While Bernie Sanders is doing far better than expected against Hillary Clinton, with Clinton falling in both polls for both the Democratic nomination and in head-to-head races against Republicans, Clinton supporters are grasping to the argument that Sanders is too far to the left. The Hill reports on Clinton supporters who claim that Bernie Sanders is unelectable. Fortunately the article also notes that other Democrats disagree:
Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), a 2016 Senate candidate who has not endorsed a primary contender, characterized Sanders as one of Congress’s most effective legislators, saying all claims that he’s unelectable are “politically motivated attacks” designed to undermine his bid.
“Bernie has the appeal of being able to demonstrate to people that he can get good things done. He is not some kind of liberal stick figure; he’s someone who has a record of actual accomplishment,” Grayson said. “If Bernie’s the nominee, then Bernie very likely will be the next president of the United States.”
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) echoed that message, warning that Democrats, by doubting Sanders’ viability as a candidate, risk undermining the party’s agenda.
“The expectation that he will fade, I think, is not true because the agenda he’s putting forward, instead of tamping down momentum, it’s increasing momentum. … He’s ignited the base in a way that we haven’t been able to do for six years,” said Grijalva, the head of the Progressive Caucus who has not yet endorsed in the primary. “So I would be very careful to marginalize the man. Because in a sense then you’re marginalizing the message.”
I would question the wisdom of Democratic leaders in recent years with regards to deciding winning elections, along with their avoidance of taking a stand on the issues and tendency to become Republican-lite which seriously hurt them in 2014. Clinton surrogates have been making the claim for months that Sanders is too far left. After Claire McCaskil, a supporter of Hillary Clinton, claimed that Bernie Sanders is, “is too liberal to gather enough votes in this country to become president,” I responded with a post arguing Claire McCaskill Is Wrong–Bernie Sanders Is Not Too Liberal, Hillary Clinton Is Too Conservative. Since then, Sanders has only improve his position against Hillary Clinton in the primary race.
As I have pointed out many times before, Bernie Sanders Is The Future Of The Democratic Party. As I’ve also pointed out previously, Sanders’ Views Are Becoming More Mainstream Than Clinton’s Conservative Views.
With Clinton openly moving back towards the center after few were convinced about the sincerity of her move to the left earlier in the campaign, we can be sure of more attacks from the Clinton camp, including that Sanders is too far to the left. Much of the spread of misinformation, both to defend Clinton against legitimate criticism and to attack her opponents, comes from former right-wing hit-man David Brock through his organizations including Media Matters and Correct the Record. This includes recent email from Correct the Record which distorted Sanders’ views, trying to make him appear more extreme. This most recent attack on Sanders certainly back-fired, ultimately benefiting Sanders:
Bernie Sanders raised more than $1.2 million in less than 48 hours off a pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC’s attack on the Vermont senator, his presidential campaign said Thursday.
That’s an unprecedented response in such a short amount of time, according ActBlue, the non-profit that processes online donations for many Democratic campaigns, including Sanders.
“We’ve never seen an immediate donor response like what the Sanders’ campaign received on Tuesday,” said ActBlue Executive Director Erin Hill. “At one point, it drove 180 contributions through our platform per minute. Over its 11-year history ActBlue has sent money to over 11,000 campaigns and committees – and the Bernie Sanders campaign holds the record for the two biggest donor days ever for a campaign on our platform.”
The attack came from Correct the Record, which, unlike most super PACs, coordinates directly with Clinton’s campaign. The group has been sending trackers to Sanders campaign events and plying reporters with so-called opposition research about the Vermonter for months, but never with the intention of its work being made public.
But after The Huffington Post reported on a particularly controversial line of attack from Correct the Record earlier this week, the Sanders campaign took offense and saw an opportunity. They sent not one but two fundraising emails to supporters in response, and were astonished by the response.
“It was the kind of onslaught I expected to see from the Koch Brothers or Sheldon Adelson, and it’s the second time a billionaire Super PAC has tried to stop the momentum of the political revolution we’re building together,” Sanders said in one email.
Judging from how dirty the Clinton campaign got the last time she ran for the nomination, we can expect to see a proliferation of such attacks on Sanders (and on Joe Biden should he enter the race). Hopefully Sanders can continue to turn such attacks to his advantage.
It's no surprise that Clinton and her entourage of questionable beings would start with the mud slinging but not to worry Senator Sanders is leading and he's going to make it!