By Barbara Slavin PHILADELPHIA – Hillary Clinton has made history as the first woman nominee for president of a major U.S. political party after a hard-fought primary campaign and a bumpy beginning to the Democratic National Convention. Die-hard supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders have either stopped their booing any mention of her name or walked […]
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Democrats Standing United?
Posted July 26th, 2016 at 4:51 pm (UTC-5)
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From the opening gavel through most of the evening, the old Will Rogers trope “I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat” appeared to hold true for the first day of the Democratic National Convention.
Bernie Sanders supporters rained boos upon any speaker who uttered the name Hillary Clinton. They also jeered keynote speaker Elizabeth Warren as a traitor to the progressive cause. Not until first lady Michelle Obama delivered a speech that drew near unanimous acclaim did it appear that there would be any semblance of unity.
Sanders closed Monday evening’s session with a strong endorsement of Clinton, taking most of the air out of the Bernie of Bust movement.
Tuesday’s roll call of states to vote on her historic nomination may be the last chance for Sanders supporters to protest Clinton’s rise to head the Democratic Party. After she wins the nomination, it’s all about Hillary.
Her husband ,former President Bill Clinton takes the stage Tuesday night as well as House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi, both focused on giving the first woman major party presidential nominee a post-convention boost.
Conventional Unity for Clinton?
Posted July 25th, 2016 at 4:00 pm (UTC-5)
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Simmering tensions that ran through the primary campaign between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders grew to a full boil Monday as the Democrats began their national convention.
Hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee show party leaders were not necessarily neutral brokers, seemingly tilting the scales toward Clinton’s candidacy. The revelations cost the chairwoman of the Democratic Party, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, her job.
Sanders has not withdrawn his endorsement of Clinton, and is expected to reiterate his support in a speech Monday night. But will Sanders’ supporters follow suit?
Bernie Sanders: Here’s What We Want
Posted June 23rd, 2016 at 10:16 am (UTC-5)
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“What does Bernie want?” Wrong question. The right question is what the 12 million Americans who voted for a political revolution want….They want real change in this country, they want it now and are prepared to take on the political cowardice and powerful special interests which have prevented that change from happening.
Sanders May Have Lost the Primary, but He’s Already Won Key Concessions on Foreign Policy
Posted June 16th, 2016 at 2:06 pm (UTC-5)
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He has succeeded — and even exceeded observers’ expectations – in forcing the Democratic Party to re-evaluate its long-held assumptions about the use of military force abroad. Clinton embodies many of those views, and Sanders won millions of votes by coming at her from the left and arguing for a less interventionist foreign policy.
What Does Bernie Want?
Posted May 31st, 2016 at 2:57 pm (UTC-5)
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It’s a long shot for Bernie Sanders to win the Democratic Party presidential nomination. But he is still campaigning hard, vowing to take his candidacy to the convention in Philadelphia in July.
Sanders trails Hillary Clinton by 268 pledged delegates going into the final nine contests of the primary election season. Neither are likely to win the nomination with pledged delegates only.
Both candidates will need to make their case to the 712 so-called “superdelegates” that they are the better candidate to take on presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. Both need to have convincing victories in the final primaries, especially California.
With 475 pledged delegates at stake, California has the biggest delegate haul. Sanders has been campaigning in the state for more than a week. Clinton has changed her schedule and will add two more days of California campaigning before the June 7 primary. She also got a boost with an endorsement from California governor Jerry Brown.
Donald Trump is already on the attack against Hillary Clinton. Many Democrats worry Sanders is dividing the party when the delegate math doesn’t add up.
A Third Choice?
Posted May 24th, 2016 at 6:05 pm (UTC-5)
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In a presidential race where the likely nominees of both major political parties have major disapproval ratings, is there room for a third choice?
New polling says maybe.
An NBC-Wall Street Journal survey this week shows 47 percent of registered voters would consider a third party candidate if the Republican and Democratic choices were Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
This weekend, the Libertarian Party will hold its convention to nominate a candidate. Front-runner Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, is polling at 10 percent in some recent surveys that include his name with Trump and Clinton.
While Americans have not elected a third party president, there have been some strong attempts: George Wallace won almost 14 percent in 1968. Ross Perot got 19 percent in 1992 and eight percent in 1996. Ralph Nader in 2000 got more than two percent of the vote, but that was enough to keep Al Gore from winning Florida, giving George W. Bush the presidency.
With the election still about six months away, talk of a viable third party candidate is still remarkably strong. But is there action behind the talk?
Hillary Clinton: Eyeing Trump While Sanders Tries to Close
Posted May 16th, 2016 at 4:23 pm (UTC-5)
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Voters in Kentucky and Oregon get their chance Tuesday to choose a candidate to run for president of the United States. Donald Trump is the last Republican standing in what once was a 17-candidate field. And the Democrats still have Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders going at one another.
The delegate math is tilted heavily against Sanders. Democrats allocate pledged delegates proportionally to the popular primary vote. That means Sanders has to overwhelmingly win most, if not all the remaining 11 contests to overcome Clinton’s current 283 pledged delegate lead.
Then, there are the “superdelegates” — 712 elected officials and Democratic party leaders who are not bound to any candidate. Right now, Clinton has support from an overwhelming number of those superdelegates.
The Clinton conundrum: positioning herself to take on Trump without burning bridges to Sanders supporters.
Indiana Drops the Starting Flag on the Trump v. Clinton Race
Posted May 4th, 2016 at 4:36 pm (UTC-5)
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Rarely have so many eyes been on Indiana this early in May. But the results from Tuesday’s presidential primary race will have far more impact than whoever wins the Indianapolis 500 later this month. Donald Trump lapped his closest rival, Ted Cruz, who emptied his tank in an effort to win in Indiana. The other Republican in the race, John Kasich, has now joined Cruz in idling their campaigns. With a win in Indiana, Bernie Sanders continues to try to push past Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. But short of a total Clinton collapse, Sanders will remain in her rear view mirror. Polling shows both Trump and Clinton would be the most unpopular presidential candidates in recent history. With so many feeling so negative about both candidates, are voters rooting for a clean race or one full or crashes?
The Knives Are Out
Posted April 27th, 2016 at 11:48 am (UTC-5)
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In the hours after his five-state primary sweep, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump declared the race to the party nomination was “over,” called himself “the presumptive nominee,” and baited Democrat Hillary Clinton for using “the woman card.” Clinton returned the favor, saying if playing that card meant fighting for equal pay, paid family leave and access to healthcare then “deal me in!” And with that, it seemed the tone of the upcoming presidential election was set.
Campaign ‘Cuisine’ Isn’t Always Presidential
Posted April 26th, 2016 at 2:31 pm (UTC-5)
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Political pundits have already decided the outcome of today’s five-state presidential primary contests. It goes something like this: Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton will widen their leads, leaving their competitors (Bernie Sanders, John Kasich and Ted Cruz) that much further from securing their party’s nomination. Election season in America is a taxing months-long, 24/7 exercise, requiring a lot of stamina, and fuel to keep on keeping on. Sampling corn dogs, milkshakes, burgers, five-alarm chili and apple pie in state after state is a campaign must for every candidate. Why? Because breaking bread with the locals, whether in a small Idaho town or the big city of New York, is a sure way to connect with the voters. Today, we offer you a glimpse of American campaign “cuisine.” We check in on the latest thinking about the candidates, and Trump’s alleged pivot away from his raw and rowdy campaign style.
Should Bernie Sanders Call It Quits?
Posted April 20th, 2016 at 4:35 pm (UTC-5)
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Sanders has changed the political discourse and shifted the focus onto these issues as the only candidate who repeatedly addresses them in speeches and debates.
Trump & Hillary Solidify Frontrunner Status
Posted April 19th, 2016 at 12:30 pm (UTC-5)
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As predicted, New York voters granted Trump, its “native son,” and Hillary, the state’s adoptee, electoral victories by wide margin. The takeaway? Trump confirmed that he is indeed a “winner.” And Hillary, who has the loyalty of New York Democrats, sent a strong message to her iconoclastic contender, Senator Bernie Sanders. The presidential ticket seems set for both parties, even if Trump is likely to arrive at the GOP convention without the necessary majority of delegates. The #StopTrump movement isn’t going away, but “The Donald’s” renewed momentum may mean establishment Republicans will not be able to #StopTrump no matter what.
The U.S. Steps Back from the World Stage, and the Consensus for Leadership Dissolves
As the United States withdraws from the world, in other words, the world grows messier and uglier — and that only confirms for many Americans that any involvement is foolish and futile. This feedback loop fuels the kind of isolationism we’ve seen this year from Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.