HUFFPOST: Hillary Clinton Is Botching Her Best Chance To Win (Not again)

[BigBearJohn]

Last edited Fri Jan 15, 2016, 02:39 PM - Edit history (1)

GREAT article. Suggest reading the whole thing.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-is-botching-this_569808a9e4b0778f46f8b31b

Hillary Clinton herself doubled down on her daughter's comments on ABC News Thursday morning, and campaign aides have done the same. Of course, this is not true. Under a single-payer system, everybody gets health care. That's the entire point, as Hillary Clinton well knows. Chelsea Clinton knows it too. As Alex Pareene points out: "Chelsea Clinton has a masters degree in public health from Columbia. She knows exactly how what she’s saying obfuscates the issue."

This is well beyond the level of vitriol that is needed in the primary. More importantly, it's stupid. The Democratic Party has been advocating for a single-payer health care system since the Truman era. Hillary Clinton herself worked to establish one in 1993. Politicians don't win races by trying to pull the wool over their potential supporters' eyes about core policy beliefs they have held for decades.

But Clinton's cynical, dishonest assault on single-payer is consistent with the weird, sinister turn her campaign made at the outset of 2016. Earlier this month, Clinton attempted to smear Sanders as being soft on Wall Street, suggesting that he doesn’t have a plan to take on "shadow banking." This is daffy any way you look at it. As we’ve noted before, Sanders favors aggressively breaking up the large financial institutions that engage in shadow banking. He would buttress those efforts by reinstating Glass-Steagall and hit those shadow banks that remain unaffected with a tax on their transactions.

This is not a battle of ideas; it’s an investment in cynicism. And it's hard to avoid a few ugly conclusions. Clinton has not learned from the mistakes of 2008. She does not understand the Democratic Party's base. She does not respect the activists and intellectuals who have fought to establish the party's economic policy agenda over the past 50 years. And she thinks voters in early primary states are dumb enough to fall for obvious dishonesty, just because they already like her.

Clinton's recent domestic policy offensive fails on both fronts. Nobody really believes that a woman who served on the board of Walmart when her husband was governor of Arkansas and who made millions of dollars giving speeches to big banks and private equity firms is a populist Democrat. And nobody really believes that a woman who previously advocated for single-payer now thinks it will destroy Medicare. Party activists also don't believe that her incrementalism is more legislatively plausible, because no actual Democratic efforts are going to be possible for years to come.

[stone space]

1. Her campaign has misjudged Iowa Democrats.

Here in Iowa, the "read my lips, no new taxes" crowd is not likely to be caucusing with the Democrats.

They have their own party.

[djean111]

2. This -

Clinton's recent domestic policy offensive fails on both fronts. Nobody really believes that a woman who served on the board of Walmart when her husband was governor of Arkansas and who made millions of dollars giving speeches to big banks and private equity firms is a populist Democrat. And nobody really believes that a woman who previously advocated for single-payer now thinks it will destroy Medicare. Party activists also don't believe that her incrementalism is more legislatively plausible, because no actual Democratic efforts are going to be possible for years to come.

Some very odd and frankly lame memes lately - evidently we are to "support Hillary because a GOP Congress won't work with any Democrat" and "Bernie's supporters may not like who Bernie would appoint to his administration". And then there is "ignore the polls that we tried to bludgeon you into a fait accompli with - Bernie is unelectable".

Sad, but it does give me more opportunity to talk with my grandson about dirty campaigning.

[Art_from_Ark]

3. +1

[scottie55]

14. +2

[yuiyoshida]

21. +3

[840high]

27. +{4

[99th_Monkey]

45. +5

[cascadiance]

48. + infinity!

[Enthusiast]

51. + a bazillion!

[RiverLover]

4. LOL!

God, I love your posts, djean.

[questionseverything]

25. from your quote..

don't believe her incrementalism is more legislatively plausible

////////////////////

i actually do believe she will get "things" done, just like last time the clintons were in wh, it will be repub things getting done

like "welfare reform" that devastated the safety net

like a hundred thousand cops being hired so we end up with half a million mj users in prison

like more de regulation

i am terrified of hc's vison

[PatrickforO]

29. Well, we DO know that Wall Street would be

'comfortable' with a Clinton administration.

That says something to me.

[in_cog_ni_to]

37. NAFTA and Bill Clinton repealed Glass-Steagall.

Yeah, I think we could do without another Clinton President.

PEACE
LOVE
BERNIE

[John Poet]

38. +10 We don't need GOP enablers in the White House.

Sorry, Darth Hillary.

[highprincipleswork]

26. She just can't help herself. She's not a principled warrior. That is what Bernie is.

[in_cog_ni_to]

36. My fave -

We shouldn't do Single-Payer/Medicare for All because Obama spent years getting Obamacare and Single-Payer/Medicare For All would undo it and make Obama look bad.
Nevermind Single-Payer would save the average family thousands of dollars, Obama would look bad.

PEACE
LOVE
BERNIE

[Maedhros]

39. For many, many Democrats that is precisely the point: the ACA is a political football.

As far as health care reform legislation goes, the ACA is about as milk-toast as it gets. Its primary purpose was to serve as Obama's "landmark" legislation while ruffling as few Insurance Industry feathers as possible. The value of the ACA is not primarily in what it accomplished vis-a-vis coverage and expense reduction, but in what it accomplished as a big, bright, pretty feather in Obama's cap that Democrats could point to and claim victory.

[99th_Monkey]

46. and save lives. nt

[cascadiance]

49. So will she later support TPP based on that same rationale...

... that undoing it will "make Obama look bad."

Obama DESERVES to look bad for turning his back on Democrats to work WITH Republicans to pass that POS that is going SCREW Americans if and when it gets passed later.

Obama deserves some credit with ACA in at least getting a START to get people medical coverage that couldn't have it before, and therefore meeting the immediate need of keeping people from dying. But it by NO MEANS is the final answer, as its costs that are built in to that system to allow corporate America like the insurance company to continue to steal money from America that they don't deserve have it not be sustainable and need of reform to something like single payer to take those cancerous LEECHES out of the system, and hopefully down the road put some of them in prison for some of the fraud that they've engaged in in the past.

[CharlotteVale]

5. K&R

[Herman4747]

6. Her campaign was wacky even back in 2008!

She will do whatever she thinks is necessary to win.
Heck, that might give her a better chance than Bernie against Trump or Cruz.

[PatrickforO]

30. Well, if we take that position, then

we the American people are fucked either way.

[Maedhros]

40. I'm certain that Bernie is far more disgusted with Trump and Cruz

than is Hillary, and I think he will be greatly motivated to defeat either.

[Green Forest]

7. Does anyone think Hillary is a good role model and leader? The Democratic Party is full of Clintonian manure that needs to be cleaned out.

I will not vote for such amoral shit.

[WillyT]

8. K & R !!!

[Baitball Blogger]

9. I don't think Hillary Clinton fully comprehends the change in US trends.

Gen Y is the most information savvy generation the US has ever had. Their playgrounds where the burgeoning tubes on the internet. They can ferret out lies and obfuscations faster than a speeding bullet. That means, they can already pass judgment on what you said today, before you get up in the morning tomorrow.

I find it alarming that a Dem politician really hasn't fully grasped the importance of online news and social network. Lord knows the Republicans grasped its importance back when George Bush was bolstered by right-wing online blogs when they spread desirable information that filtered into FoxNews in less than 24 hours. They also were adept at using the Freeped on-line polls that did not limit the number of times you could vote.

Of course, things have changed since then, and people know what sources they can rely on. Which means, the only politician that Gen Y will believe in, is someone who is honest to a fault.

[Fast Walker 52]

19. I tend to agree-- and I so hope this trend is strong enough that our politics have reached

a new level of accountability and progress!

[Baitball Blogger]

23. It all depends if we can convert public outrage into action.

Last edited Fri Jan 15, 2016, 12:53 PM - Edit history (1)

Gen Y will have to battle it out against the unethical practices that have set in under the "Greatest Gen" and Baby Boomer era.

The Greatest Generation may have acted stellar during WWII, but their political and community leadership afterwards was one act of overreach after the other. And I say this as a resident of a Florida community where I have personal experience of the messes they can create when they're in charge. They are a very autocratic, daddy knows best, generation.

And the Baby Boomer generation just learned how to perfect the art of manipulation with their MBAs. Most people who started out with an idealistic hope in the BB gen, soon learned that they had competition from Gen X. The Gen Xers were a very self-motivated and ambitious young bunch. But I think their inexperience got the better of them and the greediest of all generations did us in.

Gen Y is coming in on the back side like Oliver Twist, knowing full well that they are begging for scraps since no one thought of their future. I don't think it's a coincidence that they are latching on to the one old guy who happened to hold onto his principles.

[PatrickforO]

31. Like Bernie.

Honest to a fault.

The establishment does not control the message.

We do.

[padfun]

10. For months, I have sat back and watched the show.

I saw Dem vs Dem here and I didn't like it. I didn't like how the fighting on this board was. I figured we could use either in the White House so it really shouldn't cause so much infighting.

I was still undecided but favored Bernie about 60-40. But then, this last week, all of this anti single payer came out. With HRC being against single payer, well, that is a game changer. I am now at 100-0.

This is a very dangerous road Hillary is going down. I know too many Dems where I work who are staunch single payer advocates. I haven't talked to them yet, but it will be interesting to see where they stand now.

[Shadowflash]

15. Agreed.

I'm mostly willing to vote for whomever the nominee is, but there isn't a clothespin big enough for me to cast a vote for someone who is against single payer.

[PatrickforO]

33. You know, I'd guess that about 55-60% of the base was for Bernie.

Until this. Now it's maybe 75% plus on the Sanders bandwagon.

I want single payer and I'm not backing down. Like you, I'm 100% for Bernie.

[bread_and_roses]

11. The attack on universal health care is depraved

I can't get it out of mind - some HRC supporter on this site wrote in a thread a while back that Bernie wanted to take away our good insurance. OUR GOOD INSURANCE! My jaw literally dropped. That "good insurance" that forces us to designate ourselves as "Platinum" or "Bronze" people. That "good insurance" that pretends that health care is like a refrigerator and you can "choose" which one is right for you - small? medium? restaurant sized? As if any of us knows what level of health care we'll need tomorrow. That "good insurance" that bewilders everyone with its labyrinthine paperwork and deadlines and networks and and and .....

Yeah - don't we all love our "good insurance."

And to believe the idiocy that is coming out of Camp Clinton one would have to pretend that universal health care was some radical new idea that had never been tried before. One would have to ignore the fact that other countries with universal care deliver better care at lower cost than does the US. One would have to ignore the fact that universal care has been widely supported by democratic voters for a long time now.

It's just mind-boggling.

[appalachiablue]

12. +1. And K & R for the excellent post.

[weknowvino2]

18. Health insurance is NOT health care

Hill must be feeling the BERN!

[Fast Walker 52]

20. it's desperation and cynicism is what it is

[MoonchildCA]

22. Yes! Well said.

[dreamnightwind]

41. Universal healthcare and single payer are not necessarily the same

Hillary will say she supports universal healthcare, and she probably does.

Her model maintains the private insurers and is not single payer. Not sure which you are talking about, but it's a distinction we need to keep clear.

The corporatists win by blurring that distinction, they sell us universal care by mandating that we buy it, instead of establishing healthcare as a right of anyone living here, and instead of implementing it without the profit-driven insurance industry, which is the real problem of our current system.

[bread_and_roses]

43. Oh, I'm absolutely referring to single-payer- a government program, a right (n/t)

[dreamnightwind]

44. So why say universal? Anyway great post

I've seen this many times is the reason I bothered to point it out, and apologies for doing so. Sometimes well-intentioned people such as yourself use the universal term meaning single payer. But plenty of less well-intentioned people use it when they represent a private universal system knowing that mahy people who hear them will be fooled into thinking they support the government single payer system, or that there is no substantive distinction between the two. If Frank Luntz isn't behind this use of language, I'm sure he approves of it.

I've seen Hillary herself do this and not get called on it, not just her though, it's a very common use of deceptive language by those who know people wouldn't suppport their positions if they were clear about what their positions actually are.

Your post was right on, thanks for writing it. Loved the point about slicing humanity into platinum and bronze, and of course the larger point being that the better system is denied us. It is less efficient at redistributing money upwards, therefore it's "off the table". It's not off Bernie's table!

[99th_Monkey]

47. Thank you for this post. It echoes many of my own thoughts on Hill's recent turn

for the even worse.

[Enthusiast]

52. +1 a whole bunch! Oh, baby! Great post!

The insurance industry is an unnecessary parasitic middle man that contributes nothing to health care.

They don't so much as stick a thermometer up your butt!

[closeupready]

13. That's gotta be just about the best summation of where the race stands.

Thanks for posting it. K&R

[Katashi_itto]

16. K&R

[Fast Walker 52]

17. "To Win Not Again"?

What the hell does that mean? Maybe some punctuation is missing?

[BigBearJohn]

24. punctuation error

[PatrickforO]

28. Saying that single payer will 'destroy Medicare' is a big fat lie.

Oh, we COULD say this if we want to obfuscate the actual truth, which is that under a single payer system we wouldn't need Medicare or Medicaid because EVERYONE would have health coverage.

But to say that in the hopes that a few people will be gullible enough to take this statement at face value is...well, pick you adjective...

Despicable?
Unconscionable?
Repugnant?
A 'pants on fire' lie?
Morally bankrupt?
Hateful to everything Democrats ought to stand for?
An assault on truth.
Cynical?
Opportunistic?
Pathetic?
Laughable?
Third Way?
Something someone would say if way down deep they actually believe that helping Americans is an extreme political position?

I've got one...just plain wrong. Clinton doesn't deserve to be our president because clearly she doesn't give a shit how many of us die because of the greed of insurance companies or big pharma.

Fuck that. I want single payer and I'm not backing down.

[in_cog_ni_to]

34. All of the above AND *SINISTER.*

PEACE
LOVE
BERNIE

[dreamnightwind]

42. +1

[in_cog_ni_to]

32. "the weird, sinister turn her campaign made at the outset of 2016." Good word for it

*Sinister*

Great read! Thanks!

PEACE
LOVE
BERNIE

[DonCoquixote]

35. here is the quote that is the heart of the matter

This is not a battle of ideas; it’s an investment in cynicism. And it's hard to avoid a few ugly conclusions. Clinton has not learned from the mistakes of 2008. She does not understand the Democratic Party's base. She does not respect the activists and intellectuals who have fought to establish the party's economic policy agenda over the past 50 years. And she thinks voters in early primary states are dumb enough to fall for obvious dishonesty, just because they already like her.

[Enthusiast]

50. Kicked and recommended! Thank you, BigBearJohn.

[Kall]

53. "Not again?" WTF.

Yes, again, please. Hillary Clinton just gave us a big, ugly view of her character with her dishonest attacks on Bernie Sanders for proposing single-payer health care this week. She doesn't deserve the Presidency.