Opposing the claim that Bernie Sander's message is too narrow and lacks broad appeal.
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"What worries me about other candidates, particularly Hillary Clinton, is that the message seems to be we cannot aim high, or we must not be ambitious, we must not try to be bold, because we can’t get there. That, to me, is exactly the wrong message."
~Robert Reich
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Calvin Wolf is a novelist and editorialist living in west Texas, where he daylights a... See Profile
First, they thought that U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) would be knocked out of the Democratic primaries in February. Then, they changed it to March. Now, they declare that April will be the month where former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton clinches the Democratic presidential nomination. Unfortunately for Clinton, April's first Democratic primary might not work in her favor: Sanders is predicted to win Wisconsin, which votes on April 5.
If Sanders wins Wisconsin and further shrinks the delegate gap between himself and frontrunner Clinton, look for New York to become the most intense Democratic primary battleground of the season. As one of the most populous states, New York is a treasure trove of Democratic delegates. A Clinton victory in New York could seal her nomination, but a Sanders victory could put them back on equal footing...an insurmountable setback for Clinton, given that Sanders has positive momentum and Clinton hasrecord-high negative ratings. If Clinton cannot win in New York, she will likely be finished in the race.
If Bernie Sanders can win in New York, it will be clear that he can sweep the remaining states and that Hillary Clinton is just wasting time and resources.
Aside from its must-win status, New York will also electrify the Democratic primaries because of its unique importance to both contenders. Hillary Clinton was one of its U.S. Senators (D) from 2001 through 2008, having won an open Senate seat in 2000 while still First Lady and departing in early 2009 to join new president Barack Obama's cabinet as Secretary of State. Bernie Sanders is a Brooklyn native and still carries the distinctive accent.
Clinton served as a powerful politician within the state and is impeccably well-connected to its current leaders. However, voters may not be as loyal: Clinton's polling lead in the state has been shrinking and her intense Capitol Hill image means that she has fewer actual ties to New York culturethan she would like to admit. While liberal New Yorkers may respect Clinton's political service, they may also yearn to vote for an equally-experienced native son. The fact that Sanders hails from NYC while Clinton has maintained an opulent Chappaqua estate may be doing her few favors.
As the two liberal titans battle it out ahead of April 19, will New Yorkers be swayed more by Clinton's U.S. Senate service and legions of local political endorsements...or by Sanders' Brooklyn roots and staunch progressivism? It's a battle for the history books. The run-up to the final showdown, however, may favor Sanders.
A native New Yorker, Bernie Sanders has ripe opportunity to double down on his promotion of FDR-style New Deal politics. Franklin D. Roosevelt, after all, was a native New Yorker and served as the state's governor before sweeping the 1932 presidential election. Democratic socialism has plenty of New York roots, both through FDR and the labor movements of the Progressive Era, and Sanders can effectively claim to be the rightful heir of that movement.
If Hillary Clinton claims to do the same, however, she may be hit with a damaging retort: That she is a modern-day carpetbagger who only came to New York in 2000 because it had an open U.S. Senate seat. The approach to the New York primary contest may dredge up uncomfortable moments for the Clinton campaign, especially old attacks revealing that Hillary Clinton had never lived in New York prior to running for Senate. These attacks, though dated, may be the straws that break the camel's back and irreparably brand Clinton as a phony. Looking back at the very beginning of Hillary Clinton's political career as a solo artist may cause its end.
With Hillary Clinton already facing record-high negative ratings and a slew of accusations of flip-flops and scandal, the last thing she needs is for the public to be reminded that she got her start as a carpetbagger sixteen years ago. Far from pulling herself up by her bootstraps, as did Bernie Sanders in Vermont, Clinton was "installed" in New York by the Democratic Party establishment and her husband's White House. Allegedly, this occurred without too much fuss because the Democratic Party wanted a powerhouse to run against New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was considering a Senate bid at the time. In the end, Rudy didn't run and Clinton was able to overpower a relatively unknown Republican U.S. Representative named Rick Lazio for the seat.
In an election cycle where the Democratic National Committee has been loudly accused of rigging the primaries in Hillary Clinton's favor, it's a really bad time for voters to be reminded that Clinton was also a DNC pet project back in 2000. Instead of searching for a local liberal to run against Giuliani, the Democratic establishment picked a nationally-known political celebrity, the First Lady, to provide some star power and plenty of fundraising. While this may have worked well enough in 2000, will voters accept it a second time around?
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