this very well.
"Why isn't your entire column about these critical civil rights contributions from Bernie Sanders ?
It's a bit curious, isn't it ?"
Of all people, the great moralist and eloquent writer, who is usually criticizing our appalling criminal justice and civil rights problems, and our huge inequality, but now, it's different.
But in this election it seems he, like some other liberals on the paper, will stay resolutely with the centrist, establishment Democratic party. It's a matter of influence and prestige.
So what is the Dem party establishment protecting? Obviously, their lifeline to the big money elites, who finance their politicians.
This is the problem Bernie Sanders has to surmount. His policies were once accepted--with taxes, regulation, unions, education, etc. They worked to support a strong middle class that other countries hoped to emulate.
Now these other countries have surpassed us in support of the majority of citizens. But Sanders ideas are labeled quixotic. Our own history goes down the memory hole.
When the establishment sees a big threat to their excessive power, these are the labels they use--quixotic, pie in the sky, unworkable, too expensive, politically unacceptable.
We see through this very well.
9
I don't see the point of telling the voters of South Carolina how they are supposed to vote. Citing a month-ago poll is about as relevant as citing a year-ago poll in New Hampshire, which would have had Clinton far ahead. We can all wait another couple of weeks and see the results. Then we can decide who is really more electable - Clinton or Sanders.
32
abo writes from Paris: "Citing a month-ago poll is about as relevant as citing a year-ago poll in New Hampshire, which would have had Clinton far ahead." While I agree with your statement, there is much more recent polling that still shows Hillary Clinton with a commanding lead in South Carolina:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/poll-south-carolina-still-solidly-for-donald...
http://americanresearchgroup.com/pres2016/primary/dem/scdem.html
The second of those two polls shows Clinton leading Sanders by 55 points among African Americans.
While I tend to agree with President Ford's observation that "the only polls that matter are on election day", it is still not likely that Sanders will carry South Carolina in the primary there twelve days from now. None of this to say that either candidate should take anything for granted in this or any other primary contest yet to come.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/poll-south-carolina-still-solidly-for-donald...
http://americanresearchgroup.com/pres2016/primary/dem/scdem.html
The second of those two polls shows Clinton leading Sanders by 55 points among African Americans.
While I tend to agree with President Ford's observation that "the only polls that matter are on election day", it is still not likely that Sanders will carry South Carolina in the primary there twelve days from now. None of this to say that either candidate should take anything for granted in this or any other primary contest yet to come.
2
"His message is clear and resonant — that we must rein in big business and stop their unfair practices, embrace some common-sense measures as universal rights — like access to health care, paid family leave and free public college to all — curtail the corruptive influence of big money on government, and reverse the trend of income inequality."
Do you believe Bernie's message provides a better path for America's future, or do you support Hillary's preservation of the status quo? A message she constantly nuances depending on the audience? Hillary's message is loud and clear--money will control politics forever and nothing will really ever change to benefit those in the bottom 90%. If you are lucky, the power elite will let you hold on to some of what you have.
Hillary supporters now charge Sanders' is "testy, abrasive and flat out rude." Well if "testy, abrasive and flat out rude" is pointing out Hillary is bought and paid for by special interests, then you are exactly right. You cannot conclude someone who just in the last two years accepted tens of millions from finance, banks, drug companies, private prisons, etc., is not beholden to those interests.
So Mr Blow, we finally have a candidate pointing out the unmentionable in politics. The "low blow" you mention. Money in politics is killing our democracy.
For your next column Mr. Blow, I want you to answer the question: How is Hillary going to achieve any change when she owes so much to special interests?
Do you believe Bernie's message provides a better path for America's future, or do you support Hillary's preservation of the status quo? A message she constantly nuances depending on the audience? Hillary's message is loud and clear--money will control politics forever and nothing will really ever change to benefit those in the bottom 90%. If you are lucky, the power elite will let you hold on to some of what you have.
Hillary supporters now charge Sanders' is "testy, abrasive and flat out rude." Well if "testy, abrasive and flat out rude" is pointing out Hillary is bought and paid for by special interests, then you are exactly right. You cannot conclude someone who just in the last two years accepted tens of millions from finance, banks, drug companies, private prisons, etc., is not beholden to those interests.
So Mr Blow, we finally have a candidate pointing out the unmentionable in politics. The "low blow" you mention. Money in politics is killing our democracy.
For your next column Mr. Blow, I want you to answer the question: How is Hillary going to achieve any change when she owes so much to special interests?
385
I think the question here is who can work with the GOP. Sanders has little chance as his plans and ideas as opposite as you can get from theirs. Clinton knows the washington game and can get some things done and hold on to what has been done. I also believe Sanders is unelectable, if the GOP wins look out!!
7
ScottW,
your question is how can Hillary ever achieve any of her programs when she owes so much to the special interests. I want to turn the question around. We love to paint Bernie as unspoiled or un-compromised, but the left must know better. 95 percent of his votes in congress have been with the party he calls the establishment, that he has bad-mouthed and refused to join for 40 years. He bad-mouths them and then caucuses with them, eats lunch with them every Wednesday for 26 years with them and depends on them for committee assignments. Are you sure then that he isn't compromised by such ties, that he isn't part of the establishment? Lets go on: he raises money for them and takes money from them. Is that enough to label him hypocritical? How about if you measure 40 years of statements about the democratic party against his decision to run under their auspices and use their mailing lists?
But none of it matters after Scalia's death. Everything just got a thousand times more serious. Spending on senate/presidential race will increase ten-fold and Bernie's eye catching denouncements of big money will make him unelectable: pac money on both sides will climb higher than ever imagined possible and Bernie's dreamy refusal to take pac money makes him unelectable and makes coat-tails and party affiliation profoundly important. Obama will endorse and that too will help bury Bernie's dream of faux revolution: indeed a dem pick replacing Scalia will be the real revolution.
your question is how can Hillary ever achieve any of her programs when she owes so much to the special interests. I want to turn the question around. We love to paint Bernie as unspoiled or un-compromised, but the left must know better. 95 percent of his votes in congress have been with the party he calls the establishment, that he has bad-mouthed and refused to join for 40 years. He bad-mouths them and then caucuses with them, eats lunch with them every Wednesday for 26 years with them and depends on them for committee assignments. Are you sure then that he isn't compromised by such ties, that he isn't part of the establishment? Lets go on: he raises money for them and takes money from them. Is that enough to label him hypocritical? How about if you measure 40 years of statements about the democratic party against his decision to run under their auspices and use their mailing lists?
But none of it matters after Scalia's death. Everything just got a thousand times more serious. Spending on senate/presidential race will increase ten-fold and Bernie's eye catching denouncements of big money will make him unelectable: pac money on both sides will climb higher than ever imagined possible and Bernie's dreamy refusal to take pac money makes him unelectable and makes coat-tails and party affiliation profoundly important. Obama will endorse and that too will help bury Bernie's dream of faux revolution: indeed a dem pick replacing Scalia will be the real revolution.
3
Here's a possible answer for you. Have to say i enjoyed it!
http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/08/opinions/hillary-clinton-be-proud-of-wall-...
http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/08/opinions/hillary-clinton-be-proud-of-wall-...
The know-it-all pundits have been wrong so far. If I were you Charles I would not continue making predictions. I believe that Sanders will win enough states to get the nomination. We certainly need another FDR. Go Bernie!
192
It aint over til the fat lady sings. All Bernie Sanders needs is exposure, which the mainstream media is doing its best to block. And the exposure he does get from the powers that be seeks to diminish him in every conceivable way possible. Even though I think he will win in landslides, even that becomes questionable in the hands of corporate media and the Democrat establishment, now firmly, it appears, in the camp of corporate power. The delegates do not necessarily bow to the will of the voters as demostrated in New Hampshire. I agree with Sanders..ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Power to the people! Restore the democratic processes to the public. It is our democracy, not the oligarchs!
277
Think about that. Until the fat lady sings. Another put down women have been living with for years. Some even laugh.
8
A fine parade of slogans there at the end. Very Sanders-esque. Slogans without realistic tactical back-up. Bernie will not be FDR; he'll be McGovern.
1
I'm surprised that you would use the Republican pejorative "Democrat Establishment" rather than "Democratic." To me it suggests that the level of antipathy toward mainstream Democrats among fervent Bernie supporters is over the top.
3
I thought about Bernie yesterday when taking a cruise around fancy waterfront neighborhoods in Naples, FL, and heard the guide say "of the 400 billionaires in America, 175 have a part-time residence (mansion is better word) here"
Bernie has changed the language of wealth inequality forever. It's hard not to see massive opulence without thinking how many made their billions as financial managers versus founders of companies. He frames it well, and repeatedly.
But I agree with you, Charles: during the debate he was rude and condescending, and consistently bristling with outrage. It was hard to watch and it really turned me off. The message is great, but the style of the messenger leaves much to be desired. The message also needs to be expanded, to include numerous issues and disaffected classes in relation to his his core message.
If the nominee, I will vote for him but he's simply not my first choice. I
Know I'm in a minority here, for reasons I've cited numerous times, but as I witness so much GOP negativity, I'm at least glad the Democrats have nailed the major problems in wealth, corruption, wages, voting rights, and criminal justice inequity. Both candidates have detailed plans to change these dynamics, so it will be interesting how it all shakes out.
But let's be clear: nobody can take any voting block for granted in today's America.
Bernie has changed the language of wealth inequality forever. It's hard not to see massive opulence without thinking how many made their billions as financial managers versus founders of companies. He frames it well, and repeatedly.
But I agree with you, Charles: during the debate he was rude and condescending, and consistently bristling with outrage. It was hard to watch and it really turned me off. The message is great, but the style of the messenger leaves much to be desired. The message also needs to be expanded, to include numerous issues and disaffected classes in relation to his his core message.
If the nominee, I will vote for him but he's simply not my first choice. I
Know I'm in a minority here, for reasons I've cited numerous times, but as I witness so much GOP negativity, I'm at least glad the Democrats have nailed the major problems in wealth, corruption, wages, voting rights, and criminal justice inequity. Both candidates have detailed plans to change these dynamics, so it will be interesting how it all shakes out.
But let's be clear: nobody can take any voting block for granted in today's America.
35
I suspect your interpretation of Sanders' style is different from mine. I discount the trappings of his delivery perhaps because I don't perceive them as meant to be taken personally, I see the style as just that and a style of arguing with which I grew up -- my relatives argued like that all the time across the dinner table. Clinton's way of delivering her arguments, on the other hand, I have real trouble with -- perhaps again it's an interpretation arising from cultural differences, but I find her smug, condescending, and unpleasant in her willingness to deliver distortions in cutting remarks and then punctuate them with a facial expression.
52
@diana: interesting. Everyone does bring their own associations to Their perceptions. Something to discuss if we meet for coffee in April.
3
It is not the 400 billionaires, but the 23,000,000 millionaires that are the real power in the US. Bernie may want to take them on, but if they get together and resist him, he is unlikely to be successful.
2
Suppose there is a country some place where girls can't go to school. And a politician runs on a promise of educating girls.
And people all over that country say, it's a pipe dream. Unicorns and snowflakes.
That's what we''re looking at here, in the US. What Sanders is proposing is not, never-heard-of-it, never-done-anywhere stuff. His ideas, especially universal healthcare, are considered a given in other countries.
If his ideas are ludicrous no where else, why are they ludicrous here? Simple--it suits some people that those goals never be achieved. Just like not educating girls in other countries.
And people all over that country say, it's a pipe dream. Unicorns and snowflakes.
That's what we''re looking at here, in the US. What Sanders is proposing is not, never-heard-of-it, never-done-anywhere stuff. His ideas, especially universal healthcare, are considered a given in other countries.
If his ideas are ludicrous no where else, why are they ludicrous here? Simple--it suits some people that those goals never be achieved. Just like not educating girls in other countries.
572
Sadly, such dreams are ludicrous here because the Congress is elected by gerrymandered districts in a majority of states, which make it nearly impossible for Democrats to prevail, thus pretty much insuring a Congress just like the one we have who sit on their hands and refuse to cooperate or compromise unless it is all their way. If the Democrats had gotten out the vote in 2010, a census year, they might have had a chance today. All of our negative legislators have been the consequence of Democrats not voting in large numbers in that one crucial year. We have four more years until the next census.
For now the only hope in local elections for Comgress lies in independent voters moving to the Democrats. Until independent voters acknowledge how treasonous the GOP Congress has been to the Constitution and to them, they will continue to vote for those who work for the benefit of the guys and the corporations that pay the election bills. BTW this doesn't mean that these officials are bought on specific issues, but it does mean that they will continue to wear blinders when it comes to the middle class, to tax realignment, to civil rights, to SC Justice votes etc. A Democrat in the WH will still have to deal with the intransigent and anti-democratic GOP, unless Independents vote Democratic for Congressman and senator. That's the sad consequence of NOT voting in 2010 and of believing in "the good will" of Republicans.
For now the only hope in local elections for Comgress lies in independent voters moving to the Democrats. Until independent voters acknowledge how treasonous the GOP Congress has been to the Constitution and to them, they will continue to vote for those who work for the benefit of the guys and the corporations that pay the election bills. BTW this doesn't mean that these officials are bought on specific issues, but it does mean that they will continue to wear blinders when it comes to the middle class, to tax realignment, to civil rights, to SC Justice votes etc. A Democrat in the WH will still have to deal with the intransigent and anti-democratic GOP, unless Independents vote Democratic for Congressman and senator. That's the sad consequence of NOT voting in 2010 and of believing in "the good will" of Republicans.
3
Ironic since Clinton made this very idea closer to reality as Secretary of State, creating position in embassies and offices to support girls education and status around the world. Positions that will not be easy to remove, even by republicans.
4
"about to meet the wall in South Carolina. There most factors favor Clinton."
So what if Hillary can win primaries in Republican states? Of course she can, she is Republican-Lite herself.
She'll never carry even one of those firewall states in the general election against a real Republican. Democrats can only win despite the firewall states.
So what if Hillary can win primaries in Republican states? Of course she can, she is Republican-Lite herself.
She'll never carry even one of those firewall states in the general election against a real Republican. Democrats can only win despite the firewall states.
410
Yes, Hillary will appeal to republican voters over many of their potential nominees. You say that like it is a bad thing.
16
She's Republican-lite only in terms of the Republican party of yesteryear.
11
"She'll never carry even one of those firewall states in the general election against a real Republican. Democrats can only win despite the firewall states."
True, if democrats keep trashing her. I am a democrat with many Republican family members and friends. They would consider Hillary, never Bernie, but I fear that just as the Republicans would like, at the end of this primary season, they probably won't. And... did you hear that a very conservative agency in Nevada hired a polling company that came out with a tie for Bernie and Hillary? Guess what- they aren't polling the Republicans.
True, if democrats keep trashing her. I am a democrat with many Republican family members and friends. They would consider Hillary, never Bernie, but I fear that just as the Republicans would like, at the end of this primary season, they probably won't. And... did you hear that a very conservative agency in Nevada hired a polling company that came out with a tie for Bernie and Hillary? Guess what- they aren't polling the Republicans.
1
Also from that other world we lost, what we must gain back:
“There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”
“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
― Robert F. Kennedy
Do we listen to those who call on us this way once again, or do we listen to those who tell us we just can't do it, better to triangulate?
“There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”
“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
― Robert F. Kennedy
Do we listen to those who call on us this way once again, or do we listen to those who tell us we just can't do it, better to triangulate?
388
Am I hearing echos of "A choice; not an echo"? We all know how well that worked last time.
3
Those are the times that Sander's message evokes. I've tried to explain to my young adult children how heady it was to live in that time when our leaders exhorted us to be our best, most thoughtful selves, to create a society that would fulfill the promise of justice for all. Our country lost so much when those voices went still.
Triangulation is still better than standing still or moving backwards. Life ain't perfect.
3
"Stop believing that the impossible is possible."
Not quite. Stop believing that the difficult is impossible.
"'We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." John F. Kennedy, Address at Rice University, September 12 1962.
That is what Sanders is saying. It has been far too long since we've heard that. We can do this. Let's roll.
Not quite. Stop believing that the difficult is impossible.
"'We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." John F. Kennedy, Address at Rice University, September 12 1962.
That is what Sanders is saying. It has been far too long since we've heard that. We can do this. Let's roll.
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In my state, one of the country's poorest, they are planning to drug test the poor and cutting school and college funding. They are voting to protect religious leaders who violate any law in the name of religion (cough, gay rights) and they just waived permitting and training for concealed carry despite law enforcement telling them not to do so. They voted to end prevailing wage and made WV a right to work state. They aren't going to vote for free college and health care for the poor here when they just voted in the tea party. I have no faith in Sanders ability to convince these voters that any of this works for the middle class.
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Elizabeth Murray -- Michgian is also dominated by crazy Republicans right now, see Flint, MI.
Do we fight them, or go quietly?
Do you imagine they'll be more reasonable if we limit our aims to only little things on the margins?
Do we fight them, or go quietly?
Do you imagine they'll be more reasonable if we limit our aims to only little things on the margins?
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Many of us were inspired by JFK's orations; Senator Sanders' speeches, accompanied by flailing arms and pointing fingers, frequently leave us feeling scolded and lectured to. His presence in the primary gives voice to a resonant and necessary message, and his consistency is admirable and unquestioned, but I think Hillary Clinton stands a far better chance of defeating any candidate that the Republicans choose.
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Lately when I’ve seen Mr. Obama give a speech or talk to a reporter, I feel a visceral sense of pride that sometimes stings my eyes. Race may have been a defining factor eight years ago, but intelligence, poise, strength of character, empathy and grace are what define him now, and what set him so far apart from the bitter, ignorant and vulgar purveyors of chaos who want to drag us back to the dark ages.
He is not above criticism. Because he's reasonable, he thought he could reason with Congress. Because he is smart, he thought he could engage in thoughtful discussions with Republicans. He felt empathy with the victims of gun violence, and thought the pain of loss would touch these conservatives’ hearts. He misjudged, because they lacked the one thing that would have made that possible.
But Obama will be remembered for doing the impossible. A virtually unknown black man named Hussein leaped over Hillary Clinton to become president of the United States. People were fed up with Bush and Cheney. They were ready for a revolution.
Today, Hillary Clinton says she will do whatever can be done to negotiate a better deal for all Americans. We will surely go around in circles, but we won’t get a revolution.
But all pundits agree that Bernie Sanders can't prevail. The gap is too wide. He can’t get the black vote. His plans aren’t practical. A Sanders win isn't possible.
But we've seen what's possible, and that's not going to cut it. We need the impossible. Go Bernie.
He is not above criticism. Because he's reasonable, he thought he could reason with Congress. Because he is smart, he thought he could engage in thoughtful discussions with Republicans. He felt empathy with the victims of gun violence, and thought the pain of loss would touch these conservatives’ hearts. He misjudged, because they lacked the one thing that would have made that possible.
But Obama will be remembered for doing the impossible. A virtually unknown black man named Hussein leaped over Hillary Clinton to become president of the United States. People were fed up with Bush and Cheney. They were ready for a revolution.
Today, Hillary Clinton says she will do whatever can be done to negotiate a better deal for all Americans. We will surely go around in circles, but we won’t get a revolution.
But all pundits agree that Bernie Sanders can't prevail. The gap is too wide. He can’t get the black vote. His plans aren’t practical. A Sanders win isn't possible.
But we've seen what's possible, and that's not going to cut it. We need the impossible. Go Bernie.
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Well said, thank you.
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We need the possible. Vote for Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton to be OUR next President of the United States, with Senator Bernie Sanders as her STRONG Vice President and watch the impossible happen - twice. She is the Woman for the Job!
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Either Democratic candidate would be far better for our nation than any of the Republican contenders. I prefer Hillary Clinton but will happily vote for Bernie Sanders if he's the nominee. But I remain suspicious of those who champion one Democrat while demonizing the other. With so much Republican money in this race, massive trolling efforts should not be unexpected.
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Much the same way Barack Obama had the potential to accomplish immensely more than he did had he been capable of a different tone, approach, arguments and deployable political skills, Bernie talks an excellent utopian game but lacks everything necessary to deliver even a small part of his vision. We do America no favor by lionizing a scold whose only real skill appears to be the defining of problems but not their solutions. After all, we can buy definitions from any erstwhile saint, but a leader who can deliver is priceless. Bernie ain’t priceless.
Most factors favor Hillary not merely in South Carolina but, overwhelmingly, nationally. They do so for reasons that go well beyond the black vote and establishment depth: of the two remaining options on the left, one candidate promises far less than the other but creates the perception that she can deliver what she DOES promise, or some piece of it anyway; and the other creates no such perception. The innocent young alone captivated by cant and no real plan can’t carry Sanders to a nomination.
If it’s a wall that Bernie’s approaching with his fire, then it’s one composed of reason and a practical appreciation of what is possible given electoral realities in Congress. The last thing America needs is a president who becomes a lame duck at his inaugural.
But, heck, let’s root for Bernie, because Bloomberg likely would run if Bernie’s the Dem nominee, and if he did we might land ourselves a REAL president for our money.
Most factors favor Hillary not merely in South Carolina but, overwhelmingly, nationally. They do so for reasons that go well beyond the black vote and establishment depth: of the two remaining options on the left, one candidate promises far less than the other but creates the perception that she can deliver what she DOES promise, or some piece of it anyway; and the other creates no such perception. The innocent young alone captivated by cant and no real plan can’t carry Sanders to a nomination.
If it’s a wall that Bernie’s approaching with his fire, then it’s one composed of reason and a practical appreciation of what is possible given electoral realities in Congress. The last thing America needs is a president who becomes a lame duck at his inaugural.
But, heck, let’s root for Bernie, because Bloomberg likely would run if Bernie’s the Dem nominee, and if he did we might land ourselves a REAL president for our money.
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Two billionaires against a man of the people? That's what Bernie talks about all the time and it would be there for all to see in the flesh. Bring it on!
http://www.rimaregas.com/2016/02/bloomberg-confirms-every-point-sanders-...
http://www.rimaregas.com/2016/02/bloomberg-confirms-every-point-sanders-...
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Rima, love:
It's 3:00 AM your time. You really need to take an Ambien and get some sleep.
But based on the broad-based support that Trump has trumped up, which I suspect he can develop on your side of the line as well as mine, I don't think the issue would be relative net worth. And, frankly, If the choices otherwise would be Trump or Bernie, I'd pay a lot to see Bloomberg take it, outright or in the House of Representatives.
It's 3:00 AM your time. You really need to take an Ambien and get some sleep.
But based on the broad-based support that Trump has trumped up, which I suspect he can develop on your side of the line as well as mine, I don't think the issue would be relative net worth. And, frankly, If the choices otherwise would be Trump or Bernie, I'd pay a lot to see Bloomberg take it, outright or in the House of Representatives.
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Yes, Richard, Rima cares a great deal, not just about herself, but the plight of many. It keeps her up at night.
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"In last week’s debate, a testy, abrasive and often flat-out rude Sander...”"
And a low blow it was. At this point in the 2008 election, the Clinton team was bleeding Black voters because of some racially-motivated statements and materials that were put out. Right on schedule and in Tennessee, no less, Bill Clinton said this to his audience of possible Hillary voters, to raucous applause:
"... Steve Cohen's remark that I was just a stand-in for the first Black president. I'm happy to do that, but you know what else we learned from the human genome? We learned that unless your ancestors, every one of you, are 100 percent, 100 percent from sub-Saharan Africa, we are all mixed-race people,”
Earlier in the week, Meryl Streep trended on social media after making a very similar statement. One cannot be born and raised in this nation and not be infected with its racial bias, either at the conscious or subconscious level. One cannot get off an airplane (as opposed to the proverbial boat) and not be affected by it.
What Mr. Blow calls rudeness is a known cultural difference. Bill Clinton and Bill Clinton are big finger waggers, each for different cultural reasons. One is Jewish from Brooklyn, while the other is white and Anglo from down South. Rudeness and bias are measured by one's words and actions.
Sanders was not rude in the least. He gave back only a bit of what he was served.
---
On Race-baiting http://wp.me/p2KJ3H-1Zh
On hand-talking http://wp.me/p2KJ3H-1Yc
And a low blow it was. At this point in the 2008 election, the Clinton team was bleeding Black voters because of some racially-motivated statements and materials that were put out. Right on schedule and in Tennessee, no less, Bill Clinton said this to his audience of possible Hillary voters, to raucous applause:
"... Steve Cohen's remark that I was just a stand-in for the first Black president. I'm happy to do that, but you know what else we learned from the human genome? We learned that unless your ancestors, every one of you, are 100 percent, 100 percent from sub-Saharan Africa, we are all mixed-race people,”
Earlier in the week, Meryl Streep trended on social media after making a very similar statement. One cannot be born and raised in this nation and not be infected with its racial bias, either at the conscious or subconscious level. One cannot get off an airplane (as opposed to the proverbial boat) and not be affected by it.
What Mr. Blow calls rudeness is a known cultural difference. Bill Clinton and Bill Clinton are big finger waggers, each for different cultural reasons. One is Jewish from Brooklyn, while the other is white and Anglo from down South. Rudeness and bias are measured by one's words and actions.
Sanders was not rude in the least. He gave back only a bit of what he was served.
---
On Race-baiting http://wp.me/p2KJ3H-1Zh
On hand-talking http://wp.me/p2KJ3H-1Yc
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Editing mistake... "Bill Clinton and Bill Clinton are big finger waggers, each for different cultural reasons." Should have been Bill Clinton and Bernie Sanders are big finger waggers, each for different cultural reasons.
Sorry for the error.
While I'm at it, Irin Carmon of MSNBC wrote her own piece on the finger-wagging/rudeness:
See: http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/whats-gesture-some-double-standard?cid=sm_fb_...
As for Mr. Blow's assertion that from here on out Sanders will not be able to close the gap, it is already apparent that the gap is closing. In the state of Nevada, Sanders is within low single digits of Clinton in the latest polls. We are far, far, from the point where any assumptions can be made, especially with respect to millenials. They are "woke" in ways they were not in 2008. More and more public figures are endorsing Sanders, the latest names include Ben Jealous and Harry Belafonte.
Sorry for the error.
While I'm at it, Irin Carmon of MSNBC wrote her own piece on the finger-wagging/rudeness:
See: http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/whats-gesture-some-double-standard?cid=sm_fb_...
As for Mr. Blow's assertion that from here on out Sanders will not be able to close the gap, it is already apparent that the gap is closing. In the state of Nevada, Sanders is within low single digits of Clinton in the latest polls. We are far, far, from the point where any assumptions can be made, especially with respect to millenials. They are "woke" in ways they were not in 2008. More and more public figures are endorsing Sanders, the latest names include Ben Jealous and Harry Belafonte.
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Rima, love, Nevada ain't gonna decide anything. Charles is simply stating the obvious that for Bernie to win this fight would require that something huge happen, such as Hillary indicted on some eMailGate charge, which is possible given all the breaking news on "secret" emails, but I still think highly unlikely. Frankly, I think it's still a far better shot that Jeb! capture the Republican nomination than Bernie capture the Democratic.
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Richard, something huge is happening. It's just not what Charles Blow is hoping for. The sleeping giant of public discontent is awakening with Sander's campaign. Stand by.
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