Republicans Take Their Sanders Advocacy to the Next Level

[SecularMotion]

Add Republican operatives to the list of strong Bernie Sanders supporters in the Democratic primary, along with progressive activists and young voters.

A super-PAC founded by Republican billionaire Joe Ricketts is making its first foray into the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, spending $600,000 on a television ad in Iowa calling Sanders "too liberal," according to The New York Times.

The ad then spotlights two of the policies that have helped fuel his rise in the Democratic primary—his calls for "completely free" college education and more taxes on Wall Street and the "super-rich."

"It's exactly the same thing we did with Todd Akin," said Caitlin Legacki, who served as communications director to Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill's during her successful campaign in 2012. "They're clearly trying to use the exact same playbook."

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-01-28/republicans-take-their-sanders-advocacy-to-the-next-level

[Gothmog]

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

This so-called attack ad is really an ad designed to help Sanders. The fact that the Sanders supporters think that this is an attack ad and do not realize that the purpose of this ad is to help Sanders is amusing 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.

[Gothmog]

2. Hillary Clinton attacks Todd Ricketts' super PAC over Sanders ad

This is an ad designed to help Sanders. Conservatives and the GOP do not fear sanders and want him to be the nominee and these same conservatives are scared of Clinton http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/7/71/1283025/hillary-clinton-attacks-todd-ricketts-super-pac-sanders-ad

“And then just the other day, another billionaire, called Joe Ricketts puts up an ad to try to really muddy the waters to confuse Democrats about who has the toughest, most comprehensive plan,” Clinton said, referring to her Wall Street reform plans.

“I got to tell you. I do find this perversely flattering. But I also find it very instructive. Because if they weren’t afraid of me, they would be just sitting back just hoping I would get nominated. … They know me. They know I say what I mean. I mean to do what I say.”

“And I will never let them do what they did to us before. So they are trying to stop me before I get too far. Well, a lot of folks have tried to take me out before. And I am still standing.”

A Clinton spokesman, Nick Merrill, said after the event the Sanders assault was “sleight of hand” and its real intent was to “fire up his base.”

I am amused that Sanders supporters think that the conservatives are worried about Sanders being the nominee

[Skwmom]

3. That is not what fueled his rise and those ads help Clinton in an open primary. n/t

[AtomicKitten]

4. Hillary must have some dodgy internal polling for her supporters to go down this rabbit hole.

Let us recall in 2008 that Hillary accused Pres Obama of cheating, sued states to suppress the vote she feared unfavorable to her, and insisted the opposition wanted to run against Obama and were helping him in nefarious ways (Operation Chaos, anyone?).

[Skwmom]

6. This is like saying the sky is green, the sky is green, the sky is green. n/t

[frylock]

5. It's a conspiracy!