Guardian: Everybody loves Bernie Sanders – especially top Republican operatives

[DanTex]

As the unkempt septuagenarian senator has risen in the polls and drawn crowds in the thousands, GOP operatives have cheered him on social media and watched slack-jawed as a self-proclaimed socialist seems able to do more electoral damage to Hillary Clinton than a host of Republicans. Their love for Sanders though doesn’t seem to be motivated by the appeal of his leftwing ideology. Instead, it’s a sense of joy that anyone is able to land punches on the Teflon-like Clinton.

Among top GOP operatives, RNC chief strategist Sean Spicer has repeatedly tweeted pro-Sanders messages about “feeling #thebern” or with slogans like “#gobernie” and writing “I have to favorite” a tweet that noted Sanders’ improvement in the polls.

Colin Reed, the executive director of America Rising, a Republican Super Pac which specializes in opposition research, has also gone out of his way on Twitter to express his wonderment at the crowds that Sanders is attracting and the “Bernie-mania” he is inspiring. Stuart Stevens, Mitt Romney’s top strategist in 2012, even wrote a column proclaiming that Sanders is the real deal.

...

However, there still is a sense of pessimism that Sanders will be able to best Clinton in the Democratic primary. As top GOP strategist Rick Wilson pointed out: “I don’t know Bernie can play the role of Barack Obama in 2008 because he’s a 70-something-year-old curmudgeon.” He added: “It becomes hard to beat a celebrity without a celebrity.”

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/14/bernie-sanders-republican-operatives-hillary-clinton

I'm pretty sure the GOP won't get their dream of running against Bernie in the general election. But will Bernie really help the GOP beat Hillary in the general election? To his credit, he's running a positive campaign, and has repeatedly said that he likes and respects Hillary Clinton. Some of his supporters, though, seem to be falling into the GOP trap all to easily.

[cherokeeprogressive]

1. #GOBERNIE!

[AgingAmerican]

2. He is damaging Hillary with the truth!!!

Bleeayrrghhhh!!!

[Skwmom]

3. So we are supposed to take what these Republican political hacks say at face value?

I don't think so...

[Wilms]

5. No. You are supposed to take DanTex' posts and comments at face value.

I have tried. And I have failed. Miserably.

[Wilms]

4. I was all about Clinton, until I fell easily into the GOP trap.

They kept screaming, "Bernghazi!1!, Pantsuits!1!, Bernghazi!1!". So I relented and I'm voting for Bernie.

[Avalux]

6. So his success is a direct result of GOP operatives? HA!!!

[JaneyVee]

7. They want him running 3rd party for the same reason we want...

Trump running 3rd party.

[DanTex]

8. And they want him to get the nomination for the same reason we want Trump to.

And they want him attacking Hillary for the same reason we want Trump attacking Jeb and Walker.

Fortunately, Bernie's made it clear he's not going that route. His supporters, not so much.

[AgingAmerican]

10. So 'Bernies supporters' want him to run third party?

Thanks for that inside information!!1! Did you uncover that bombshell reading one of your own 'OP's?

[DanTex]

12. I meant going the route of attacking Clinton like the GOP wants them to.

Which was obvious from my post, which said nothing about a third party run. Nice try though. Now you can go back to doing what the GOP wants you to be doing.

[AgingAmerican]

11. So 'Bernies supporters' want him to run third party?

Thanks for that inside information!!1! Did you discover that tidbit in one of your 'OP's?

[OutNow]

9. Just the latest example of the "sealed train" theory of politics

During World War I, the Germans wanted the Russians to stop fighting on the eastern front. They arranged for Lenin and some of his fellow Bolsheviks to travel from their exile in Switzerland to Russia believing that Lenin would help to weaken the resolve of the Russians to continue to fight. The trip was arranged via a sealed train that crossed Germany on the way to Russia. Lenin did end the Russian involvement in the war and successfully led the October Revolution that established socialism in Russia. People who opposed the Bolsheviks often claimed that Lenin was not really a Russian revolutionary, but was really a secret agent of the Germans by pointing out how the Germans aided his trip back to Russia from Switzerland.

This technique has been used many times since 1917 by those who oppose real political change. The change agent, in this case Bernie Sanders, is smeared by pointing out that the enemy (in this case the Republicans) support him in the hope it will weaken the establishment (in the this case Hillary Clinton).

This is just the latest attempt to smear Bernie Sanders. It won't be the last.

http://en.metapedia.org/wiki/Sealed_Train

[DanTex]

14. There's something deliciously ironic about a Sanders supporter talking about a "crusade".

[restorefreedom]

16. unkempt is insulting

he is always in a suit. to suggest he is unkempt is another personal swipe.

they just can't help themselves