Repeat presidential candidate Bernie Sanders
This week, the public vetting process finally began for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Last Sunday, in a CBS 60 Minutes interview, for example, Sanders was asked about past support for the communist or socialist regimes in the Soviet Union, Nicaragua and Cuba. Sanders replied that, as to Fidel Castro‘s oppressive dictatorship in Cuba:
… but you know, you got — it’s unfair to simply say “everything is bad.” You know, when Fidel Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program, is that a bad thing?
Sanders’ comments did not sit well with many Americans around the country. Sanders’ remarks caused an especially negative reaction in Florida, located only 90 miles from Cuba, and where many voters are refugees from Castro’s brutal crackdowns. Florida is America’s third most populous state, with 29 electoral votes, and is crucial to a possible Democratic victory in the 2020 presidential election.
Likewise, Sanders’ competitor Mike Bloomberg quickly criticized Sanders’ comments, pointing out that:
Fidel Castro left a dark legacy of forced labor camps, religious repression, widespread poverty, firing squads, and the murder of thousands of his own people.
But sure, Bernie, let’s talk about his literacy program. pic.twitter.com/3Xqu435uoA
— Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) February 24, 2020
On Tuesday night, at the latest debate in South Carolina, the moderators began with a question to Sanders about how a socialist could defeat Donald Trump given that America’s unemployment rate is low. Additionally, several fellow presidential candidates, including Bloomberg, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, went after Sanders. For example, Bloomberg told Sanders, “that’s why Russia is helping you get elected, so you will lose to him.” When the moderator asked Klobuchar about the cost of Sanders’ promised programs, such as Medicare For All and the Green New Deal, Klobuchar said:
No, the math does not add up. In fact, just on “60 Minutes” this weekend, he said he wasn’t going to rattle through the nickels and the dimes. Well, let me tell you how many nickels and dimes we’re talking about: nearly $60 trillion. Do you know how much that is, for all of his programs? That is three times the American economy — not the federal government — the entire American economy. The Medicare For All plan alone on page eight clearly says that it will kick 149 million Americans off their current health insurance in four years.
Similarly, on the issue of the price tag for Sanders’ promises, Buttigieg responded: “It adds up to four more years of Donald Trump, [Republican Congressman] Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House, and the inability to get the Senate into Democratic hands.”
Even Elizabeth Warren, who has criticized fellow liberal Sanders the least, stated that, when she showed how her Medicare For All plan (similar to Sanders’ plan) would be paid for, “Bernie’s team trashed me for it.” And long-shot Tom Steyer stated, regarding Sanders’ healthcare plan, “I don’t believe that a government takeover of large parts of the economy makes any sense for working people or for families.”
Biden took aim at Sanders on a number of issues during the debate. In one response alone, Biden stated:
Bernie voted five times against the Brady Bill and wanted a waiting period …. A waiting period of 12 hours. I’m not saying he’s responsible for the nine deaths, but that man would not have been able to get that weapon with the waiting period had been what I suggest until you are cleared.
In addition to that, being progressive, he thought Barack Obama — he wanted a primary– he said we should primary Barack Obama, someone should, and, in fact, the president was weak and our administration was in fact not up to it. Look, folks, this is — let’s talk about progressive. Progressive is getting things done, and that’s what we got done.
On Wednesday, following the debate, Bloomberg sent this over Twitter:
Last night, we were in Charleston, South Carolina, where the legacy of Bernie Sanders’ pro-gun agenda created the conditions for one of our nation’s most horrific tragedies. pic.twitter.com/WnOcIcOO7K
— Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) February 26, 2020
For Sanders, the vetting process has been a long time coming. Sanders skated through the 2016 Democratic primaries without a full review by the press, or by his rival, Hillary Clinton. Secretary Clinton pulled ahead of Sanders early on, after the Nevada Caucus, and she apparently decided not to attack Sanders for fear of alienating his supporters, whose votes she would need against Donald Trump in the general election. And the press were seemingly too busy waging war against Clinton on phony issues — Benghazi, emails, Clinton Foundation, etc. — to pay attention to Sanders. Even Russia, according to the Mueller Report, sent out these instructions to its agents who interfered in the election to assist Trump:
Use any opportunity to criticize Hillary [Clinton] and the rest (except Sanders and Trump – we support them.)
Recently, as Bloomberg indicated in Tuesday’s debate, U.S. intelligence agencies informed Sanders that Russia is once again helping him in the 2020 elections, with the apparent goal again of promoting Sanders as the weakest Democratic Party nominee so that Trump wins the general election. At minimum, Russia wants to sow chaos in America and the Democratic Party, and Sanders, with his constant attacks on the party, brings plenty of that.
Accordingly, Sanders’ vetting this week may be too little, too late. Three primaries or caucuses have already taken place. The South Carolina primary is tomorrow, and Super Tuesday, with some 14 primaries representing about one third of the country’s delegates, is just four days away. Several big states, including the two biggest, California and Texas, have had early voting for days. Thus, voters may not get sufficient information about Sanders in time for voting. Instead, if Sanders wins the nomination, Donald Trump and the Republicans will have the information on Sanders ready to unleash during the general election, when it’s too late for the Democrats.
Photo by Matt Johnson, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/o36uMU
