Charles Pierce: Here's What Happens When Hillary and Bernie Try to Out-Progressive Each Other

[Marty McGraw]

DURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE—As it should be obvious by now, the next nothingburger on the Clinton side of the menu is, "Release the transcripts! Why won't you release the transcripts? What do you have to hide in those transcripts?" To be honest, I, too, would like to know what Hillary Rodham Clinton said to Goldman Sachs that was worth 670 large. (I really don't care what she said to the American Camping Association. She can keep that to herself.) But, because this is a Clinton, and because we know what that means to the elite political press, you could hear the nothingburgers sizzling on an open grill (night and day) almost from the moment that my man Chuck Todd posed the question. So it goes.

However, this was a long piece of drama that peaked in its first act, when HRC and Sanders started throwing haymakers at each other over who was the true progressive, an argument that looked silly for the last couple of days, but one that took on weight last night when the two of them got all up in each other's grills about it. It began with HRC rattling off a litany that has become familiar to the campaign since Sanders fought her to something like a draw in Iowa.

HRC: Because I am a progressive who gets things done. And the root of that word, progressive, is progress. But I've heard Senator Sanders comments, and it's really caused me to wonder who's left in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Under his definition, President Obama is not progressive because he took donations from Wall Street; Vice President Biden is not progressive because he supported Keystone; Senator Shaheen is not progressive because she supports the trade pact. Even the late, great Senator Paul Wellstone would not fit this definition because he voted for DOMA. You know, we have differences and, honestly, I think we should be able to talk about what we want to do for the country. But if we're going to get into labels, I don't think it was particularly progressive to vote against the Brady Bill five times.

(I'd like to think I'm not alone in thinking that it is particularly distasteful to drag the late Senator Paul Wellstone into this fight now that he can't speak for himself, especially since, DOMA aside, he likely would have been raising all kinds of loud hell about HRC's coziness with the financial community. After all, it was Wellstone who wrote, " The American polity is infected with a serious imbalance of power between elites and masses, a power which is the principal threat to our democracy." The president and vice-president are good enough for the purposes of this argument.)

That got things rolling, but the whole thing went on afterburners when Sanders pinned on HRC the label of the establishment candidate.

SANDERS: I am—will absolutely admit that Secretary Clinton has the support of far more governors, mayors, members of the House. She has the entire establishment or almost the entire establishment behind her. That's a fact. I don't deny it. But I am pretty proud that we have over a million people who have contributed to our campaign averaging 27 bucks apiece. That we have had meetings where 25,000-30,000 people have come out. That our campaign is a campaign of the people, by the people, and for the people. So, Rachel, yes, Secretary Clinton does represent the establishment. I represent, I hope, ordinary Americans, and by the way, who are not all that enamored with the establishment, but I am very proud to have people like Keith Ellison and Raul Grijalva in the House, the co-chairmen of the House Progressive Caucus.

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/02/05/heres-what-happens-when-hillary-and-bernie-try-out-progressive-each-other

[DUbeornot2be]

1. Is it...

...just me?

That Hillary used four Democratic politicians, each agreeing with a single controversial stance to suggest they are indeed also able to be viewed as progressive, only magnifies the fact that she stands or has stood for ALL FOUR of those controversial stances...

...some accuse her of being moderate and she pleaded guilty!

[Betty Karlson]

2. Nope: that's not just you. It's blatantly obvious. eom