"Clinton faces April tests in Wisconsin, New York" by Ken Thomas and Bryna Godar Associated Press March 30, 2016
MILWAUKEE — Hillary Clinton’s campaign aims to effectively end the Democratic primaries against Bernie Sanders by early May. But first she needs to navigate tricky contests in Wisconsin and her home state of New York.
Clinton enters April with a big delegate lead and insider support among Democrats crucial to the nomination. But Sanders is pointing to victories in five of the past six states holding contests — among them, three western states — and views Wisconsin as a home for the progressive causes he has long supported.
‘‘We are on a roll. Our campaign has momentum,’’ Sanders told a crowd of about 4,000 Tuesday night inside the Wisconsin State Fair Park Products Pavilion in Milwaukee.
A win by Sanders here next week would put pressure on Clinton to deliver in New York, which she represented in the Senate. Returning to New York ahead of the state’s April 19 primary, Clinton campaigned at Harlem’s famed Apollo Theater and unveiled a new television ad taking on Republican Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies and violence at some of his rallies.
Wisconsin, with its mix of urban and rural voters, could offer parallels to its Midwestern neighbors. Sanders’ triumph in Michigan earlier this month was one of the biggest moments of his campaign but Clinton defeated him a week later in Illinois and Ohio, setting up a new fight.
Sanders, reprising a message he used effectively against Clinton in Michigan, said disastrous trade policies led to the 1996 loss of Milwaukee’s Johnson Controls plant to Mexico and the closure of Janesville’s General Motors plant in 2008.
In a play for Democrats’ hearts, Clinton has slammed Republican Gov. Scott Walker, a former presidential candidate who rose to prominence through his fights with organized labor.
Clinton accuses Walker of ‘‘taking a wrecking ball’’ to the rights of workers and women. She also puts Walker at the center of her critique of Sanders’ plan to provide free tuition at public colleges and universities, saying it relies too heavily on governors kicking in funding.
Sanders, who advocates for large voter turnout at every turn, has lashed out against Wisconsin’s voter identification, faulting Walker with making it harder for people to vote.
Sanders, despite the wins in Washington state, Alaska and elsewhere, still faces significant hurdles. Clinton has won 1,243 pledged delegates compared to Sanders’ 980, according to a count by The Associated Press.
Clinton’s lead grows when including superdelegates, or party officials like members of Congress and state leaders who can back any candidate they wish. Including superdelegates, Clinton has 1,712 delegates to Sanders’ 1,011. It takes 2,383 to win and Clinton’s team has suggested April 26 primaries in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Delaware as a time when it could essentially seal the nomination.
A new opinion poll from Marquette University shows 49 percent of likely Democratic primary voters in Wisconsin support Sanders, compared to 45 percent for Clinton. About 6 percent of respondents were undecided. The results are within the survey’s margin of error.
In New York, both candidates are preparing for a drag-out fight in a state where both have roots.
At a rally in New York’s iconic Harlem neighborhood Wednesday, Clinton sought to emphasize her differences with Sanders while touting her home state advantage.
To me she will always be from Arkansas, even if her true home state is Illinois.
‘‘My opponent says, well, we’re just not thinking big enough,’’ she told supporters. ‘‘Well, this is New York. Nobody dreams bigger than we do. But this is a city that likes to get things done. And that’s what we want from our president too.’’
Sanders, who grew up in Brooklyn, aims to build a coalition of liberal voters in New York City and economically-frustrated areas upstate, which has suffered as manufacturing jobs have declined.
He’s also planning to highlight his strong opposition to fracking, an oil-and-gas extraction method that’s New York State was the first to ban.
Clinton, meanwhile, plans to highlight her record as senator, particular her economic work upstate and aid to 9/11 first responders.
Sanders is ‘‘going to campaign like a Brooklynite and she’s going to campaign like a senator who represented this state for eight years and has lived here for 16,’’ said her senior strategist Joel Benenson. ‘‘It may be competitive but he’s not going to get a number in New York that’s going to change the delegate count materially.’’
But Clinton’s history in New York raises the stakes — win or lose.
‘‘If it’s even close, Secretary Clinton will have a whole other set of problems,’’ said Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf, a New York-based consultant to President Bill Clinton’s 1996 re-election campaign. ‘‘Republicans will think it’s a great day and Democrats will freak out.’’
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"Sanders tests Clinton’s aura of inevitability" by Tracy Jan Globe Staff April 06, 2016
WASHINGTON — Senator Bernie Sanders scored a convincing victory in Wisconsin Tuesday night over Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, increasing his momentum heading into New York, Clinton’s home state and scene of the next big Democratic showdown.
His Wisconsin win — his sixth out of the last seven states — essentially denies Clinton the ability to quickly pivot to the general election and exclusively focus her attention on the GOP, forcing her instead to continue slogging it out with Sanders through the next batch of East Coast primaries this month.
“She’s getting a little nervous and I don’t want her to get more nervous, but I believe we have an excellent chance to win New York and a lot of delegates in that state,” Sanders said from a campaign rally in Laramie, Wyo.
As Sanders has showed surprising strength, Clinton continues to be plagued by tepid support in the party’s liberal base. She watched the Wisconsin results from New York, where she held a fund-raiser, and did not address the public.
Still, most analysts agree it’s too late in the game to change the narrative of Clinton as the likely Democratic nominee, but for Sanders, momentum, enthusiasm, and tens of millions of dollars in contributions were at stake in the Wisconsin outcome.
The Democratic delegate rules are stacked in Clinton’s favor, allowing her to continue moving ahead, building her delegate lead with either close losses or victories.
But Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist whose populist campaign has drawn thousands of independent voters to his rallies, has maintained a steady drumbeat of criticism over Clinton’s corporate contributions and her close ties to the business establishment.
“We have decided that we do not represent the billionaire class. We do not represent Wall Street or the drug companies or the fossil fuel industry. And we do not want their money,” Sanders said after his Wisconsin win.
Unlike the Republicans, Democrats don’t have any winner-take-all states in their primary. All delegates are apportioned based on the percentage of the popular vote candidates win, meaning Clinton and Sanders will share Wisconsin’s 96 delegates.
What’s more, so-called superdelegates — party leaders who vote independently from state primary results — account for 15 to 17 percent of the delegates selected; that is where Clinton has an advantage.
That means all the party hacks can thwart the will of the people (blame Jimmy Carter; they don't wanna go through that again. That's why Bernie was denied. That and him not even being a Democrat).
“Hillary Clinton has a prohibitive and perhaps insurmountable delegate lead,” said Steve McMahon, a Virginia-based Democratic strategist. “Bernie Sanders has vastly exceeded expectations and become an extraordinary candidate, but the math is still the math and it overwhelmingly favors Secretary Clinton.”
A candidate needs to amass 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic nomination. Following Tuesday’s primary, Clinton had 1,740, including 469 superdelegates. Sanders, despite winning a string of recent primaries, lags far behind with 1,055 delegates, including just 31 pledged super delegates.
For Sanders to have a shot at the nomination, strategists say, his supporters in states that he’s won need to pressure superdelegates to flip their allegiance. Sanders said Tuesday that he believes many of the superdelegates will reconsider his candidacy after his recent wins.
Still, it’s an uphill climb.
Do the math. If 430 of them flipped then Sanders would be winning, and that is in conflict with what the party wants -- thus the venom.
“Winning primaries is great — it generates momentum and huge campaign contributions,” McMahon said. “But it’s only going to make an incremental difference in the delegate lead. He really needed to start winning a lot sooner than he did in a lot bigger states in order to have a reasonable chance here in the home stretch.”
Sanders has consistently outperformed Clinton in fund-raising. Sanders’ success at generating donations will allow him to take the fight all the way to the Democratic convention, making it difficult for Clinton to pivot to the general election like she’s been trying to do.
Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook sent a fund-raising appeal Tuesday morning that served to dampen expectations for her in Wisconsin, where polls had showed Sanders holding a slight lead.
“The truth is, we were outraised and outspent last month, and we could very well lose the Wisconsin primary tonight,” Mook wrote. “If we can stay focused and stick to our plan, the nomination is in our grasp.”
Wisconsin is a swing state that Democrats need in order to win in the November general election. Early CNN exit polls of Democratic primary voters on Tuesday revealed demographics that favored a Sanders’ win.
They ought to be ashamed that they voted for Cruz.
Sanders was beating Clinton among men, voters ages 18 to 44, and college-educated voters. Liberal voters, who made up 66 percent of those voting in the Democratic primary, also favored Sanders, as did white voters, who made up 84 percent of the pool, and independent voters, who made up more than a quarter of voters in the open primary.
Clinton spent Tuesday campaigning in New York, holding a town hall in Brooklyn focused on women, and was not scheduled to hold any campaign events in the evening after Wisconsin polls closed. Sanders campaigned in Wyoming on Tuesday evening.
Clinton and Sanders, after squabbling over when to schedule the next debate, have agreed to next meet in Brooklyn on April 14, five days ahead of the crucial New York primary . Clinton is leading in polls there, where both candidates have ties. Sanders was born and raised in Brooklyn. Clinton represented the state for eight years as senator.
“Now that we got over the debate over the debate, it looks like it’s going to be a real barn burner in New York,” said Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist and former aide to Senator Harry Reid. Manley cautioned both sides against escalating their rhetoric and “running into the gutter.”
Clinton’s first New York ad targets the general election and appeals to the city’s diverse population by hitting against Trump’s proposals to build a wall along the Mexico border and ban Muslims from entering the country.
She also slammed Trump while campaigning in New York on Tuesday, calling his rhetoric “offensive” and “dangerous.”
Sanders released a 30-second version of an earlier ad featuring Erica Garner, the daughter of Eric Garner, a black Staten Island man whose 2014 death from a police chokehold helped spawned a national protest movement.
Eric Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, has endorsed Clinton, illustrating the generational divide in the Democratic nominating contest.
The next Democratic caucus is in Wyoming on Saturday, followed by New York on April 19, and then a batch of East Coast states on April 26 — Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.
Sanders and Clinton plan to spend Wednesday campaigning in Pennsylvania and speak at the state AFL-CIO convention.
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Related:
KKK Grand Dragon Endorses Hillary Clinton
I thought they endorsed Trump as Bernie gave the black power salute?
I said Vote Sanders. Everyone else will send your kids to war.
Jill Stein v. Bernie Sanders
My heart will go on.... even in the dark water.
So much for qualifications and background.
Who will win the battle of Brooklyn?
The nearby neighbor or the union of evil?
"Clinton, Sanders woo delegate-rich New York" Associated Press April 12, 2016
WASHINGTON — Bernie Sanders on Monday highlighted the Justice Department’s roughly $5 billion settlement with Goldman Sachs over the sale of mortgage-backed securities, saying it’s a system that must be changed.
During a rally in Albany, N.Y., the Democratic presidential candidate read part of an Associated Press story about the settlement, announced Monday, to resolve state and federal investigations into mortgages practices before the 2008 financial crisis. The government accused the bank of misleading investors about the quality of its loans.
See: Goldman Sachs pays $5b to settle claims it sold shoddy mortgages
Related: ‘‘That is not justice,’’ said Dennis Kelleher, chief executive of Better Markets. ‘‘Every single individual at Goldman who received a bonus from this illegal conduct not only keeps the entire bonus, but suffers no penalty at all.’’
Instead of the term ‘‘shoddy,’’ Sanders said, ‘‘the real word is illegal.’’ He said ‘‘this is the system that we are living in and this is the system that we have to change.’’
The Vermont senator is trailing Hillary Clinton in the polls before Tuesday’s New York presidential primary.
Sanders also dropped by a Buffalo union hall Monday to address workers who plan to strike against Verizon on Wednesday morning. He told members of the Communications Workers of America, Local 1122, that they are showing ‘‘enormous courage’’ by demonstrating for job security and better pensions.
Sanders said the union members are standing up to ‘‘the outrageous greed of Verizon and corporate America.’’ The CWA endorsed Sanders in December. He also held a rally is Buffalo on Monday night.
And now they are buying Yahoo?
Clinton hopes to capture what her team says would be an all but insurmountable lead by the end of the month.
Can the supers still flip?
Sanders believes he can turn a string of primary wins into a victory in the delegate-rich state. He needs to win 68 percent of the remaining delegates and uncommitted superdelegates if he hopes to get the Democratic nomination. That would require blow-out victories in upcoming states, big and small, including winning the New York primary.
Campaigning across southern New York on Monday, Clinton targeted Sanders’ record on guns, immigration, Wall Street reform, and foreign policy.
‘‘I have noticed that under the bright spotlight and scrutiny here in New York, Senator Sanders has had trouble answering questions about whatever his plan is,’’ she told reporters after a campaign event at an Indian restaurant in Queens.
On gun control. Clinton said Sanders’ record shows that he has failed to take a strong stand against stopping the spread of firearms.
Sanders has cited his background as a senator from Vermont as the reason for some of his votes against gun-control measures, saying that people in rural states have a different relationship with guns.
Most of the guns used in killings in New York, Clinton told an audience in Long Island, come from out of state. The highest per-capita number of guns used in New York crime comes from Vermont, she said, prompting an audible gasp from the crowd.
Clinton said: ‘‘This is not, oh I live in a rural state we don’t have any of those problems. You know what, it’s easy to cross borders.’’
She added that people who are ‘‘dangerously mentally ill, they cross borders, too, and sometimes they do it to get the guns they use.’’
As do commanders-in-chief.
Clinton also cast Sanders as unprepared for the White House, saying the Democratic candidate ‘‘has had trouble answering questions.’’
Clinton said she’s looking forward to a debate in Brooklyn later this week, adding that Sanders has struggled to detail his foreign policy positions and plans to regulate Wall Street.
Sanders hit back at a rally in the upstate New York city of Binghamton, rallying supporters with a lengthy riff that slammed Clinton for promoting fracking as secretary of state and only offering conditional opposition to the practice.
The oil- and gas-drilling method, reviled by environmentalists, has been banned in New York.
The harsher tone comes just days before the two Democrats will meet on stage for the first Democratic primary debate in more than a month. Since their last face-off, the contest has taken a decidedly negative turn, with the two candidates trading a series of barbs over their qualifications for the White House.
Clinton has avoided directly calling for Sanders to exit the race, saying that she campaigned until the end in 2008 and that she’s all for a ‘‘good hard contest.’’
But she denounced the aggressive tone that some of Sanders’ supporters have taken toward her, saying she'd seen reports that her backers have been targeted and harassed.
You think he's bad; have you seen who is waiting for you?
‘‘There seems to be a growing level of anxiety in that campaign, which I hope doesn’t spill over into the way that his supporters treat other people,’’ she said.
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Bernie did get more aggressive and showed his true self as the vote neared, but....
Clinton takes N.Y. primary
NY Voting Chaotic: Brooklyn An Electoral Disaster
NEW YORK - VOTE RIGGING
It has been the whole way along.
Bernie Sanders and the curse of the closed primary
What about the general?
"By any measure, the three people most likely to appear on the November general election ballot are, in order, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and Ted Cruz. And yet, according to new numbers from an NBC-Wall Street Journal national poll released Monday night, at least six in 10 Americans say that they can’t see themselves supporting any of that trio. Clinton’s numbers are the ‘‘best’’ on the question, with 58 percent of people surveyed saying they don’t see themselves supporting her in the general election. Forty-one percent, meanwhile, said they could see themselves backing her. Regarding Cruz, 61 percent of people say they can’t imagine backing him, while a whopping 68 percent say the same of Trump. The only candidate running for president who has more people saying they could support him than saying they wouldn’t? Bernie Sanders, who is at 49 percent support/48 percent can’t support in the NBC-WSJ poll."
Hillary Clinton seeks to quiet critics with solid N.Y. win
As Bernie buys into the blackmail of Saudi Arabia and 9/11 conspiracy theories (to throw it back at 'em). It was an USraeli job, folks.
Will Hillary Clinton’s gender hurt her in November?
Steinem recounts controversy from her Maher chat
Was Bernie Sanders being sexist?
She started it, and speaking of sexists:
Trump, Clinton close
The relationship as detailed in a trove of papers released Tuesday by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library.
4/10:"Sanders wins Wyo., but the Wyoming results were a draw from a delegate perspective: Sanders and Clinton each picked up seven. That means Clinton has 1,287 delegates based on primaries and caucuses to Sanders’ 1,037. When including superdelegates, or party officials who can back any candidate, Clinton has 1,756, or 74 percent of the number needed to clinch the nomination. Sanders has 1,068. Sanders, who has now won seven of the last eight state contests, called Wyoming ‘‘a beautiful, beautiful state,’’ and told reporters the vote there was part of a shift in support in his direction since the campaign left the Deep South. ‘‘Now that we are in the second half of this campaign, we are going to state after state which I think have a more progressive outlook,’’ Sanders said. ‘‘We are in this race to win.’’ At an evening rally before a Latino crowd in Brooklyn, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton found a rare point of agreement with Trump on the matter of New York values. At a forum on race and social justice issues at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, Sanders invoked his Judaism as a basis for his understanding of racial injustice. Most of his father’s family was killed in the Holocaust."
Makes you sick, and I'm not talking about the Holocaust part.
Clinton move to friendly states in next week’s primaries
She just left one.
Time to head West:
"Republican businessman Donald Trump and former Democratic secretary of state Hillary Clinton were certified Tuesday as the winners of Missouri’s presidential primaries, though a recount remains a possibility. The official results of the March 15 primaries show that Trump and Clinton both prevailed over their challengers by a mere fraction of a percent. Tuesday’s certified vote takes into account provisional ballots and absentee ballots cast by overseas voters that came in after Election Day. Trump and Clinton both increased their lead in the certified vote."
Clinton win in Ariz.
Clinton has won the illegal alien vote, and it's all funny now -- unlike when Tim Russert torpedoed Dennis Kucinich.
Sanders takes Utah, Idaho
Sanders wins Washington, Alaska caucuses
That results caused some bitterness, and there was even talk of a lawsuit.
He still thinks he can win with a May miracle!
Clinton claims victory in tight Ky. race; Sanders win Ore.
Big rallies or quiet voters? Are Clinton supporters low on enthusiasm?
Crowd counts are just one measure of excitement, and ‘‘big crowds mean nothing,’’ says former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell.
Yeah, why bother voting after you went to his rally?
Ex-Gov. Rendell Apologizes for 'Ugly Women' Comment
"Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders spoke to a boisterous crowd of mostly young people in Baltimore, where he railed against big banks and highlighted his differences with Clinton. He hammered at ‘‘disastrous trade policies,’’ saying that ‘‘we are seeing corporation after corporation shut down in the United States throw millions of workers out in the street, people who are earning a living wage.’’
He's right!
“There was the phrase that Bernie supporters go to rallies and Clinton supporters just go vote,” and that is why big crowds don’t equal big votes for Bernie Sanders.
I'm glad we've got that cleared up.
So the millions that have gone to his rallies and gave money don't vote, huh?
Sanders raised, burned through $46m in March
"A deep-pocketed Democratic super PAC backing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reported bringing in more than $11.7 million, increasing its haul this election cycle to more than $67 million. The group's March fundraising dwarfed the amount brought in by some super PACs backing Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, which each started April with only a little over $1 million. Those were the early findings from reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. The reports detail the financial health of the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates and outside political groups. Anti-Trump super PACs also poured millions into a deluge of political advertising."
Underdog presidential candidates spend heavily to catch up
"The small-dollar fund-raising juggernaut that has kept Bernie Sanders’ insurgent White House bid afloat far longer than anticipated has generated another unexpected effect: a financial windfall for his team of Washington consultants. While the vast majority of that money was passed along to television stations and websites to pay for the advertising, millions of dollars in fees were kept by the companies, The Post calculated. While it is impossible to determine precisely how much the top consultants have earned, FEC filings indicate the top three media firms have reaped seven-figure payments. Sanders’s money blitz, fueled by a $27 average donation that he repeatedly touts, has improbably made the antibillionaire populist the biggest spender so far in the election cycle."
Bernie is just as corrupt as the rest?
"An all-but-settled Democratic race also allows Clinton to raise money and cut primary spending on ads. She’s planning a spree of lucrative fund-raisers in New York, Michigan, California, and Texas next month and has no ads running in coming primary contests. Priorities USA Action, a super PAC backing Clinton’s candidacy, is preparing to spend $90 million on television ads attacking Trump in seven states starting June 8 — the day after the California primary. An additional $35 million is being reserved for digital ads aimed at bolstering Clinton’s coalition of black, Latino, and younger voters. The group says they could go on the air sooner, if the dynamics of the race change. Emily’s List, an advocacy organization that backs female Democratic candidates, has hired a New York ad agency to help market to millennial voters, a group that Clinton has struggled to win over in the primaries. The effort is testing messages attacking Trump and aimed at motivating young women to come out for Clinton, as part of a $20 million project to elect the first woman as president. “Millennial women are outraged by Donald Trump,” said Denise Feriozzi, the group’s deputy executive director. “It’s our job to turn that outrage into votes.”
That's about the time that Bernie's fund raising dried up, and by the end of the he was closing down his offices while still making trouble.
Sanders willing to inflict heavy damage on Clinton to win California
California Dreaming: Clinton sees big win, Sanders an upset
At the least given the endorsement.
"In July, The Washington Post reported that Roger Clinton acknowledged in a deposition eight years ago that he had tried to arrange a fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton’s previous presidential campaign in exchange for part of the take. Roger Clinton also revealed in that deposition that his stepbrother had been paying his son’s tuition and providing his nephew with some monthly spending money. In 2009, Bill Clinton bought Roger Clinton a house near Los Angeles. His release came a day ahead of the California Democratic primary, pitting his sister-in-law Hillary Clinton against Bernie Sanders."
Quite a spectacle, 'eh?
"Clinton to get boost from Democratic juggernauts" by Victoria McGrane and Annie Linskey Globe Staff June 08, 2016
WASHINGTON — Obama, with an array of potent attributes — including better voter approval ratings than both Clinton and Trump — also can help shepherd the millions of passionate voters who rallied to Sanders into the Clinton fold.
Think of how inane that sounds.
Were it true, Hillary would have blown Sanders' doors off!
Thus the underlining thesis of the whole narrative is flawed. Unreal, if you will. Some might say insane even.
For Obama, being succeeded by a Democrat next January would be a capstone to his own eight years in office and would protect what he sees as his most important accomplishments — lifting the economy out of the direst recession since the Great Depression and passing landmark legislation expanding health care and overhauling the rules governing Wall Street.
Rules which they are not done writing yet (and Iran not the important?).
He rolled out a preview of his critique of Trump’s candidacy last week.
“If we turn against each other based on divisions of race or religion, if we fall for a bunch of okie-doke just because it sounds funny or the tweets are provocative, then we’re not going to build on the progress that we’ve started,” Obama said in Elkhart, Ind., a solidly Republican congressional district.
Have you seen the video? At lot of people don't want you to.
Obama obviously “has a huge vested interest in the progress we’ve made over the last eight years,” said a person familiar with the president’s thinking.
And keeping government secrets that might be criminal or embarrassing. Hillary will; Trump probably not.
The other obvious point is the stature a sitting president brings to the campaign trail — something the Republican nominee can’t match. Obama will serve as a powerful validator, telling voters that Clinton is up to being commander in chief, Clinton and Obama allies say. Obama will be out there highlighting the stiff challenges of the job “and how the nominees measure up to what it takes,” said the person familiar with Obama’s thinking.
That's old political thinking in this year of populist surprises.
“No one knows better what it takes to be both president and commander in chief than President Obama, who rescued our economy from collapse and has made the tough decisions in the White House Situation Room,’’ said Clinton campaign spokesman Jesse Ferguson. “They are former opponents in a primary, then allies in the White House, and now friends, so it’s hard to imagine a more convincing advocate for her.”
The refrain coming from Clinton and Obama camps Wednesday was that Sanders needed to be given the space to end his primary bid on his own terms, which the Vermont independent said Tuesday included fighting for every vote in the last primary election of the season, the Washington D.C., June 14 contest.
“We need to give Senator Sanders some time,” Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said on CNN, when asked why Sanders hasn’t conceded the primary to Clinton. “I am completely confident that both candidates will come together, unify in common purpose, to make sure that secretary Clinton wins this election in November.”
“It’s clear we know who the nominee is going to be. I think we should be a little graceful and give him the opportunity to decide on his own,” Vice President Joe Biden said of Sanders on CNN.
When Sanders does step aside and Obama is free to hit the trail, political observers and insiders say he brings a uniquely potent mix of strengths.
“He has popularity and extraordinary talent [campaigning] . . . and he is zeroed in on the voters Hillary needs most,” said Democratic strategist and former Bill Clinton aide Paul Begala, who advises pro-Clinton super PAC Priorities USA Action. “Sanders voters are critical,” he said, and they overlap significantly with Obama’s base of voters — namely younger liberals, particularly young men, especially white ones.
Since when did white men become such a craved minority?
Obama’s popularity could suffer if the economy were to slide into a recession, or if he were challenged by a world crisis or terror attack.
I think it already has, the polls about him are lies so he can exit gracefully.
Btw, that world crisis of terror is here. Once a week if not day lately, all over the world!
But since March, Obama’s favorability ratings have hovered around 50 percent — making him far more popular than either party’s presidential candidate. Political scientists say past evidence shows there’s a strong link between an incumbent president’s approval rating and the success of that same party’s candidate in open seat elections such as this year’s contest.
Tell it to Al Gore!!!!!
“Presidential elections are always to some extent a referendum on the incumbent president, even when the incumbent is not running,” said Alan Abramowitz, a political science professor at Emory University, and the extremely divided nature of US voters means that Obama’s 50 percent approval rating translates to something like 90 percent approval among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, he said.
That's why we got Obama in the first place!!
Remember who he replaced!?
Abramowitz said Obama can also help excite Democrats in crucial swing states such as Virginia, Ohio, Florida, and Colorado, where Clinton’s success could hinge on voter turnout.
She may have locked up Virginia.
Obama and Warren aren’t the only important surrogates Clinton will be able to lean on in the months ahead. As former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau put it in a recent blog post, “Clinton’s primary victory will allow her to assemble a Democratic Dream Team” that includes her husband, former president Bill Clinton, a skilled campaigner who has been dubbed “explainer in chief” for his ability to boil down the arguments for why voters should support a cause — a talent the former president deployed to help Obama win reelection in 2012.
What makes them think that odious creature Bill Clinton is going to help? Been on Epstein's plane and his past dalliances are well documented. That women defend him is shameful. He should be shunned.
Obama’s endorsement will unleash Vice President Biden with his appeal to blue-collar voters, but many Democrats believe no one is quite as skilled as Obama when it comes to skewering the real estate mogul, pointing to his epic takedowns of Trump at several White House Correspondents Association annual dinners.
HA-HA-HA!
Said Begala: “There is no one I would rather see take apart Donald Trump than President Obama.”
He may be the only one who can.
How's that for ending your presidency?
Losing Turkey as an ally and then having to mop the campaign floor before you leave?
--more--"
Nevertheless, Sanders said he won't stop and is in it until the end.
That's why he named a Vice Presidential candidate:
Hillary Clinton shouldn’t move to the left
No, NOT HIM!
"Allan Telio is the director of the Startup Institute, an eight-week Boston-based boot camp that gives its students the skills they need to find a job in the technology industry. For the past three months he’s been running a mock “campaign” for president. Last week, Telio threw a campaign “rally” in Ben & Jerry’s ice cream shop in Boston. “I thought ‘Why not combine two things that I love, myself and free ice cream?’” he said, overlooking the fact that the Vermont-based duo had already declared allegiance to Senator Bernie Sanders. “It started honestly because I was listening to people who are actually running for president, and thinking, man they’re ridiculous,” he said. “I am a firm believer in free speech as long as you agree with me.”
Sanders-Telia.
Slightly better phonetically than Trump-Pence, but not as flowing as Clinton-Kaine.
Even put out a platform:
"Senator Bernie Sanders’ tax and spending proposals would provide new levels of health and education benefits for American families, but they’d also blow an $18-trillion hole in federal deficits, piling on so much debt they would damage the economy. That sobering assessment comes from a joint analysis released Monday by the nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and the Urban Institute Health Policy Center, well-known Washington think tanks."
At least he makes you think, and better that than it lost down the Pentagon rathole.
Then he stopped firing:
Sanders, Clinton will meet Tuesday to discuss agenda
From what I've been reading they had to force a smile out of him, and it's now all about the platform. I don't blame him; I think in his heart, as he traveled across this country, I think he knows he is the true winner. He saw it first hand. I suspect he feels a bit like Nixon did the morning after the 1960 presidential election was stolen from him (thank God. JFK needed to be there during the Cuban Missile Crisis).
Hillary Clinton wins DC primary, as she meets with Sanders
Endorsement possible when Sanders joins Clinton in N.H.
"Bernie Sanders endorses Hillary Clinton" by Victoria McGrane and James Pindell Globe Staff July 12, 2016
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — For anxious Democrats, the wait is over. Bernie Sanders threw his support behind Hillary Clinton Tuesday.
Awkwardness permeated the symbolic moment. Sanders looked pained. Clinton nodded through his notably long remarks, which sounded an awfully lot like his stump speech. Afterward, Sanders mopped the sweat from his forehead with a white cloth. The inelegant optics underscored that this is a union of necessity, not true love — a coming together of two opposing threads of the Democratic Party driven by fear of Trump and what he could do.
Ah, Bernie.
What, you wanna be Secretary of Labor?
Or is he biting his tongue thinking unforeseen health or e-mail developments may sideline her?
Yet strained though it may be, the Clinton-Sanders hug helps draw a contrast with Republicans, who remain deeply divided over Trump, with some major party leaders declining to even attend the GOP convention.
Clinton needs Sanders’ help to shore up support among vital demographics, especially young voters, with whom she continues to struggle. The Vermont senator vowed Tuesday to “campaign in every corner of this country” to ensure Clinton beats Trump in November.
Youth not going to turn out this time?
He may have his work cut out for him. While polls suggest Sanders supporters are warming to Clinton, plenty remain deeply skeptical.
“Nope,” read one sign held aloft in the bleachers. Introductory speakers fielded boos as they lauded Clinton. When Sanders announced his endorsement, about 40 of his supporters walked out of the Portsmouth High School gym.
Watching them leave, Kurt Ehrenberg, a former Sanders staffer in charge of gathering Sanders supporters for the event, shrugged his shoulders and said, “Well, we tried.”
“I won’t be voting for her. There’s not a circumstance in which I would,” said Keith Yergeau, 30, of Bedford, N.H.
Me, neither, and I think his supporters and voters know what he does; there was fraud in the election. In a fair vote -- sorry to say -- Bernie and Trump did win. Repugs couldn't deny it, and their rejection of Ron Paul led to Trump.
As for Clinton, not only does she scare me, I'm just sick of the same old faces coming through the revolving door at the WH.
The Clinton and Sanders camps carefully staged the event.
Aren't they all?
Before the speeches, most of the 70 members on Sanders’ New Hampshire steering committee were allowed to enter backstage with a chance to get their picture taken with Clinton.
Did I mention how sick of the celebrity politics I am, and where the hell is security?
Later they were steered to a roped-off VIP area where Clinton’s New Hampshire cochair, Jim Demers, sat near Julia Barnes, the former Sanders New Hampshire campaign director. As they took their seats, Sanders and Clinton retreated to a hold room where they were alone for roughly 15 minutes before they were called onto the stage together.
Looking to disrupt signs of unity, Trump’s campaign pumped out press releases during Sanders’ speech that took direct aim at Sanders’ populist base, slamming Clinton’s ties to Wall Street and her past support for trade agreements.
“Bernie Sanders endorsing Crooked Hillary Clinton is like Occupy Wall Street endorsing Goldman Sachs,” Trump wrote in one of several tweets accusing Sanders of betraying his principles by backing the former secretary of state.
“To all the Bernie voters who want to stop bad trade deals & global special interests, we welcome you with open arms,” he wrote in another tweet.
Let me sleep on it.
Sanders’ endorsement comes more than a month after Clinton clinched the Democratic presidential nomination. He held off embracing the former secretary of state in a bid to wring policy concessions from the Clinton camp. Insiders say the slow-walk endorsement also was designed to help shepherd his more ardent fans into the Democratic fold. Sanders more than once said he couldn’t snap his fingers and make his followers back Clinton.
I'm a voter, not a "fan!"
Sanders has had some success on the policy front. With Clinton’s blessing, the group writing the Democratic National Committee’s platform for the upcoming convention adopted several of the Vermont senator’s proposals over the weekend, including a $15 minimum wage.
Over the course of the primary, Clinton came to embrace many of the major themes Sanders emphasized, such as cracking down on Wall Street misbehavior, reforming campaign finance rules, and addressing income inequality. More recently, she unveiled proposals that echo causes Sanders championed.
How interesting that the endorsement of the TPP was omitted from the list of "concessions."
While Sanders seemed to drag himself, inch by inch, toward Tuesday’s endorsement, others from the left rushed to back Clinton once she amassed the requisite delegate count, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren among them....
Liz might be running away from her in tears now.
--more--"
Also see:
As Sanders wanes, his supporters seek new political missions
Some Bernie Sanders fans have a hard time moving on
Bernie’s backers have every right to cry
Their fire has been put out.
