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Monday, September 14, 2015

Unlike Bernie, Hillary Has Been Battle Tested Time and Again

I talked about the possibility of her attacking Bernie yesterday. She wouldn't necessarily have to do it herself-she could air ads, etc, that simply ask the vital question: who is Bernie Sanders? What does it mean for him to call himself a democratic socialist? 

Is that like a Fabian socialist? Would he look to Hugo Chavez as a model?

If the answer is no  and he's essentially a garden variety liberal Democrat why won't he say that? Why isn't he a registered Democrat?

Is it so he can have it both ways? Seeming somehow more radical than a Democrat but not so radical he makes people nervous?

Is Hugo Chavez a good model for him? Because he was democratically elected as well-but then so was Hitler.

http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/09/should-hillary-go-on-attack-against.html

In a way the non-aggression pact between Bernie and Hillary enables him to have his cake and eat it too.

Part of why she doesn't attack him is to continue to seem inevitable I get that. And there are risks in attacking him as I chronicle in the above link.

However, what's interesting about the non-aggression pact is that it only frees Bernie from negative attacks.

But the media has taken it upon itself to be her primary opponent. So it hits her all day every day.

http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/09/david-goodfriend-calls-out-medias.html

Now I understand that Bernie would never stoop to using emailgate. But he still benefits from it without the negative side effects of having used the attacks himself. He can claim innocence.

But it still hurts her poll numbers.

Bernie fans always claim that Bernie is this saint who just cares about the issues and claims that Hillary doesn't. This is actually entirely false. She has come out strong on many issues as I detailed to a Bernie Maniac on Democratic Underground this morning:

What gets me sometimes is Bernie fans tell us all the great things Bernie supports not realizing that Hillary does too. I mean do you not know she has come out with her own comprehensive college plan?

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/10/us/politics/hillary-clinton-to-offer-plan-on-paying-college-tuition-without-needing-loans.html?_r=0

She's called for the end of mass incarceration and unlike Bernie this was before BLM got in everyone's face at these rallies.

https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome-psyapi2&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS608US608&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8&q=hillary%20clinton%20end%20mass%20incarceration&oq=hillary%20clinton%20end%20mass%20incarceration&aqs=chrome..69i57.9727j0j4

She also has proposed a pretty radical plan to fight GOP voter suppression which the last 15 years has been a terrible problem. She calls for 20 days of early voting.

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/hillary-clinton-early-voting-nationwide

She also believes in raising the MW and has a comprehensive plan to raise wages and standards of living in the new Uber Economy.

http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/07/hillary-on-uber-economy.html

On Social Security expansion I believe she hasn't come out either way. Now I know in world of Bernie fans this proves she's against it, but this shows to me one problem they have: in their mind every issue is black and white. Some issues genuinely have good arguments on both sides.

I take her at her word that she's undecided-not decided against it as Bernie fans presume.

She has however come out for raising the cap on SS payroll taxes which I think is a good move-thought the ideology of SS since FDR was always that you had to let SS taxes be regressive as it makes it more politically acceptable. SS is not means based and this made it popular with everyone not just the poor.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-social-security_55d1d44de4b07addcb43546e

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=592233
But the media scrupulously ignores her proposals on college tuition, mass incarceration of black men, raising the MW. early voting, etc. 

All they do is:

1. Ask her about her emails and demand an apology when they ought to apologize to her-and us, who's real concerns are ignored. 

2. Speculate over Biden''s nonexistent campaign-Killing Her With Biden

http://lastmenandovermen.blogspot.com/2015/09/killing-hillary-with-biden-i-love-vp.html

3. Then gloat about how Bernie is overtaking her because she's a terrible candidate and she's going to crash and burn just like in 2008

Meanwhile Bernie is not attacked at all and by running as a Democrat while he has expressed contempt for the party he gets the kind of high profile he'd never get if he had to run independent. 

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-08-20/bernie-sanders-deal-with-the-democratic-devil

So all this suggests that attacking him would not be unfair at all but merely balancing things out a little. 

Now I personally wouldn't recommend anything direct-and I wouldn't suggest that she speak anything negatively about him directly out campaigning. 

But thorugh ads maybe or surrogates something should be put out there. Even Bernie hits her 'indirectly by drawing a contrast.' 

One way she could draw a contrast with him would be by taling up issues he's weaker on-gun control and immigration. 

This is a real fissure-Bernie believes that immigration cuts wages. 

Listen to what that Bernie fan I was speaking to said about China:

"I oppose the TPP and all trade agreements that will impose a judicial system, an arbitration system outside that provided in our Constitution on our country. Our Constitution protects the ownership of private property -- 5th and 14th Amendments. We should not agree to any treaty of other agreement that might impose laws on us other than those agreed to and passed by our democratically elected legislatures and our properly appointed courts."

"I do not want to eat Chinese pork. I want the meat I eat to be identified by country of origin. I guess that is not allowed any more thanks to our WTO agreement. We do not need that. We especially do not need to be liable for speculative damages claimed by foreign executives. I don't think Hillary will oppose the TPP. Bernie does."


http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=590658

Hmm. I find that proposal that meat has to be identified by country of origin interesting. He doesn't want to eat Chinese pork? So maybe Bernie supporters have more in common with Trump supporters than they'd ever admit. 

So she should highlight this issue-not attacking Bernie directly, but just how he does it: through a negative contrast. 

Bernie is a lot more reticent on immigration reform than she is. And this comment by a Bernie fan on Chinese pork shows there is a Trumpist underbelly to this kind of radical protectionism. 

Finally she should expand on the contrast during her debate with him. And of course, make him explain democratic socialism

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