A Dark Turn for the Sanders Campaign

[radical noodle]

When Bernie Sanders first announced his plans to run for president, he did so with the best of intentions — to raise the profile of issues that had long been ignored on the presidential campaign trail: wealth inequality, the role of money in the political process, and the increasingly desperate economic fate of the American middle class.

To a large degree Sanders has succeeded beyond his wildest imagination. He’s won 14 primaries and caucuses and garnered 6.5 million votes. But as it’s become increasingly clear that Sanders faces practically insurmountable hurdles to win the Democratic nomination, his campaign has taken a slightly darker and angrier turn.


The candidate who pledged last May that his campaign would not be about Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton, but “about the needs of the American people”; the candidate who boasted he’d never run a negative political attack in his life; the man who said he would be “driven by issues and serious debate . . . not reckless personal attacks of character assassination,” has begun to run a very different race.

Sanders is increasingly embracing the tactics he once decried. Rather than trying to unify the Democratic Party behind its almost certain nominee, Hillary Clinton, he is ramping up the attacks against her. While once Sanders refused even to mention Clinton’s name, now he doesn’t go a day without hitting her

More at:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/04/01/dark-turn-for-sanders-campaign/iQXKhLKcLadSzNhbxo2WOI/story.html

[liberal N proud]

1. It was always about Bernie Sanders

[NanceGreggs]

2. Yes, it was.

Right from the start.

[pandr32]

19. Oh ya! You nailed it!

[Treant]

3. I've gotten to the point

where I can't listen to him any longer. He doesn't say anything new...unless you count today's attack, either a sideswipe from him or a far more direct approach by a surrogate.

I'm going to be very glad when primary season is over and Clinton is our nominee.

[radical noodle]

4. I feel the same

He absolutely disgusts me and I just really don't know what I'd do if he were to somehow manage to get the nomination. I think he would prefer that the Democratic Party loses the White House if he can't be the nominee. Looks like the media is finally catching on.

[Stuckinthebush]

17. Disgusted

I highly agree. I just can't see the appeal of Sanders. He's angry and a one note candidate. His BS attacks are disgusting and makes me think less of him.

I can't wait for this to be over and the inevitable to happen - Clinton is the nominee and BS supports her. Heads will explode here but we can get on with the real job of beating the GOP and not this sideshow Bernie stuff.

[UtahLib]

5. K&R. nt

[okasha]

6. He's reliving his glory days of the '60's,

the bad with the good, and all the misogyny, homophobia and racism of the paleo-left is coming to the surface in his campaign. I'm really not sure he can shed that baggage at this point.

[Her Sister]

7. Aha! Backfiring!

In Sanders’ world, everyone but him and his supporters are tainted.

Over it!

[wisteria]

20. I loved that point.

[Tarheel_Dem]

8. His wrath, such as it is, has turned on the party whose banner he's running under. He's pissed....

that super delegates aren't lining up behind him in any significant way, and they probably won't for the reasons stated in this piece. At this point, I truly believe he plans to finish this race leaving nothing but scorched earth in his wake. He, and far too many of his supporters don't really care if a Democrat wins, because they'll be okay no matter who occupies the Oval Office. That's privilege, and it sucks.

[SunSeeker]

13. Exactly. Susan Sarandon knows she can go back to her $11.9M mansion.

She knows that her campaigning for Nader--and thus helping Bush get elected--did not hurt her in any way. Indeed she probably benefitted handsomely from the Bush tax cuts...just like she would benefit from the Trump or Cruz tax cuts.

[Tarheel_Dem]

14. Sarandon is a shell of her former self, and I don't mean that in a good way. For such a "wise"....

liberal, she doesn't even recognize that this election is not about her privileged ass, or indeed, Bernie's...it's about those much less fortunate than the two of them. You're right, she can lay low in her mansion for the next four years, and BS returns to his cushy job on the government dole.

[SaschaHM]

9. If it's as rancorous as it is now at the end of April

I fully expect/hope that Elizabeth Warren will endorse Clinton and that Obama will get involved in some way. Joe Biden might go out and have a "gaffe" of sorts. Obama endorsed DWS so he's clearly working counter to Sanders in some capacity.

[Cha]

15. I hope so.. BS is trying to destroy our Dem Party that we've worked so hard to build up

after 2008.

President Obama does not want to see his legacy destroyed by some wannabe revolutionist.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

10. As the saying goes

those in glass houses.....

[cosmicone]

11. He is an egotistical and narcissistic has been

who wants to win at any cost.

He has two slimeballs in Jeff Weaver and Tad Devine running the campaign along with Ms. Golden Parachute and false bank loan applications.

[SunSeeker]

12. #SandersSlanders

[brer cat]

16. K&R

[mcar]

18. I wonder if he can come back from this

He's alienating so many in the party.

[SharonClark]

21. He wants to beat Hillary in the popular vote

so he can go to the convention with his supporters and intimidate the Super Delegates into submission. Things could get very ugly if Hillary ends up behind in the popular vote. If she maintains her lead then Bernie would come across as a spoiler.