I have supported Bernie Sanders since he first ran for the Senate, contributing to his campaign even though I did not live in Vermont. I have supported his campaign for President. I also realize he has already asked for the release of Hillary Clinton’s transcripts from her private half million $$ speeches to Wall Street sponsors.
However, now, Hillary is actively trying to woo Bernie supporters to her camp and Bernie is talking about how he wants several of his key issues incorporated into the Democratic Platform (Hillary’s platform). There is nothing more central to Democracy and to the fate of working people in this nation, than regulation and restrictions to be put on Wall Street mega-banks, including their unlimited meddling in elections.
Bernie needs to make it crystal clear to Clinton, and immediately so, that there will be no chance that he will ever recommend that any of his supporters consider support of Hillary, as long as she refuses to make public what she has said recently to her Wall Street sponsors in her fund-raising private meetings with them. It’s just off the table.
Yes, we realize that Mitt Romney’s campaign was dealt a lethal blow by the release of his speech to a similar crowd. So, perhaps, she spoke of the naive “muppets” who will have to back her no matter what, as they will only have the alternative of a Cruz or Trump as the election approaches. Perhaps she made many statements about her loyalty to the biggest players on Wall Street and how they could rely on her never to institute regulations that could harm their profits. Perhaps, then, she knows she would kill her campaign to make these transcripts public (and we know she had hired a stenographer to record the proceedings, search Facebook with “Nader on Gadfly”).
So, what if she will never accede to making her secret Wall St meetings public? She’ll know she is risking losing almost all of Sanders supporters (they can, after all stay home, or vote Green Party). Or she can beg Bernie and his supporters, admitting the sorts of assurances and commitments she has been giving to Goldman-Sachs, JP Morgan, Citibank and the others. And argue why we should consider supporting her despite her allegiances to her Wall St sponsors.
If Bernie will make these demands immediately, it may even help him gain support in the next few primaries and at the convention.