The Debate Outside the Debate

By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News

14 February 16

 

ll in all, except for some brief fireworks at the end, the Wisconsin debate was a snoozer. Secretary Clinton closed strong and may have stolen an otherwise uneventful debate. I think Sanders scored some points by connecting Clinton to Henry Kissinger, but overall it was a debate with no game-changing moments.

CBC non-endorsement

With no real fireworks in the debate hall, the story was all around it. In what many expected to be a topic of heated discussion, the Congressional Black Caucus PAC endorsed Hillary Clinton. Immediately, members of the caucus itself were quick to say that the PAC is separate from the caucus. Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) pointed out that he was not consulted on the endorsement. Ellison, a supporter of Bernie Sanders, tweeted:

Ellison followed with another tweet, “Endorsements should be the product of a fair open process. Didn’t happen.”

Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who has not endorsed either candidate, told Democracy Now!, “First of all, I want to make it clear there’s a clear distinction between the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus PAC. We actually have a Republican in the Congressional Black Caucus. I don’t want the viewers, your viewers, to believe that the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus PAC are one and the same.”

According to a report in The Intercept:

Ben Branch, the executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus PAC, told The Intercept that his group made the decision after a vote from its 20-member board. The board includes 11 lobbyists, seven elected officials, and two officials who work for the PAC. Branch confirmed that the lobbyists were involved in the endorsement, but would not go into detail about the process.

Members of the CBC PAC board include Daron Watts, a lobbyist for Purdue Pharma, the maker of the highly addictive opioid OxyContin; Mike Mckay and Chaka Burgess, both lobbyists for Navient, the student loan giant that was spun off of Sallie Mae; former Rep. Albert Wynn, D-Md., a lobbyist who represents a range of clients, including work last year on behalf of Lorillard Tobacco, the maker of Newport cigarettes; and William A. Kirk, who lobbies for a cigar industry trade group on a range of tobacco regulations.

I asked Sanders supporter Nina Turner to react to the endorsement by the PAC in the spin room prior to the debate.

Hillary has more delegates?

Say what? The internet was abuzz with people trying to figure out why the media was reporting that Hillary Clinton had more delegates than Bernie Sanders after a tie in Iowa and huge victory by Sanders in New Hampshire. I attempted to get an answer from Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who did a good job explaining the difference between pledged and unpledged (super) delegates. But then in a jaw-dropping moment, she claimed she didn’t know who was ahead in pledged delegates. The chair of the party doesn’t know who is winning? She mishandled the scheduling of debates and ignored calls for more debates. Now after two contests she doesn’t know who has earned more delegates? I should have called her on that.

John Nichols had a much better take on the issue. He saw the same problem in 2008 in the beginning of the race. Obama supporters were afraid that the reporting of Hillary’s super delegates was going to discourage people from voting in what was looking like a rigged system. In the end, the super delegates followed the will of the voters. Nichols said the pledged and unpledged delegates should be reported separately, and it should be explained that the super delegates can change their mind whenever they want.

“Fight for 15” makes it to Media Filing Center

As a couple hundred reporters including myself were preparing to cover the debate, the room was filled with the sound of a chant: “Come get my vote!” As I got my camera ready I could hear some reporters talking. One asked, “Who are they?” Another responded in a dismissive tone, “Oh, probably Black Lives Matter.” I corrected him and said it looked like the “Fight for 15.” He responded in the same dismissive tone, “Same thing.” And I think the same reporter repeated in shock “The corporate media?” When Bernie took his usual shot at the media during the debate, I almost turned and said it’s reporters like you who give us a bad name. I held back for the second time. Remember that earlier I played nice with Wasserman Shultz.

There were many Sanders supporters among the protesters, but the group itself was not supporting any candidate and wanted to pressure them all into supporting a $15 an hour minimum wage.

For Hillary, the debate was all about South Carolina

Hillary Clinton wrapped herself in Obama as often as she could and tried to paint Bernie as a political opponent of the president. Her intent was to send a message to African American voters that she will continue Obama’s legacy and that Bernie would reverse his accomplishments.

Hillary Clinton: But I want to – I want to follow up on something having to do with leadership, because, you know, today Senator Sanders said that President Obama failed the presidential leadership test. And this is not the first time that he has criticized President Obama. In the past he has called him weak. He has called him a disappointment.

He wrote a forward for a book that basically argued voters should have buyer’s remorse when it comes to President Obama’s leadership and legacy ... the kind of criticism that we’ve heard from Senator Sanders about our president I expect from Republicans. I do not expect from someone running for the Democratic nomination to succeed President Obama.

First of all, what Bernie wrote for Bill Press’s book was not a critique of the president. Here is the full blurb Sanders wrote: “Bill Press makes the case why, long after taking the oath of office, the next president of the United States must keep rallying the people who elected him or her on behalf of progressive causes. That is the only way real change will happen. Read this book.”

Sanders called the attack from Clinton “a low blow.” He went on to say:

President Obama and I are friends. As you know, he came to Vermont to campaign for me when he was a senator. I have worked for his re-election. His first election and his re-election.

But I think it is really unfair to suggest that I have not been supportive of the president. I have been a strong ally with him on virtually every issue. Do senators have the right to disagree with the president? Have you ever disagreed with a president? I suspect you may have.

It was clearly an attack aimed at South Carolina, so I spoke to Rep. Justin Bamberg from South Carolina after the debate.

Bernie was targeting Nevada

When Bernie Sanders took aim at Hillary Clinton’s policy on turning away children from Honduras, he was targeting Nevada:

Secretary Clinton, I do have a disagreement here. If my memory is correct, I think when we saw children coming from these horrendous, horrendously violent areas of Honduras and neighboring countries, people who are fleeing drug violence and cartel violence, I thought it was a good idea to allow those children to stay in this country. That was not, as I understand it, the secretary’s position.

Secretary Clinton defended her position by saying she wanted to send a message to the parents to not send their children on the dangerous journey to the United States with traffickers.

Sanders countered, saying that once they have made that journey we should not be turning away children. After the debate, I spoke with Sanders’ Latino Outreach Director, Erika Andiola.

Bernie scored when he tied Hillary to Henry Kissinger

Where the secretary and I have a very profound difference, in the last debate – and I believe in her book – very good book, by the way – in her book and in this last debate, she talked about getting the approval or the support or the mentoring of Henry Kissinger. Now, I find it rather amazing, because I happen to believe that Henry Kissinger was one of the most destructive secretaries of state in the modern history of this country. I am proud to say that Henry Kissinger is not my friend. I will not take advice from Henry Kissinger.

Following the debate, Bernie’s chief strategist Tad Devine argued that Bernie had won the foreign policy portion of the debate.

Does Hillary really want to fight for us?

Hillary Clinton regularly says she wants to “fight for you.” But when it comes to health care she is done fighting. She regularly says she wants to avoid another contentious debate on health care. That sums up the major difference between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Bernie wants to fight for us against the 1%. Hillary wants to avoid a fight and compromise. How has that worked for President Obama? Sure, she will continue the direction of the Obama administration. She will try to deal with the Republican Congress, who will say no to everything she proposes. They will say no to Bernie too, but Bernie will rally the American people to fight with him.

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Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.

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