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Hill's Group: What Bernie Sanders still doesn’t get about arguing with Hillary Clinton
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/03/07/what-bernie-sanders-still-doesnt-get-about-interrupting-hillary-clinton/I'm not a fan of The Fix as a rule. But this write-up has some things to think about.
... Why, at this late date and this many debates into the 2016 presidential election cycle, has Sanders made demonstrably little to no effort to alter the way he interacts with the woman he at least strongly suspected he would be running against him from the day he declared his campaign? He has almost certainly had the same advice and information that every male candidate gets about the need to be constantly mindful about coming across like a chauvinist or a bully when on a debate stage facing a female competition.
The challenge is twofold. First, there's the way it appears to other people — to voters — who often recoil at these sorts of displays. This is a well-documented fact. And voters have some ideas about how women should behave too. So don't think Clinton is up on any debate stage and relaxed, while Sanders is the only one dealing with a minefield. Sanders has almost certainly been briefed on this research and had someone preparing him for debates try to identify the right way to manage Clinton's interruptions. (Our suggestion: Try some version of "Excuse me" or "I would like to finish," minus the hand gestures.)
But the second is the one that may really be worth our collective time. That is: Does Sanders have the capacity to recognize the way these moments look or think deeply about the degree to which sexism propels his debate-stage performances? Whether that chauvinism is real or imagined or even toyed with by his opponent for political gain, why can't Sanders find a better way to manage these moments? And, is some combination of all of the above something that a 21st-century presidential candidate has simply got to consider and manage effectively?
...
Keep in mind that, if Sanders were to secure the Democratic nomination and then win the election, there are many female heads of state, foreign government representatives and others who are not men, with which Sanders will have to work effectively. It's in many ways the very same reason to concern ourselves with Donald Trump's debate stage and Twitter behavior and the methods and insults he's adopted when attempting to confront women — journalists, political opponents and others.
No one is saying Sanders and Trump are on equal footing in the terrain of public offensiveness or displays of sexism. But when it comes to women, Sanders and some of his supporters' public behavior seem to inhabit a nearby Zip code. And the time where that kind of behavior — even hints of possibly sexist thinking — will be ignored or go unnoticed is probably long dead.
The challenge is twofold. First, there's the way it appears to other people — to voters — who often recoil at these sorts of displays. This is a well-documented fact. And voters have some ideas about how women should behave too. So don't think Clinton is up on any debate stage and relaxed, while Sanders is the only one dealing with a minefield. Sanders has almost certainly been briefed on this research and had someone preparing him for debates try to identify the right way to manage Clinton's interruptions. (Our suggestion: Try some version of "Excuse me" or "I would like to finish," minus the hand gestures.)
But the second is the one that may really be worth our collective time. That is: Does Sanders have the capacity to recognize the way these moments look or think deeply about the degree to which sexism propels his debate-stage performances? Whether that chauvinism is real or imagined or even toyed with by his opponent for political gain, why can't Sanders find a better way to manage these moments? And, is some combination of all of the above something that a 21st-century presidential candidate has simply got to consider and manage effectively?
...
Keep in mind that, if Sanders were to secure the Democratic nomination and then win the election, there are many female heads of state, foreign government representatives and others who are not men, with which Sanders will have to work effectively. It's in many ways the very same reason to concern ourselves with Donald Trump's debate stage and Twitter behavior and the methods and insults he's adopted when attempting to confront women — journalists, political opponents and others.
No one is saying Sanders and Trump are on equal footing in the terrain of public offensiveness or displays of sexism. But when it comes to women, Sanders and some of his supporters' public behavior seem to inhabit a nearby Zip code. And the time where that kind of behavior — even hints of possibly sexist thinking — will be ignored or go unnoticed is probably long dead.
More at the link. I have no doubt that there will be zillions of OPs decrying this one that will flood GD-P and elsewhere on DU and anyone who does not already have me on "Ignore" will certainly do so now (please, by all means).
But these are real concerns.
