...In stark contrast to Obama’s 2008 campaign slogan “yes we can,” Hillary seems to be telling voters “no we can’t" -- Link to Article on Salon.com
Note: The Salon page doesen't seem to be loading properly, so I've included a good bit of the text below.
February 1, 2016
The big “Hillary realism” lie: Clinton supporters present a false choice — and misread our political moment
Walker Bragman
...Over the past few weeks, media outlets like the Washington Post and the New York Times, as well as the usual talking heads, have been weighing in on the growing split between “idealists” and “realists”; Bernie’s dreamers against Hillary’s pragmatists. This dichotomy presents a false narrative...
Although poll data shows that Bernie Sanders, the Independent senator from Vermont, performs better against the GOP field in a general election than the current Democratic front-runner, according to Real Clear Politics averages; although he draws the biggest crowds of any candidate in the race, and has set the record for most individual donations of any candidate in history; although many voters agree with his message, and trust him, his electability remains a concern among Democrats. Additionally, even if he were to be elected, many worry about the feasibility of his ideas.
Hillary Clinton has been distinguishing herself from the senator by playing up these fears that Sanders, a self-described “Democratic Socialist” is too far removed from ‘politics as usual’ to be a viable candidate...
... In stark contrast to Obama’s 2008 campaign slogan “yes we can,” Hillary seems to be telling voters “no we can’t.” Of course, it might be more accurate to describe her message as “we tried, but couldn’t do it back then, so we can’t do it now—let’s settle.”
Since the ’90s many Democrats have become disheartened and disillusioned as a result of their party’s perceived weakness. Instead of digging their heels in, and preparing for the tough fights ahead, they now resign themselves to limiting their goals such that expectations and hope match only the incremental progress they perceive as feasible. This is dubbed “realism.”...
... the corruption of establishment politics due to the influence of money, as well as the greatest wealth inequality our country has seen since the Gilded Age, are the defining issues of a new realignment. The rigged system is, as Amy Davidson of the New Yorker put it, the meta-issue that encompasses all others; it transcends party lines, ideology, generations, skin color, sexuality and gender...
The reality of politics today is that in order to get even half of what you want, you need to ask for the whole farm. No matter how “reasonable” and “achievable” Clinton’s policies may be on paper, she will still face as much opposition as Bernie Sanders would from Congress. So the real question for voters to decide is which of the two candidates’ watered-down policies they prefer. Bernie’s single-payer system might very well get shot down by the GOP, but we could still end up with a public option from that battle—and that’s the point. We should at least have the debate....
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