Sanders walks back Planned Parenthood, Clinton ‘establishment’ comments

[riversedge]

Source: msnbc.com


Sanders walks back Planned Parenthood, Clinton ‘establishment’ comments

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/sanders-walks-back-planned-parenthood-clinton-establishment-comments

01/21/16 09:57 PM

By Kasie Hunt

HOOKSETT, New Hampshire – Planned Parenthood, the Human Rights Campaign and other progressive groups that have endorsed Hillary Clinton are not part of the political establishment, Sen. Bernie Sanders said Thursday, walking back comments he made earlier this week on MSNBC.


........The clarification comes after Sanders responded to a question from MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow earlier this week about why so many progressive groups – including Planned Parenthood, NARAL and the Human Rights Campaign – were backing Clinton over him.

“We’re taking on not only Wall Street and economic establishment, we’re taking on the political establishment,” Sanders said. “So, I have friends and supporters in the Human Rights Fund and Planned Parenthood. But, you know what? Hillary Clinton has been around there for a very, very long time. Some of these groups are, in fact, part of the establishment.”

Clinton has been criticizing Sanders’ comments in recent days, pointing out that the identified groups are focused on fighting for rights of women and the LGBT community.

“I don’t really understand what he means by that. These are two of the really great human rights, progressive organizations in our country,” Clinton told CNN on Thursday afternoon.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/sanders-walks-back-planned-parenthood-clinton-establishment-comments

---

:Tweet

Brian Fallon ‏@brianefallon 5h5 hours ago

In one wk, Sanders flipped on gun vote he defended for months, rushed out changes to 20yr health plan & walked back insult to @PPact & @HRC
100 retweets 113 likes

[Kalidurga]

1. Thank you for accepting that apology it takes a big person to do that.

[JDPriestly]

2. Clinton looks more and more like the image of peevishness.

She can't win on her views on the issues so she nitpicks at Bernie's every statement.

Where is Hillary's health care plan?

Is she just going to leave many, many Americans uninsured?

Is she going to protect the profits of the for-profit health insurance companies at the expense of middle class and poor Americans?

And what is she going to do when the too-big-to-fail banks need another bailout?

Hillary's stances on the issues are weak. So she nitpicks. That's not leadership. That's not what we want in our next president.

And that Gensler is one of her advisers is pretty troubling.

[BlueMTexpat]

3. Seriously?

... "image of peevishness" ... ?

Your comment doesn't address the OP at all. But you seized the moment to cast more aspersions on a Democratic candidate.

I personally am glad that Sanders walked his comments back. Good for him. But before he did, I certainly was not casting slurs on him or his candidacy. That's a BIG difference, IMO.

[CoffeeCat]

27. Everyone knows that Bernie is incredibly pro-choice and

is for women making their own healthcare decisions.

He supports Planned Parenthood and at the end of the day, all Democrats do.

The PP endorsement was disappointing to Sanders supporters, but we will all move on.

I commend Sanders for clarifying what he meant. And it he changed what he said a bit, that's ok too.

Not exactly a big deal.

[BlueMTexpat]

43. I have no doubt whatsoever that Bernie is pro-choice.

But the actions/words of some of his supporters about PP's endorsement of HRC have been disappointing, to say the least.

When posters such as the individual I was replying to cannot resist slipping in a gratuitous slur against my candidate, I do find that a big deal.

This is a Dem website, after all.

[hedda_foil]

14. In answer to your questions, the magic eight ball says: "follow the money."

[LanternWaste]

17. Nitpicking when candidate A does it.

Nitpicking when candidate A does it.
Valid criticism when candidate B does it.

And always rationalized as something it's not.

[Helen Borg]

4. He did not genuflect...

[Dems2002]

5. Not a walk back at all

It's funny, this is being called a walk back while another thread quotes Sanders' Campaign manager saying the same thing and refers to them as doubling down.

Sanders was talking about these organizations in terms of their endorsement decisions. The people who made the endorsement decisions were not the rank and file but the folks at the top. As Sanders said in his initial interview, he has friends in these organizations. These friends support him. But the "Establishment" is close to Hillary. So they endorsed their long-time ally and friend.

That's all true. Neither organization conducted any sort of vote of its people before making this decision. In PP's case, had they done so, maybe they would have gone with Hillary anyway. It's quite possible. But since that's not how these endorsement decisions took place, Bernie's comment holds up as does this follow-up. He meant the leadership of these organizations are establishment because the leadership are the ones who made the top down decision.

The same can be said of many of the DC based National Labor Organizations who've endorsed Clinton when hands down Bernie is a much better labor candidate. It's a cynical decision made by leadership to support who you believe will win rather than the candidate who would be best for labor. The fear is that political clout would be lost by backing the loser in the primary.

I don't always think it's wrong to do this. Sometimes the best candidate is the one who will do the least harm. I am also not surprised that most folks weren't willing to stick their necks out for Sanders because they considered him a lame duck. Why did they think this when Sanders is surging and getting tens of thousands of people to attend his rallies? Because they are...part of the Democratic Establishment who have drunk the collective kool aid and believe that only Corporate Dems can win.

[SunSeeker]

18. Bernie walked it back AFTER the Tad Devine double down only generated more blowback.

It is pretty obvious Bernie's walk back is disingenuous. It's damage control.

[thesquanderer]

23. It's not even really a walkback

The OP left out the quote where he actually explained his meaning:

Sanders said he was specifically talking about the leadership of those groups and their endorsement decisions.

You can agree with him or not, but he is actually standing by what he originally said, by continuing to call the groups' leadership part of the political establishment.

[scipan]

28. This ^^^^^

You are exactly right. the "..." in the OP is the meat of the article, which is what Sanders actually said.

[SunSeeker]

29. Wrong. Sanders had "specifically" referred to PP as a "group," NOT its "leadership."

Asked about Clinton’s endorsements on MSNBC Tuesday night, Sanders put endorsements into his broader outsider vs. the establishment frame:

"What we are doing in this campaign -- and it just blows my mind every day, because I see it clearly, we're taking on not only Wall Street and the economic establishment, we're taking on the political establishment."

"And so I have friends and supporters in the Human Rights Fund, in Planned Parenthood," Sanders continued. "But you know what, Hillary Clinton has been around there for a very, very long time and some of these groups are, in fact, part of the establishment."

http://m.dailykos.com/stories/2016/1/20/1472353/-Bernie-Sanders-We-re-taking-on-the-political-establishment-like-Planned-Parenthood

Nice try.

[thesquanderer]

31. Man, some of you folks are brutal

Speaking off the cuff, he says these groups are part of the political establishment. Then he clarifes, he's talking about the groups' leadership.

Instead of arguing about whether this was a "clarification" or a "walkback" (as Hillary once said, what difference does it make?),maybe the more interesting discussion would be whether or not the leadership of these groups is indeed part of the political establishement. That would be a point that people might disagree about, but at least it's a converstaion about an actual idea, rather than a semantic gotcha'.

[SunSeeker]

35. Facts can be brutal things.

You claimed he was referring to leadership and he explicitly was not. Now you change your argument and admit he said that but he was "speaking off the cuff." So unless he's reading from a teleprompter we can't assume he means what he says?

It is amazing that Sanders/his campaign (and some of his supporters here) continue to claim that PP leadership are part of the "establishment" he is "taking on." They really think that is ok to say. Shows their true colors when it comes to who we can count on in the war on women.

[thesquanderer]

41. my posts are consistent

Last edited Fri Jan 22, 2016, 11:26 PM - Edit history (1)

You claimed he was referring to leadership and he explicitly was not. Now you change your argument and admit he said that but he was "speaking off the cuff." So unless he's reading from a teleprompter we can't assume he means what he says?

I never changed my argument.

*He* claimed in his clarification (walkback, if you prefer) that he was referring to the leadership.

People are not always 100% precise when speaking in normal conversation. You can choose to give leeway, or not, but I hope you do the same for both candidates. Personally, I don't think there is huge difference between "PP is part of the establishement" and "PP leadership is part of the establishment," which is why it doesn't seem like a walkback to me. Really, do you think the first time he was talking about PP employees? Clients?

It is amazing that Sanders/his campaign (and some of his supporters here) continue to claim that PP leadership are part of the "establishment" he is "taking on." They really think that is ok to say.

Thank you for at least somewhat addressing the actual substance of the issue on this one. I would think that he would say something like the PP establishment leadership is not someone he is looking to "take on" but rather is simply someone he is not surprised to find taking the path of least resistance. Not a "leader" of the establishment to be fought, but still a "cooperator" wth the establishment, someone he'd like to win over, but is still a gear in the current machine.

[Politicub]

36. Words matter when it comes to PP bashing

The right's attacks on PP are bad enough. They don't need help from Mr. Democratic socialist-when-it-suits-him.

[bananas]

44. Thanks - funny how that was left out of the OP.

Changes the meaning completely - and invalidates the headline.
Sanders is correct, of course.

[Bradical79]

19. I agree, but the message was poorly delivered

He really shouldn't have mentioned "taking on the establishment" when talking about Planned Parenthood being allied with the Democrats' political establishment. When asked about the Clinton endorsement it probably would have been better just to let it go and hand wave it away by mentioning Clinton has been a long time ally of theirs, it's disappointing but not surprising, and reiterate support for women's health.

Planned Parenthood is an important organization under pretty serious attack by the other party. People are rightfully going to be jumpy when it comes to comments that could be interpreted as an attack.

[Politicub]

32. everything with Sanders requires him to split hairs

No immunity for gun manufacturers? Voted against it because something something something.

No to the Brady bill? Voted that way because of rural something something.

Dismissive to a BLM protester? Too loud or something.

[pengu]

6. HRC endorsed Lieberman AFTER he lost his primary and ran as an independent

I cut off my HRC donations after that and never went back. There are much better LGBT organizations than HRC.

[hobbit709]

7. So 6 hours AFTER you post it in GD-P you post it on LBN?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511043990

[stonecutter357]

9. thanks for the link.

[riversedge]

11. So, you have a beef about X-posting!!!

I do not.

[Lucinda]

42. So? Not everyone reads GDP.

Many avoid all the vitriol.

[stonecutter357]

8. K&R!

[geek tragedy]

10. Good move on his part.

That was a regrettable line of commentary that have Clinton ammunition.

[Odin2005]

12. "walks back" Biased much, MSNBComcast?

[mcar]

13. K&R

[Gregorian]

15. Sanders meant that these institutions could be BETTER.

It was clear when he said it. Does anyone think that Bernie Sanders is against these institutions? Of course not. He would like to see them functioning better than some other institutions (ie.,DNC).

[dlwickham]

16. Clear as the water in Flint

[Gregorian]

21. Maybe it's all a masquerade, and Bernie really wants to dismantle these programs.

It could be that all of his years as a consistent progressive were a ploy to get into office and tear down these institutions.

[Politicub]

33. His voting record is pretty clear when it comes to guns

Before the d- rating gets trotted out, it covers his gun record post him being favor of gun makers having immunity from persecution.

[Gregorian]

38. Actually, he fought that one because it included small business owners.

The way it was written, according to him, it would have caused small mom and pop businesses to take the full brunt of these lawsuits.

That one bothered me too until I realized why he voted that way. I would post the link, but I haven't a clue where I saw it.

[Politicub]

40. That's why we can't have gun laws

Because criminals would break them and hurt ma and pa gun kettle

[Politicub]

39. Please stop with the hair-splitting

It gets monotonous.

[lark]

22. Snark at the end was not needed.

Bernie did a total stand up thing and walked back his PP is "establishment" claim. I was really glad to hear that he's a strong PP supporter, that's what I would expect of him. When you are talking all the time, sometimes it's real easy to misspeak, especially when in a really contentious situation like running for president. He made a mistake and took responsibility and proclaimed his support for PP.

That's good enough for this PP supporter.

[riversedge]

24. First his spokesperson double down in the dissing of PP and HR Campaiign, then

Weaver propped it up. then Sanders ran around the bush and was forced to answer after confronted by the reporter for the 2nd time (I watch it--so I know!).

[riversedge]

25. BTW--Sanders can never walk back this insident. The damage is done--in addition there

was the smashing and vile comments on the PP faceback by Sanders supporters. Awful.

[markj757]

26. Bernie is starting to prove himself to be....

a poor man's Elizabeth Warren lol.

[SunSeeker]

30. No, Elizabeth Warren would have never said PP was part of the "establishment" she is "taking on." nt

[Politicub]

34. +1 Warren has class

[SunSeeker]

37. Agreed. nt