Confusion reigns in the Clinton camp after Bernie Sanders trounced Hillary in New Hampshire, 60% to 38%.
I watched Hillary Clinton’s concession speech and it was frankly embarrassing. It was rambling and directionless. I had to remind myself I was looking at a Presidential aspirant.
The Clinton attacks on Sanders are a case study in how not to do it. So far, they have all helped Bernie.
Bill Clinton claimed on Sunday that Sander’s advocacy of universal health care and free education was unrealistic. This only invited more interest in these popular Sanders’ policies.
In the same speech Bill Clinton hammered some of Sanders’ on-line supporters for sexist remarks about Hillary. Sanders rightly distanced himself from any such comments. But rather than hurting Sanders campaign Clinton only drew attention to the fact that Bernie has millions of on-line supporters – some of whom will inevitably be trolls.
Then we saw Hillary Clinton on stage cheering former Secretary of State Madeline Albright for saying “there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other [read, support Hillary].” Hell must now be very crowded place with all the New Hampshire women who voted by a large majority for Bernie over Hillary. Several feminists,
including RoseAnn DeMoro
, have explained that Sanders’ platform is more pro-women than Clinton’s.
On Monday Hillary Clinton argued that Sanders, a strong critic of big money buying elections, had indirectly received corporate financing in the past, via the Democratic Party’s main Senate campaign fundraising arm, which had itself received some Wall Street money. This was a long bow, which only drew further attention to Hillary’s corporate backers, including Goldman Sachs, who three years ago gave her $675,000 for three speeches.
Following her big defeat in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton is banking on getting the lion’s share of the Black vote in South Carolina, mainly on the grounds that several prominent Black leaders have endorsed her. However, the Sanders campaign is aiming directly at Black youth who are more open to Bernie’s radical message than their elders. The Clinton camp may be in for another big surprise.
Two little words help explain why Hillary is now unlikely to win the Democratic Party’s nomination. Her speech to supporters after the New Hampshire result was an “I” speech. Bernie’s was a “we” speech. Bernie invites people to join his movement for change, his “political revolution”. Hillary invites Americans to trust her, and they are not of a mind to trust a member of the establishment.