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imagine2015
imagine2015's Journal
imagine2015's Journal
May 11, 2016
Press Release
Sanders Wins West Virginia
May 10, 2016
SALEM, Ore. – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday issued the following statement after The Associated Press projected that he won the presidential primary election in West Virginia:
“I want to thank the people of West Virginia for the tremendous victory they gave us today in a state that provided a landslide vote for Hillary Clinton in 2008. West Virginia is a working-class state and many of the people there are hurting. They know, like most Americans, that it is too late for establishment politics and establishment economics. They want real change.
“With this outcome, we now have won primaries and caucuses in 19 states. We are in this campaign to win the Democratic nomination and we’re going to stay in the race until the last vote is cast. We expect more victories in the weeks to come when voters go to the polls in Kentucky, Oregon, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota and the District of Columbia.
“We fully acknowledge we have an uphill climb ahead of us, but we’re used to that. We have been fighting uphill from the day this campaign began. And after all the votes are cast and counted and this contest moves to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, the delegates will decide which candidate is the strongest nominee to take on Donald Trump in November. All of the evidence indicates that I am that candidate.
“As voters in the remaining states and territories make up their minds about the future of the Democratic Party, I believe they deserve a chance to compare my record and Secretary Clinton’s record on creating jobs, raising the minimum wage, war and peace, the need for health care for all, breaking up big banks, combating climate change and other critical issues. Secretary Clinton’s campaign already has agreed to another debate in California. I hope that we can soon settle on a date and place for that debate.”
Bernie Sanders on West Virginia win: " We are in this campaign to win the Democratic nomination"
Press Release
Sanders Wins West Virginia
May 10, 2016
SALEM, Ore. – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday issued the following statement after The Associated Press projected that he won the presidential primary election in West Virginia:
“I want to thank the people of West Virginia for the tremendous victory they gave us today in a state that provided a landslide vote for Hillary Clinton in 2008. West Virginia is a working-class state and many of the people there are hurting. They know, like most Americans, that it is too late for establishment politics and establishment economics. They want real change.
“With this outcome, we now have won primaries and caucuses in 19 states. We are in this campaign to win the Democratic nomination and we’re going to stay in the race until the last vote is cast. We expect more victories in the weeks to come when voters go to the polls in Kentucky, Oregon, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota and the District of Columbia.
“We fully acknowledge we have an uphill climb ahead of us, but we’re used to that. We have been fighting uphill from the day this campaign began. And after all the votes are cast and counted and this contest moves to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, the delegates will decide which candidate is the strongest nominee to take on Donald Trump in November. All of the evidence indicates that I am that candidate.
“As voters in the remaining states and territories make up their minds about the future of the Democratic Party, I believe they deserve a chance to compare my record and Secretary Clinton’s record on creating jobs, raising the minimum wage, war and peace, the need for health care for all, breaking up big banks, combating climate change and other critical issues. Secretary Clinton’s campaign already has agreed to another debate in California. I hope that we can soon settle on a date and place for that debate.”
May 10, 2016
May 10, 2016 New Polling Shows Sanders, Not Clinton, Most Formidable Against Trump
Surveys have repeatedly found Bernie Sanders beating the presumptive GOP nominee by a larger margin than Hillary Clinton.
by Lauren McCauley, staff writer
As forces in both major parties have begun to mobilize against a Trump presidency, a new national poll out Tuesday reveals the most surefire way to derail the GOP frontrunner: Nominate Bernie Sanders.
The NBC News/SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking Poll found that if the 2016 presidential election were held today, 53 to 40 percent of voters would elect Sanders over Donald Trump—which is more than double the margin that Hillary Clinton holds over the presumptive Republican nominee.
According to the survey, which was conducted online from May 2 through May 8, the former secretary of state also leads Trump, but with a far smaller margin: 49 to 44 percent, with an error estimate of plus or minus 1.3 percentage points.
"Virtually every poll has us way, way ahead of Donald Trump," Sanders told more than 5,700 supporters at an outdoor rally in Stockton, California on Tuesday.
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/05/10/new-polling-shows-sanders-not-clinton-most-formidable-against-trump
New NBC National Poll Shows Sanders Stronger Opponent Than Hillary Against Trump
May 10, 2016 New Polling Shows Sanders, Not Clinton, Most Formidable Against Trump
Surveys have repeatedly found Bernie Sanders beating the presumptive GOP nominee by a larger margin than Hillary Clinton.
by Lauren McCauley, staff writer
As forces in both major parties have begun to mobilize against a Trump presidency, a new national poll out Tuesday reveals the most surefire way to derail the GOP frontrunner: Nominate Bernie Sanders.
The NBC News/SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking Poll found that if the 2016 presidential election were held today, 53 to 40 percent of voters would elect Sanders over Donald Trump—which is more than double the margin that Hillary Clinton holds over the presumptive Republican nominee.
According to the survey, which was conducted online from May 2 through May 8, the former secretary of state also leads Trump, but with a far smaller margin: 49 to 44 percent, with an error estimate of plus or minus 1.3 percentage points.
"Virtually every poll has us way, way ahead of Donald Trump," Sanders told more than 5,700 supporters at an outdoor rally in Stockton, California on Tuesday.
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/05/10/new-polling-shows-sanders-not-clinton-most-formidable-against-trump
May 10, 2016
Millions will sit out the election no matter what Bernie says/does if Hillary is the candidate.
Just a fact of political life.
Bernie doesn't control his supporters like unthinking robots.
May 10, 2016
Bernie can beat Trump. Secretary Clinton can't. That will become obvious before the convention.
And Trump has barely started his propaganda campaign against Secretary Clinton.
We'll see how Secretary Clinton does against Trump in the polls just before the Democratic Party convention.
If the polls indicate Clinton is being badly beaten by Trump how can she hold super delegates?
Over 400 super delegates expressed their support for Clinton in 2015 BEFORE Bernie Sanders even announced his intention to run for the nomination!
And over 150 super delegates have not yet indicated their preference for the nomination!
They will abandon her just like several hundred did at the 2008 convention.
May 10, 2016
May 09, 2016
Wall Street Donors Flocking to Clinton
Democratic frontrunner has seen a surge in financial sector donations since business-friendly Republican candidates have dropped out of the race.
by Lauren McCauley, staff writer
Now that Donald Trump has secured his position as the presumptive Republican nominee, Wall Street donors are fleeing the party and throwing their support behind Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
A Wall Street Journal analysis published late Sunday found that the former secretary of state "has raised $4.2 million in total from Wall Street, $344,000 of which was contributed in March alone."
In fact, Clinton has seen a surge in financial sector donations since business-friendly Republican candidates—namely former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio—dropped out of the race. According to the newspaper's reporting on fundraising data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics, "the former secretary of state received 53 percent of the donations from Wall Street in March, up from 32 percent last year and 33 percent in January through February, as the nominating contests began."
The report further cites an analysis by the nonpartisan crowdfunding resource Crowdpac, which found that "more than 500 donors, including many Wall Street executives, who gave more than $200 to a Republican who later dropped out, including Messrs. Bush and Rubio, have since given to Mrs. Clinton," WSJ wrote.
In total, Clinton has received a full third of all money that business interests have donated to presidential campaigns on both sides of the aisle.
The numbers represent a significant shift from the conventional wisdom that the GOP is beholden to big business while Democrats are supposed to represent the concerns of the people.
Indeed, as Republican lobbyist Ed Rogers told the WSJ, "They know Hillary, And they know that she is not antibusiness."
The full article is at:
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/05/09/wall-street-donors-flocking-clinton
Wall Street Donors Flocking to Clinton
May 09, 2016
Wall Street Donors Flocking to Clinton
Democratic frontrunner has seen a surge in financial sector donations since business-friendly Republican candidates have dropped out of the race.
by Lauren McCauley, staff writer
Now that Donald Trump has secured his position as the presumptive Republican nominee, Wall Street donors are fleeing the party and throwing their support behind Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
A Wall Street Journal analysis published late Sunday found that the former secretary of state "has raised $4.2 million in total from Wall Street, $344,000 of which was contributed in March alone."
In fact, Clinton has seen a surge in financial sector donations since business-friendly Republican candidates—namely former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio—dropped out of the race. According to the newspaper's reporting on fundraising data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics, "the former secretary of state received 53 percent of the donations from Wall Street in March, up from 32 percent last year and 33 percent in January through February, as the nominating contests began."
The report further cites an analysis by the nonpartisan crowdfunding resource Crowdpac, which found that "more than 500 donors, including many Wall Street executives, who gave more than $200 to a Republican who later dropped out, including Messrs. Bush and Rubio, have since given to Mrs. Clinton," WSJ wrote.
In total, Clinton has received a full third of all money that business interests have donated to presidential campaigns on both sides of the aisle.
The numbers represent a significant shift from the conventional wisdom that the GOP is beholden to big business while Democrats are supposed to represent the concerns of the people.
Indeed, as Republican lobbyist Ed Rogers told the WSJ, "They know Hillary, And they know that she is not antibusiness."
The full article is at:
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/05/09/wall-street-donors-flocking-clinton
May 10, 2016
May 09, 2016
Clinton Campaign to Republican Donors: Hillary Shares Your Values
The Problem: It's True.
by Jake Johnson
Late last week, Politico reported that Clinton operatives have initiated efforts to "peel off establishment Republicans who might otherwise grudgingly support Trump," demonstrating their eagerness to win over big money donors previously wedded to the conservative establishment.
Specifically, Clinton supporters have been targeting the donor base of Jeb Bush, whose main super PAC raised a striking $121 million, much of it before the race for the Republican nomination began to heat up. We know how that ended.
In doing so, her campaign is signaling to Republican donors that, as Ben White puts it, Hillary "represents your values better than Trump."
So, after a campaign season in which she shifted leftward on several issues to counter the message of her more progressive opponent, Clinton is pivoting back to the center — and perhaps further rightward.
The instructive point here, though, is not that Clinton would profess to share the values of Republican donors in order to garner their support. Rather, it is that she really does share their values.
On various issues, as many commentators have observed, Clinton is well to the right of much of the mainstream Democratic Party — which is, itself, far to the right of the Democratic tradition represented by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Clinton is also a veritable hawk who seems, as Kevin Drum has observed, to not have learned anything from America's most recent interventions in the Middle East, from Iraq to Libya. It comes as no surprise, then, that she shamelessly touts the support of Henry Kissinger, Jack Keane, and other figures in America's interventionist foreign policy establishment.
Read the full article at:
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/05/09/clinton-campaign-republican-donors-hillary-shares-your-values
Clinton Campaign to Republican Donors: Hillary Shares Your Values
May 09, 2016
Clinton Campaign to Republican Donors: Hillary Shares Your Values
The Problem: It's True.
by Jake Johnson
Late last week, Politico reported that Clinton operatives have initiated efforts to "peel off establishment Republicans who might otherwise grudgingly support Trump," demonstrating their eagerness to win over big money donors previously wedded to the conservative establishment.
Specifically, Clinton supporters have been targeting the donor base of Jeb Bush, whose main super PAC raised a striking $121 million, much of it before the race for the Republican nomination began to heat up. We know how that ended.
In doing so, her campaign is signaling to Republican donors that, as Ben White puts it, Hillary "represents your values better than Trump."
So, after a campaign season in which she shifted leftward on several issues to counter the message of her more progressive opponent, Clinton is pivoting back to the center — and perhaps further rightward.
The instructive point here, though, is not that Clinton would profess to share the values of Republican donors in order to garner their support. Rather, it is that she really does share their values.
On various issues, as many commentators have observed, Clinton is well to the right of much of the mainstream Democratic Party — which is, itself, far to the right of the Democratic tradition represented by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Clinton is also a veritable hawk who seems, as Kevin Drum has observed, to not have learned anything from America's most recent interventions in the Middle East, from Iraq to Libya. It comes as no surprise, then, that she shamelessly touts the support of Henry Kissinger, Jack Keane, and other figures in America's interventionist foreign policy establishment.
Read the full article at:
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/05/09/clinton-campaign-republican-donors-hillary-shares-your-values
May 5, 2016
May 05, 2016
Trump as Unifier: Are Hillary Clinton and Neoconservatives Ready to Join Forces?
'Neocon elites are probably the likeliest faction to defect to Clinton, and what they'd want is blood-curdling aggressiveness overseas and Benjamin Netanyahu in charge of Middle East policy.'
by Jon Queally, staff writer
As Donald Trump is declared the presumptive Republican nominee for president, members of the neoconservative establishment, disgusted by the prospect of Trump in the White House, appear to be heading into the welcoming arms of someone more sympathetic to their imperial worldview: Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
Steve Schmidt, a prominent Republican strategist and former senior aide to Sen. John McCain, is just one of several political insiders to have made the case over the last couple days – and he has done so repeatedly while speaking as a contributor for MSNBC.
With Trump at the head of the GOP ticket, Schmidt predicted on Chris Matthews' show earlier this week, "You're going to see a concerted and organized effort by the Hillary Clinton campaign to go after senior members of the Republican foreign policy establishment — big names. I'm not trying to put a partisan imprint on David Petraeus. But names like Petraeus, retired General Odierno, Colin Powell, Brent Scowcroft. Men and women who served in senior positions, in national security positions, in Republican administrations. The Clinton campaign's going to go after them. They're going to go after them forcefully."
On Wednesday, the Clinton campaign at least hinted at this approach by posting a list of people it described as "prominent activists, journalists and elected officials" in the Republican Party who have decided to reject Trump, quoting some who explicitly said they would vote for Clinton if she ends up as the Democratic nominee.
According to journalist and political commentator Sam Sacks, who spoke with D.C.-based Sputnik Radio about the same dynamic on Thursday, observers can expect to "see a lot of the neoconservatives, people who were, ironically, very close in the George W. Bush administration... coming home and supporting Clinton, who has a foreign policy record that hews pretty neoconservative."
"I have faith that Clinton’s foreign policy would align with what I’m looking for, and she would have my vote."
—unnamed American Enterprise Institute staffer
Read on at:
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/05/05/trump-unifier-are-hillary-clinton-and-neoconservatives-ready-join-forces
Hillary swings to the right? Are Hillary and Republican Neoconservatives Ready to Join Forces? Maybe
May 05, 2016
Trump as Unifier: Are Hillary Clinton and Neoconservatives Ready to Join Forces?
'Neocon elites are probably the likeliest faction to defect to Clinton, and what they'd want is blood-curdling aggressiveness overseas and Benjamin Netanyahu in charge of Middle East policy.'
by Jon Queally, staff writer
As Donald Trump is declared the presumptive Republican nominee for president, members of the neoconservative establishment, disgusted by the prospect of Trump in the White House, appear to be heading into the welcoming arms of someone more sympathetic to their imperial worldview: Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
Steve Schmidt, a prominent Republican strategist and former senior aide to Sen. John McCain, is just one of several political insiders to have made the case over the last couple days – and he has done so repeatedly while speaking as a contributor for MSNBC.
With Trump at the head of the GOP ticket, Schmidt predicted on Chris Matthews' show earlier this week, "You're going to see a concerted and organized effort by the Hillary Clinton campaign to go after senior members of the Republican foreign policy establishment — big names. I'm not trying to put a partisan imprint on David Petraeus. But names like Petraeus, retired General Odierno, Colin Powell, Brent Scowcroft. Men and women who served in senior positions, in national security positions, in Republican administrations. The Clinton campaign's going to go after them. They're going to go after them forcefully."
On Wednesday, the Clinton campaign at least hinted at this approach by posting a list of people it described as "prominent activists, journalists and elected officials" in the Republican Party who have decided to reject Trump, quoting some who explicitly said they would vote for Clinton if she ends up as the Democratic nominee.
According to journalist and political commentator Sam Sacks, who spoke with D.C.-based Sputnik Radio about the same dynamic on Thursday, observers can expect to "see a lot of the neoconservatives, people who were, ironically, very close in the George W. Bush administration... coming home and supporting Clinton, who has a foreign policy record that hews pretty neoconservative."
"I have faith that Clinton’s foreign policy would align with what I’m looking for, and she would have my vote."
—unnamed American Enterprise Institute staffer
Read on at:
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/05/05/trump-unifier-are-hillary-clinton-and-neoconservatives-ready-join-forces
May 5, 2016
BY Shaun King
May 4, 2016
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
If you called him an offensive, sexist, xenophobic bigot, I'd be first in line to agree with you.
Underestimate him and his candidacy at your own risk.
Hillary Clinton is perhaps the worst possible Democratic candidate who could ever run against Donald Trump. I sincerely believe he could beat her in the general election.
Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, would give Donald Trump fits in a head-to-head match up. Let me break it down.
1. Like Donald's other fallen foes, Hillary Clinton represents the political establishment.
Hillary Clinton is as establishment as establishment gets. The machine is behind her. Her campaign against Bernie Sanders has only advanced this sentiment. Donald Trump simply could not use this angle against Bernie Sanders.
2. Hillary's millions of dollars worth of paid speeches to banks, lobbyists and billionaires cede a certain moral high ground to Donald Trump.
Donald Trump is a filthy rich fat cat. He's gaudy and cartoonish with his wealth. He openly admits that he hires foreign workers for cheap jobs and abuses tax loopholes. He is the poster child for everything that Bernie Sanders has railed against — not just in this campaign, but for his entire life in public service.
Hillary Clinton will not really be able to say much about this, though, because Donald's biggest liability is also an enormous liability for her. She and Bill rented a home in the Hamptons for $50,000 per week. They've made $230 million since Bill left office. Hillary made more money in 12 speeches to big banks than most American's will make in their lifetime.
3. Independent and new voters are flocking to Bernie Sanders and even to Donald Trump, but not to Hillary Clinton.
Bernie Sanders is the longest standing Independent in the history of the United States Congress. Consequently, independent voters have flocked to his campaign en masse. When they are allowed to vote in primaries, like they did on Tuesday in Indiana, he wins. They have been absolutely essential to his wins in 18 different states thus far. With only 29% of Americans identifying as Democrats and 26% as Republicans, the largest voting bloc is independents.
4. Hillary's reliance on millions of dollars from Super PACs is a real problem.
Zero percent of Bernie's campaign funds come from Super PACs. Four percent of Donald's campaign funds come from Super PACs.
This would never be an issue for Bernie Sanders. It is his rejection of Super PAC money that has actually won over millions of his voters. For them, this issue is everything. The idea of supporting the candidate who relies so heavily on this type of money nauseates many. Donald Trump will be able to get on the mic and tell supporters that he just isn't influenced by outside money and they'll believe him.
5. Young voters are crazy about Bernie Sanders and just don't care for Hillary Clinton.
By young, we don't just mean teenagers. Voters under 25, voters under 35, even voters under 45 all support Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton. The younger the voter, the bigger the margin. In some age groups he's beating her by 85%-15%.
Hating Trump is not the same thing as supporting Hillary Clinton and young voters know this. While Donald Trump doesn't have a youth movement of any kind to talk about, it just matters a heck of a lot less if it's Clinton he's going against.
This race isn't new anymore. People know enough about Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to make an informed decision. I believe these polls are accurate. The team at FiveThirtyEight stated that they believe the polls between Trump and Clinton will continue to narrow.
We can all agree that Trump must be stopped, but this much is clear - Hillary Clinton is not the best opponent to stop him.
For the detailed analysis of these 5 points please read the full article at:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/king-bernie-sanders-donald-trump-worst-nightmare-article-1.2624564
"Bernie Sanders would be Donald Trump's worst nightmare; Hillary, not so much."
Bernie Sanders would be Donald Trump's worst nightmare; Hillary, not so muchBY Shaun King
May 4, 2016
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
If you called him an offensive, sexist, xenophobic bigot, I'd be first in line to agree with you.
Underestimate him and his candidacy at your own risk.
Hillary Clinton is perhaps the worst possible Democratic candidate who could ever run against Donald Trump. I sincerely believe he could beat her in the general election.
Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, would give Donald Trump fits in a head-to-head match up. Let me break it down.
1. Like Donald's other fallen foes, Hillary Clinton represents the political establishment.
Hillary Clinton is as establishment as establishment gets. The machine is behind her. Her campaign against Bernie Sanders has only advanced this sentiment. Donald Trump simply could not use this angle against Bernie Sanders.
2. Hillary's millions of dollars worth of paid speeches to banks, lobbyists and billionaires cede a certain moral high ground to Donald Trump.
Donald Trump is a filthy rich fat cat. He's gaudy and cartoonish with his wealth. He openly admits that he hires foreign workers for cheap jobs and abuses tax loopholes. He is the poster child for everything that Bernie Sanders has railed against — not just in this campaign, but for his entire life in public service.
Hillary Clinton will not really be able to say much about this, though, because Donald's biggest liability is also an enormous liability for her. She and Bill rented a home in the Hamptons for $50,000 per week. They've made $230 million since Bill left office. Hillary made more money in 12 speeches to big banks than most American's will make in their lifetime.
3. Independent and new voters are flocking to Bernie Sanders and even to Donald Trump, but not to Hillary Clinton.
Bernie Sanders is the longest standing Independent in the history of the United States Congress. Consequently, independent voters have flocked to his campaign en masse. When they are allowed to vote in primaries, like they did on Tuesday in Indiana, he wins. They have been absolutely essential to his wins in 18 different states thus far. With only 29% of Americans identifying as Democrats and 26% as Republicans, the largest voting bloc is independents.
4. Hillary's reliance on millions of dollars from Super PACs is a real problem.
Zero percent of Bernie's campaign funds come from Super PACs. Four percent of Donald's campaign funds come from Super PACs.
This would never be an issue for Bernie Sanders. It is his rejection of Super PAC money that has actually won over millions of his voters. For them, this issue is everything. The idea of supporting the candidate who relies so heavily on this type of money nauseates many. Donald Trump will be able to get on the mic and tell supporters that he just isn't influenced by outside money and they'll believe him.
5. Young voters are crazy about Bernie Sanders and just don't care for Hillary Clinton.
By young, we don't just mean teenagers. Voters under 25, voters under 35, even voters under 45 all support Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton. The younger the voter, the bigger the margin. In some age groups he's beating her by 85%-15%.
Hating Trump is not the same thing as supporting Hillary Clinton and young voters know this. While Donald Trump doesn't have a youth movement of any kind to talk about, it just matters a heck of a lot less if it's Clinton he's going against.
This race isn't new anymore. People know enough about Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to make an informed decision. I believe these polls are accurate. The team at FiveThirtyEight stated that they believe the polls between Trump and Clinton will continue to narrow.
We can all agree that Trump must be stopped, but this much is clear - Hillary Clinton is not the best opponent to stop him.
For the detailed analysis of these 5 points please read the full article at:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/king-bernie-sanders-donald-trump-worst-nightmare-article-1.2624564
May 5, 2016
The #1 person is none other than Secretary Clinton!
So who is the #1 person giving Trump ammuniton to attack Hillary Clinton with?
The #1 person is none other than Secretary Clinton!
May 5, 2016
Published on
Wednesday, May 04, 2016
by The Guardian
Why Must the Trump Alternative be Self-Satisfied, Complacent Democrats?
Convinced that the country’s ongoing demographic shifts will bring victory for years to come, the party establishment acts like its candidates need do nothing differently
by Thomas Frank
The year of our discontent rolls on, and now it is Indiana that hands victory to the insurgent Senator Bernie Sanders and the protectionist demagogue Donald Trump.
Seven years have passed now since the last recession officially ended and yet the country’s fury has scarcely cooled. To this day we remain angry at Wall Street; we rage against career politicians; and we are incandescent that the economic system seems to have been permanently “rigged” against working people. Median household income has still not recovered the levels of 2007. Wages are going nowhere. Elite bankers are probably never going to be held accountable for what they did. America is burning.
Listening to the leading figures of the Democratic Party establishment, however, you’d never know it. Cool contentment is the governing emotion in these circles. What they have in mind for 2016 is what we might call a campaign of militant complacency. They are dissociated from the mood of the nation, and they do not care.
I mean this in ways both great and small. The party’s leadership is largely drawn from a satisfied cohort that has done quite well in the aftermath of the Great Recession. They’ve got a good thing going. Convinced that the country’s ongoing demographic shifts will bring Democratic victory for years to come, they seem to believe the party’s candidates need do nothing differently to harvest future electoral bumper crops. The seeds are already planted. All that is required is patience.
Hillary Clinton is more or less openly offering herself as the complacency candidate. The least inspiring frontrunner in many years, she is a dynastic heir who stands to receive the Democratic nomination largely because it’s her turn – the logic that made Bob Dole the GOP leader in 1996. Clinton has scolded her rival for wanting to break up Wall Street banks since such a policy, by itself, would not also end racism and sexism. (In point of fact, the black middle class was disproportionately damaged by the detonation of the housing bubble.) Clinton’s unofficial slogan, “America never stopped being great” — supposedly a searing riposte to Trump’s “make America great again” – sounds like the kind of thing you’d see inscribed in a country club logo. In her words we can hear the call of contentment, a would-be catchphrase for a generation of satisfied people.
Full article at:
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/05/04/why-must-trump-alternative-be-self-satisfied-complacent-democrats
Democratic Party leaders "are dissociated from the mood of the nation, and they do not care"
Published on
Wednesday, May 04, 2016
by The Guardian
Why Must the Trump Alternative be Self-Satisfied, Complacent Democrats?
Convinced that the country’s ongoing demographic shifts will bring victory for years to come, the party establishment acts like its candidates need do nothing differently
by Thomas Frank
The year of our discontent rolls on, and now it is Indiana that hands victory to the insurgent Senator Bernie Sanders and the protectionist demagogue Donald Trump.
Seven years have passed now since the last recession officially ended and yet the country’s fury has scarcely cooled. To this day we remain angry at Wall Street; we rage against career politicians; and we are incandescent that the economic system seems to have been permanently “rigged” against working people. Median household income has still not recovered the levels of 2007. Wages are going nowhere. Elite bankers are probably never going to be held accountable for what they did. America is burning.
Listening to the leading figures of the Democratic Party establishment, however, you’d never know it. Cool contentment is the governing emotion in these circles. What they have in mind for 2016 is what we might call a campaign of militant complacency. They are dissociated from the mood of the nation, and they do not care.
I mean this in ways both great and small. The party’s leadership is largely drawn from a satisfied cohort that has done quite well in the aftermath of the Great Recession. They’ve got a good thing going. Convinced that the country’s ongoing demographic shifts will bring Democratic victory for years to come, they seem to believe the party’s candidates need do nothing differently to harvest future electoral bumper crops. The seeds are already planted. All that is required is patience.
Hillary Clinton is more or less openly offering herself as the complacency candidate. The least inspiring frontrunner in many years, she is a dynastic heir who stands to receive the Democratic nomination largely because it’s her turn – the logic that made Bob Dole the GOP leader in 1996. Clinton has scolded her rival for wanting to break up Wall Street banks since such a policy, by itself, would not also end racism and sexism. (In point of fact, the black middle class was disproportionately damaged by the detonation of the housing bubble.) Clinton’s unofficial slogan, “America never stopped being great” — supposedly a searing riposte to Trump’s “make America great again” – sounds like the kind of thing you’d see inscribed in a country club logo. In her words we can hear the call of contentment, a would-be catchphrase for a generation of satisfied people.
Full article at:
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/05/04/why-must-trump-alternative-be-self-satisfied-complacent-democrats
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