No Democrat unequivocally opposed Trump’s assassination of Soleimani in terms as strong as Bernie used. They all condemned the recklessness of the attack but they all qualified their statements with neocon spin about Soleimani being “a terrorist” or “dangerous” or a “really bad guy” who is “responsible for American deaths.”
Examples:
Joe Biden’s remarks from USA Today:
Former vice president Joe Biden said in a statement that "No American will mourn Qassem Soleimani’s passing. He deserved to be brought to justice for his crimes against American troops and thousands of innocents throughout the region. He supported terror and sowed chaos. None of that negates the fact that this is a hugely escalatory move in an already dangerous region."
The consensus Democratic reaction to the Soleimani assassination had a distinct “Iraq has weapons of mass destruction” stench to it and it was gross. I think voters picked up on that more than is being discussed.
From The Nation:
Warren initially hedged in her comments, hinting that the assassination might have been justified in other circumstances. But, after being criticized by progressives, she quickly found her feet on the issue and now articulates a forthright position against a new war with Iran.
Matt Duss, Sanders’s chief foreign policy adviser, used the issue to make a critique of Sanders’s rivals. Duss tweeted that saying, “Yeah but what’s your strategy?” isn’t a brave stance but is “the safest, lamest, most DC criticism possible. Trump’s Iran policy is foolish, dangerous, and driven by hardline ideologues who’ve been pushing for war for years. Who cares what the strategy is for achieving it. The policy needs to change.”
Sanders is the candidate best positioned to use the ramping up of hostilities in the Middle East as an opportunity to highlight his alternative policy. He’s had a long record as an anti-war activist, going back to the Vietnam War. In 2016, he gained some traction by contrasting his vote against the Iraq War with Hillary Clinton’s vote in favor. In the current race, Sanders has staked out a radical foreign policy that includes ending the forever wars, using aid money as leverage to push Israel to negotiate with the Palestinians, and making climate change a cornerstone of American foreign policy.
Is this the only reason for Bernie’s recent ascent in the polls? Of course not, there are a lot of moving parts, but being the most fervent anti-war candidate and on record with the strongest condemnation of Donald Trump’s assassination of a military leader from a country we’re not at war with can’t hurt.
Opposing endless wars is THE issue for many Democratic primary voters and they are beginning to recognize Bernie Sanders as THE anti-war candidate.
Bernie’s strong, unapologetic anti-war message resonates with older voters who remember Vietnam and younger voters who have lived most of their lives watching endless wars with Afghanistan and Iraq.
On ending endless war, as is the case with so many issues, Bernie just goes further than the others. Bernie fearlessly stakes out strong positions he knows will be on the right side of history, focus group testing be damned.
No other candidate can match his authenticity and that’s why he’s going to win this primary and then destroy Donald Trump in the general election.
