"Why top Republicans are working doggedly to help Bernie Sanders"

[Dawson Leery]

"Some of the most powerful figures in the Republican Party are doing everything they can to help Democratic presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders.

It's been a strange race from the start – an insult-spewing outsider trumps an establishment favorite on one side; a Denmark-loving socialist mounts a serious challenge on the other – and during Sunday evening's fourth Democratic presidential debate, things got stranger...."

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2016/0119/Why-top-Republicans-are-working-doggedly-to-help-Bernie-Sanders

[Gregorian]

1. They must be desperate. It doesn't even make sense.

[-none]

2. Maybe because some of the saner Republicans are tired of the lesser of two evils also?

And are seeing a chance of getting this country back on course.

[NorthCarolina]

3. Rubbish.

eom

[99th_Monkey]

4. It's not about helping Bernie, it's about attacking Hillary, who they hate w/white-hot ferver

They can't help themselves, it's so over-the-top, how much Republicans despise her, no doubt because
of her decades of baggage and her penchant for making enemies.

Which is why, if we're stupid enough to nominate her, she will mobilize a MASSIVE GOP Turn-Out like
we've never seen before. Bernie, not so much.

[Ferd Berfel]

5. BS. the Reich has 20 years of opp research on the Clintons and they want to use it.

Bernie will befuddle and beat them

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. Oh, No!! "a Denmark-loving socialist"!!

He's obviously on the payroll of Moscow, Beijing, Havana, or (GASP!!) Copenhagen!!

[Gothmog]

7. Clinton Camp: GOP Attacks On Hillary Show They'd Rather Face Bernie In Fall

I agree that Karl Rove wants to run against the weakest possible candidate who he thinks is Sanders http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-karl-rove-attack

The Hillary Clinton campaign on Tuesday said that recent attacks from conservatives show that Republicans are hoping Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will win the Democratic nomination because they believe he would be easier to beat in the general election.

In a Tuesday evening statement, the Clinton campaign's communications director, Jennifer Palmieri, mentioned an ad from the Rove-aligned super PAC American Crossroads, which accused Clinton of being in Wall Street's pocket. Palmieri said the ad suggests that Republicans want to face Sanders in the general election.

"While Senator Sanders tries to make a case on electability based on meaningless polls, Republicans and their super PACs have made clear the candidate they’re actually afraid to face. The Sanders argument falls apart when the GOP spokesman is trying to help him and the Republicans run ads trying to stop Hillary Clinton in the primary," she said in the statement.

Clearly Karl Rove wants the weaker candidate to be the nominee

[kenfrequed]

8. "why Hillary people are trying to associate Bernie with Republicans"

Oh wait... how about

"Why does a magazine suggest a few random tweets are considered 'doggedly helping' and why does that seem so idiotic"

This is a stupid tailspin story that should just be ignored

[Gothmog]

9. The media is noticing that the GOP and Rove are supporting Sanders

[Odin2005]

10. The morons in the GOP think red-baiting will work.

They are in for a rude awakening because Cold War McCarthyist BS doesn't work on anyone younger than 40.

[Gothmog]

11. Anti-Sanders attack ad isn’t quite what it seems to be

Another republican is running an ad designed to help Sanders in the primary process. This ad uses the same trick that Claire McCaskill used in 2012 to select Todd Akin as her opponent because Akin would be the weakest possible general election candidate http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/anti-sanders-attack-ad-isnt-quite-what-it-seems-be

Republicans have made no secret of the fact that they’d prefer to run against Bernie Sanders in the general election. Whether or not their assumptions are correct is a separate question, but GOP officials, convinced that the senator would be easy to defeat, have gone out of their way to help Sanders in the Democratic race.....

At first blush, the move may seem encouraging to Sanders supporters. After all, if Republicans have gone from defending Sanders to attacking him, maybe it means GOP insiders are getting scared of the Vermont independent?

It’s a nice idea, but that’s not what’s going on here. In fact, far from an attack ad, this commercial, backed by a prominent Republican mega-donor, is the latest evidence of the GOP trying to help Sanders, not hurt him.

Indeed, in this case, it’s hardly even subtle. This commercial touts Sanders’ support for tuition-free college, single-payer health care, and higher taxes on the “super-rich.” It concludes that the senator is “too liberal,” which isn’t much of an insult in an ad directed towards liberal voters in Iowa.

In other words, we’re talking about a Republican mega-donor investing in a faux attack ad to help Sanders win because he sees Sanders as easy to beat in November.

It’s the mirror image of the tactic Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) used in the 2012 U.S. Senate race in Missouri, when she invested in ads intended to boost then-Rep. Todd Akin (R) in his primary race, with commercials touting his far-right positions and calling him “too conservative.” The point was to make Akin look better in the eyes of Missouri Republicans so he’d win the primary, making it easier for the incumbent Democrat to defeat him on Election Day.

This ad is just another example of the GOP trying to help Sanders become the nominee because the GOP knows that Sanders is the weaker candidate.