An increasingly frequent refrain appearing in the media casts the democratic primary as a Manichean struggle between Sanders’ unrealistic goals and the staid pragmatism of Clinton. Clinton, we are told, can “get things done,” while Sanders’ pie in the sky thinking leads nowhere.
I can understand the doubt that Sanders’ ambitious platform is achievable with a remarkably recalcitrant GOP, opposed the very concept of government. What I don’t understand is how Clinton’s supporters can assert that she would be any more successful in achieving her own policy goals than Sanders. Put another way, who in the Republican party might be willing to work with Hillary Clinton to help her pass her agenda?
Republicans have an irrational hatred of Hillary Clinton. Some of it is simple tribalism and some of it is blatant sexism. It’s irrational and stupid but republicans think Clinton should be in jail for her imagined role in whatever the “Benghazi” scandal is supposed to be. This is nothing new; Republicans have accused Clinton of myriad crimes from real estate fraud to outright murder. To be clear, these charges are baseless. Nevertheless, Republicans have an irrational hatred of Clinton that enables them to believe virtually any ludicrous charge leveled against her.
Now back to “Hillary the Pragmatist”: I question the assumption that Hillary Clinton can “get things done” any better than Bernie Sanders. A GOP-controlled congress will work with neither of the leading Democratic candidates. Only one of the leading democratic candidates acknowledges that a massive “political revolution” is required to achieve any meaningful change.
If the Clinton campaign persists with the charge that only she is equipped to “get things done” in Washington, we should ask with whom among the GOP she plans to work. Who in the Republican party is prepared to reach across the aisle to President Hillary Clinton? Until we hear more than chirping of crickets in response to that question, we should disregard that argument against Sanders. Otherwise, I have to wonder who really is the “pie in the sky” candidate.
