Bernie Sanders publicly challenged Hillary Clinton to face off on a debate stage in New York before the state's primary on April 19. But Joel Benenson, Hillary Clinton's campaign's chief strategist, said on CNN that Sanders needs to watch his "tone" when asked about Sanders' request for a New York debate:
"The real question is, what kind of campaign is Senator Sanders going to run going forward? Let's see the tone. This is a man who said he'd never run a negative ad; he's now running them, they're planning to run more. Let's see the tone of the campaign he wants to run before we get to any other questions. Let's see if he goes back to the kind of tone he said he was going to set early on. If he does that, then we'll talk about debates."
Bernie Sanders's "tone"? This was one of the few times a CNN reporter actually called out a Clinton surrogate on their excrement of cattle.
And the most reasonable and most well-informed and objective people know that Clinton and her campaign does not want to debate Sanders simply because the people of New York will vote for him once they hear what they both have to say. If the Clinton campaign did not see Sanders as a threat, she would have already agreed to debate him.
Her campaign isn't fooling anyone. Bernie Sanders hasn't been running a negative campaign, unless telling the truth (making statements that are backed up by facts) is considered being "negative". Bernie isn't afraid to debate anyone, or to appear on Fox News. Somebody is also going to have to be capable of campaigning against and debating Donald Trump (or Ted Cruz) — and no one can be more negative or have more "tone" than someone like Donald Trump. It would be Trump, not Bernie Sanders, who would bring up Bill Clinton's DNA on Monica Lewinsky's blue stained dress.
The problem with Benenson's argument is that the 2016 Democratic primary has been one of the most remarkably friendly contests in recent memory. While Republican Party leaders mount a #NeverTrump campaign as the front-runner mocks the appearance of his opponent's spouse, the Democratic candidates have largely focused on minor policy differences, with Sanders waving away efforts to get him to attack Clinton for using a private email server. Sanders regularly says he'll back Clinton if she's the nominee and encourages his supporters to do the same. And Sanders has yet to call Clinton's success "the biggest fairy tale" or circulate old photos of Clinton to question her religious beliefs—actions the Clinton camp took during the far nastier 2008 Democratic race with Obama.
A couple of days later Rosario Dawson opened Bernie Sanders's rally in South Bronx. In the clip below are a few of her remarks, where she first mentions the Clinton lie about Bernie's stand on a woman's right to choose, and where she particularly references this "tone" of the Sanders campaign that Clinton's surrogates have been complaining about (It was very funny).
* Full speeches by Rosario Dawson, Spike Lee and René Pérez (Residente from Calle 13) and the entire rally can be seen here.
FYI: When Rosario Dawson mentioned "Obama", she is referring to an Obama look-a-like that was at the rally. (photo below)
#HillaryClinton is too scared to #debate #BernieSanders in #NewYork. She'll be too afraid of #DonaldTrump's "tone" as well
ReplyDeleteAccording to Clinton's national press secretary, Brian Fallon, the Clinton campaign offered the night of April 4, the night of April 14 and the morning of April 15 as potential dates to meet for a debate.
ReplyDeleteThe Sanders campaign shot down the proposed April 4 debate. Sanders campaign spokesperson Michael Briggs said in a statement: "Unfortunately, the dates and venues she has proposed don't make a whole lot of sense. The idea that they want a debate in New York on a night of the NCAA finals -- with Syracuse in the tournament no less -- is ludicrous."
Fallon said the morning option on April 15 was offered after Sanders agreed to debate on that day on Good Morning America. "That, too, was rejected," Fallon said.
The Sanders campaign added that it has "proposed other dates which they have rejected."
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-delay-scheduling-new-york-debate-election-2016/
New York Daily News
ReplyDeleteBernie Sanders getting under Hillary Clinton’s skin
Sanders is costing Clinton significant time, money and political capital. His victories in recent Western caucuses underscored her weaknesses among younger and white working-class voters, important elements of the Democratic coalition.
The Clintons are even more annoyed that Sanders' approach seems to be rallying — and keeping — young voters by his side.
He's favored in the Wisconsin primary Tuesday.
Sanders is drawing sizable crowds in New York, attracting 18,500 to rally in the South Bronx on Thursday. A victory in that state, which Clinton represented for two terms in the Senate, would deal a significant psychological blow to her campaign, rattling Democrats already worried about her high national disapproval ratings.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-skin-article-1.2586273
The BERNIE OR BUST Theory
ReplyDeleteIf Bernie Sanders can catch up to Hillary Clinton in the popular vote by June 24 (when the last vote is counted), we can assume he will also have more votes than the Donald Trump by that time. That would mean that, by the time of the Democratic and Republican conventions in July, Bernie wouldn't need a single superdelegate, because he wouldn't need to be nominated by (have the blessing of) the Democratic Party machine; and instead he could run as a third party Independent candidate at that time. He wouldn't need to depend the Democratic Party machine for financial backing to fund his campaign for a general election either, because he will still have plenty of campaign donors. And he wouldn't need to worry about splitting the Democratic vote either, because most Republicans who don't like Trump or Clinton will either vote for Sanders or they won't vote at all (especially women); whereas turnout for Bernie would be YUGE, because Independents and young people who weren't registered as Democrats or Republicans to vote in closed primaries could vote for Bernie in November.