The debate was a much calmer and controlled one compared to the most recent ones. Both candidates did not go to their standard “yelling” voices. Hilary has found a way this election to look almost 20 years younger and last night was no difference. She has a strong confidence about her, and it resonated all night. She also had a strong group of supporters in the audience. To my surprise it would seem her group was larger than Bernie’s. At this point most of the issues have been laid out. Most of the differences have been made. The question now is just who will be more believable. Who will resonate with people more. Do we settle on incremental changes, and not change how politics is done. Or do we shoot for the stars, and even if we fall short, know that the effort was there and that there will be a significant change to how politics happens, putting Democracy back as how we do business.
This debate it is also another example of the difference between the Democratic and Republican debates. It reminded us how hilarious it is to say the media is Liberal. Watch the debates. The questions that the Democrats get are phrased to make sure they are attacked and need to defend themselves about how “big” they want government. I would say I have NO problem with tough questions like the ones both Hilary and Bernie got about justifying the extra spending. But in the end when have we ever heard a question about how Republicans want to spend BILLIONS on BILLIONS of dollars fighting wars, and bombing countries, and they are NEVER asked how they would pay for that extra spending? They want to cut taxes, again super misleading because they only want to reduce taxes on rich, but somehow with less money we can pay for wars and bombs, the things we already spend MOST of our budget on… Or how they want small government when it comes to regulating businesses and gun rights, but have NO problem instituting regulation on gay marriages and for women’s reproductive rights. They NEVER have to answer those questions. The idea of liberal media is a disgrace. Let’s get this straight, the media is swimming in our corporate world, and they profit from the establishment.
At one point the conversation went to campaign financing. Hilary was asked about how she looked at the contributions from her donors compared to the donations from donors on the Republican side. Her response was one of complete deflection. “Ask my donors” was he response. She obviously did not want this question. She made mention to her 750,000 individual contributions. She tried to connect to Bernie by saying they both have received a lot of individual donations and that separates them from the Republicans. Bernie went on an attack about the idea that she has received Millions of dollars from these super-pacs and why? He asks her, are they just throwing around money for the fun of it? He then goes on to remind the people that these large corporations have controlled the government and in response the economy for ages now. She responds by mentioning her classic Dodd-Frank, and that she isn’t afraid to use it. She also says that Dodd and Frank say her plan is the toughest. Funny that Barney Frank is on the board Signature Bank, and Chris Dodd’s wife is on the board of AIG, some of the financial institutions she would “go after.” Do you think they want a tough plan???
I also am disappointed that Bernie did not attack Hilary with the biggest issue with her Rhetoric. She by saying “I will break them up if I need to”, she is really saying “they still haven’t done enough to be prosecuted and broken up.” This is a MAJOR difference between Bernie and Hilary. Bernie says they have burnt us once (yes pun intended), let’s not allow them to continue the same policies and decisions to make the crash worse a second time. She believes they are ok, even though multiple of those establishments are even larger now than they were then. They are STILL doing all of the practices of gambling with the economy to make more money for themselves. She will not pursue any new regulations, and I wonder why… Maybe the 10’s of MILLIONS of dollars in campaign donations, or maybe the Millions in PERSONAL income she has received from them??? Her other big defense has been that she went down there and “wagged her finger, and told them to cut it out.” Maybe she did, even though people attending her speeches all say he told them she was supporting them and had their backs. Even if she did go and tell them to stop, it OBVIOUSLY didn’t work. Which means she has no power over Wall Street and if she is not willing to bring policies that truly will regulate and hold them responsible, then how can we EVER expect her to have any influence on them.
Bernie did have another somewhat weak moment when it came to foreign policy. Maybe it would be more accurate to state Hilary really helped push forward her confidence, and history of dealing with foreign politics. She has more experience. She had a great line that Obama trusted her to deal with these issues for a reason. She is right. She has a great current record dealing with other countries. I will also counter that when she dismisses the Iraq war vote, she is incorrect. There is also something to be said to have correct judgment when making such a large and influential decision, something Bernie did respond to her, one that she voted incorrectly on. Overall though, she showed her calm and collected ability to talk about foreign policies, and she has that advantage over Bernie.
What this debate really did accomplish is say, Democrats REALLY love Obama. Hilary has in the past, and even more so with this latest debate use the Obama Shield. Any time Bernie went after her about something, she goes right back to “well an attack against me is an attack against Obama because we did the same stuff.” Bernie has decided not to attack her further for being like Obama as much as I would like as the big liberal I am. Obama was a great stepping stone, but he did compromise what “hope” we had for him. Yes congress spent their whole time stopping any idea of progress he wanted. But let me also note, I think there is exactly 1 thing that Republicans have that I wish Democrats had. Some fight in them. We compromise because any little progress is good we think, never mind that any deal that the Republicans are willing to sign must have some deep positive for their rich donors. They do not allow anything to pass without getting something big in return. They stay strong to their beliefs. Now of course their beliefs are at the dismay of the average American and only help the top 1%, but they keep to that. We must fight their stubborn fight with someone who is willing to yell back. Let’s also recognize that aligning too much with Obama may be the downfall of a Democrat taking the presidency. Unjustly so, the general public have allowed the propaganda from Fox News and the Right-Wing conservatives drive a spike into how the public views the Obama presidency. The general public is not happy that there wasn’t much change. The left wanted much more change, and the right blames all the problems on Obama instead of the greed and illegal behaviors of the Millionaire/Billionaire class. Either way there is an argument to be made that maybe the comparison to Obama should be kept at a minimum. We’ll see if that is the case as we move forward.
At one point the conversation went to campaign financing. Hilary was asked about how she looked at the contributions from her donors compared to the donations from donors on the Republican side. Her response was one of complete deflection. “Ask my donors” was he response. She obviously did not want this question. She made mention to her 750,000 individual contributions. She tried to connect to Bernie by saying they both have received a lot of individual donations and that separates them from the Republicans. Bernie went on an attack about the idea that she has received Millions of dollars from these super-pacs and why? He asks her, are they just throwing around money for the fun of it? He then goes on to remind the people that these large corporations have controlled the government and in response the economy for ages now. She responds by mentioning her classic Dodd-Frank, and that she isn’t afraid to use it. She also says that Dodd and Frank say her plan is the toughest. Funny that Barney Frank is on the board Signature Bank, and Chris Dodd’s wife is on the board of AIG, some of the financial institutions she would “go after.” Do you think they want a tough plan???
I also am disappointed that Bernie did not attack Hilary with the biggest issue with her Rhetoric. She by saying “I will break them up if I need to”, she is really saying “they still haven’t done enough to be prosecuted and broken up.” This is a MAJOR difference between Bernie and Hilary. Bernie says they have burnt us once (yes pun intended), let’s not allow them to continue the same policies and decisions to make the crash worse a second time. She believes they are ok, even though multiple of those establishments are even larger now than they were then. They are STILL doing all of the practices of gambling with the economy to make more money for themselves. She will not pursue any new regulations, and I wonder why… Maybe the 10’s of MILLIONS of dollars in campaign donations, or maybe the Millions in PERSONAL income she has received from them??? Her other big defense has been that she went down there and “wagged her finger, and told them to cut it out.” Maybe she did, even though people attending her speeches all say he told them she was supporting them and had their backs. Even if she did go and tell them to stop, it OBVIOUSLY didn’t work. Which means she has no power over Wall Street and if she is not willing to bring policies that truly will regulate and hold them responsible, then how can we EVER expect her to have any influence on them.
Bernie did have another somewhat weak moment when it came to foreign policy. Maybe it would be more accurate to state Hilary really helped push forward her confidence, and history of dealing with foreign politics. She has more experience. She had a great line that Obama trusted her to deal with these issues for a reason. She is right. She has a great current record dealing with other countries. I will also counter that when she dismisses the Iraq war vote, she is incorrect. There is also something to be said to have correct judgment when making such a large and influential decision, something Bernie did respond to her, one that she voted incorrectly on. Overall though, she showed her calm and collected ability to talk about foreign policies, and she has that advantage over Bernie.
What this debate really did accomplish is say, Democrats REALLY love Obama. Hilary has in the past, and even more so with this latest debate use the Obama Shield. Any time Bernie went after her about something, she goes right back to “well an attack against me is an attack against Obama because we did the same stuff.” Bernie has decided not to attack her further for being like Obama as much as I would like as the big liberal I am. Obama was a great stepping stone, but he did compromise what “hope” we had for him. Yes congress spent their whole time stopping any idea of progress he wanted. But let me also note, I think there is exactly 1 thing that Republicans have that I wish Democrats had. Some fight in them. We compromise because any little progress is good we think, never mind that any deal that the Republicans are willing to sign must have some deep positive for their rich donors. They do not allow anything to pass without getting something big in return. They stay strong to their beliefs. Now of course their beliefs are at the dismay of the average American and only help the top 1%, but they keep to that. We must fight their stubborn fight with someone who is willing to yell back. Let’s also recognize that aligning too much with Obama may be the downfall of a Democrat taking the presidency. Unjustly so, the general public have allowed the propaganda from Fox News and the Right-Wing conservatives drive a spike into how the public views the Obama presidency. The general public is not happy that there wasn’t much change. The left wanted much more change, and the right blames all the problems on Obama instead of the greed and illegal behaviors of the Millionaire/Billionaire class. Either way there is an argument to be made that maybe the comparison to Obama should be kept at a minimum. We’ll see if that is the case as we move forward.