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Four Myths That Are Keeping Hillary Clinton Afloat In The Democratic Race
Four Myths Keeping Clinton Afloat
by John Atcheson
April 12, 2016
Myth # 1 – Hillary is more likely to beat Republicans in the general election
For months now, polls show that Sanders has done better against Republican opponents than Hillary. In fact, he wins against opponents she loses to. In the latest polling, for example, she beats Trump by only 9 points, ties Cruz, and loses to Kasich. Meanwhile, Sanders beats Trump by 20 points, Cruz by 12 and Kasich by 11. And Republicans are plotting on ways to select a more electable candidate if the convention is deadlocked, so running Hillary is risky for Democrats.
Bottom line: not only does Hillary do worse against Republicans than Sanders, she has unique vulnerabilities that make her a risky candidate for Democrats to run. Indeed, running Hillary may be the only way the Democrats could lose the Whitehouse.
Myth #2 – Hillary knows how to get things done
This is one of her favorite lines and it gets picked up by her many surrogates in the press. The fact is, it doesn’t bear scrutiny. For example, she only sponsored 3 Bills that became law during her 8 year tenure. One established an historic site in New York, another renamed a Post Office, and the third named a portion of a highway in New York after Timothy J. Russert.
Myth #3 – Sander’s isn’t a real Democrat and he isn’t doing anything to help the Party’s downballot candidates
Where you stand on this depends upon how you define a Democrat. If it’s merely a label that can be worn by anyone regardless of their positions, then Sanders is guilty as charged. And certainly Hillary has offered financial and other help to Democrats that Sanders has not.
But if you believe that being a Democrat is about values, not labels, then Sanders is doing a tremendous amount to help the Democratic Party at all levels of government.
The fact of the matter is, the Democratic Party left the people behind decades ago, when they embraced the pay-to-play political model that now dominates our elections and our governance.
Finally, Sanders is attracting new voters to the Party, and these voters will ultimately help elect more progressives at every level of government – something Democrats desperately need if they are to avoid the disastrous low turnout that crippled the Party in 2014, when a mere 36.4 per cent of eligible voters showed up -- the lowest voter turnout in 72 years – and Republicans won big at all levels of government.
Bottom line: Sanders has made it safe to be a real Democrat again and he’s attracting much needed new voters, and is likely to have the coattails to help Democrats in Congressional and state races. Hillary is busy propping up the status quo, which will limit turnout.
Myth #4 – Her experience gives her an edge
Hillary is pretty much batting zero on all counts. Her foreign policy is basically the same as the neocons. She voted for the Iraq war, then compounded the error by supporting regime change in Libya and Syria. Her economic policies are soft on Wall Street and she’s refused to back the $15 minimum wage. Finally, all this experience seems not to have given her a consistent view of policy. She’s flip-flopped on energy policy, trade agreements, crime issues, tax policy, regulation of the big banks … on and on it goes.
Bottom line: Ms. Clinton has loads of experience but she’s demonstrated poor judgment.
Experience without judgment merely allows her the opportunity to make the same mistakes over and over again. Experience without independence assures that she will. And taking money from Wall Street, fossil fuel interests, the pharmaceutical industry and other fat-cats assures that she has no independence.
For months now, polls show that Sanders has done better against Republican opponents than Hillary. In fact, he wins against opponents she loses to. In the latest polling, for example, she beats Trump by only 9 points, ties Cruz, and loses to Kasich. Meanwhile, Sanders beats Trump by 20 points, Cruz by 12 and Kasich by 11. And Republicans are plotting on ways to select a more electable candidate if the convention is deadlocked, so running Hillary is risky for Democrats.
Bottom line: not only does Hillary do worse against Republicans than Sanders, she has unique vulnerabilities that make her a risky candidate for Democrats to run. Indeed, running Hillary may be the only way the Democrats could lose the Whitehouse.
Myth #2 – Hillary knows how to get things done
This is one of her favorite lines and it gets picked up by her many surrogates in the press. The fact is, it doesn’t bear scrutiny. For example, she only sponsored 3 Bills that became law during her 8 year tenure. One established an historic site in New York, another renamed a Post Office, and the third named a portion of a highway in New York after Timothy J. Russert.
Myth #3 – Sander’s isn’t a real Democrat and he isn’t doing anything to help the Party’s downballot candidates
Where you stand on this depends upon how you define a Democrat. If it’s merely a label that can be worn by anyone regardless of their positions, then Sanders is guilty as charged. And certainly Hillary has offered financial and other help to Democrats that Sanders has not.
But if you believe that being a Democrat is about values, not labels, then Sanders is doing a tremendous amount to help the Democratic Party at all levels of government.
The fact of the matter is, the Democratic Party left the people behind decades ago, when they embraced the pay-to-play political model that now dominates our elections and our governance.
Finally, Sanders is attracting new voters to the Party, and these voters will ultimately help elect more progressives at every level of government – something Democrats desperately need if they are to avoid the disastrous low turnout that crippled the Party in 2014, when a mere 36.4 per cent of eligible voters showed up -- the lowest voter turnout in 72 years – and Republicans won big at all levels of government.
Bottom line: Sanders has made it safe to be a real Democrat again and he’s attracting much needed new voters, and is likely to have the coattails to help Democrats in Congressional and state races. Hillary is busy propping up the status quo, which will limit turnout.
Myth #4 – Her experience gives her an edge
Hillary is pretty much batting zero on all counts. Her foreign policy is basically the same as the neocons. She voted for the Iraq war, then compounded the error by supporting regime change in Libya and Syria. Her economic policies are soft on Wall Street and she’s refused to back the $15 minimum wage. Finally, all this experience seems not to have given her a consistent view of policy. She’s flip-flopped on energy policy, trade agreements, crime issues, tax policy, regulation of the big banks … on and on it goes.
Bottom line: Ms. Clinton has loads of experience but she’s demonstrated poor judgment.
Experience without judgment merely allows her the opportunity to make the same mistakes over and over again. Experience without independence assures that she will. And taking money from Wall Street, fossil fuel interests, the pharmaceutical industry and other fat-cats assures that she has no independence.
The full article is at:
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/04/12/four-myths-keeping-clinton-afloat
15 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
She's always done well by them.
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