John Heilemann today at Bloomberg talks with Tad Devine and Jeff Weaver about Bernies path to victory.
Step one: Take the gloves off.
Yes! I have been screaming at the TV set: "Bernie! Don't let her get away with that!" Hillary's "cut it out!" comment regarding the rapacious banks was such a soft ball pitch to Sanders that he unfortunately let slide by him.
The Jefferson Jackson event in Iowa showed that Bernie and team are not going to take her assault lying down. Good. There is SO much to compare and contrast between the candidates without going personal. Let the facts speak for themselves.
Yes, HRC has had a good few weeks. She does seem to have the best momentum of her campaign yet. She also has most definitely fired some shots across the bow of SS Sanders.
If they are going to start going down that road, we are not going to take it. And it is going to be about a lot of issues where she's gone from one place to another. We did five of them [at the J-J] and we could do 15 more.”
Sanders people are combing HRC's record. If she provokes them, they are prepared to bring up
Clinton's statements in support of the now-notorious 1994 crime bill. Her remarks back then about the evils of urban gangs filled with “super-predators” with “no conscience, no empathy”
Not the first time she has tangled with race to get an edge.
This new phase will be more aggressive, hard-edged, and focused on driving home contrasts between Sanders and Clinton. In other words, it will be more negative. Just how nasty things will get remains one of two central questions that will define the battle ahead. The other is whether Sanders, with his deep aversion to negative campaigning, is willing and able to do what is required to take down Clinton without tarnishing his brand as a different kind of politician.
Sanders will be running ads in NH and Iowa, matching what HRC will be buying in the weeks ahead.
Sander's campaign guys assure Bloomberg that their organization and finances are stronger than they are given credit for. They are strategizing to take this campaign all the way to the White House.
This race isn't over by any means folks. Hillary -- at least this summer --had her all time low favorabliltiy ratings. 53 percent of Americans said that they did not have a favorable view of Clinton.
The dislike is intense: 39 percent view her in a strongly unfavorable way, compared to only 21 percent who view her in a “strongly favorable” light. The former secretary of state is underwater with core elements of the Democratic base, viewed more negatively than positively by both women and 18-to-39-year-olds.
Anyone see more recent polling for her favorability/negatives? I'd suspect they are better. But if they are, will they hold? I doubt it. Especially if Sanders and O'Malley don't let her get away with her gaffes and "misrepresentations".