Last night, during The Rachel Maddow Show, an advertisement from the GOP SuperPAC “Future45” appeared here in the NY area. Twitter soon confirmed that this ad also appeared in various parts of the country.
A quick search on the subject shows that Future45 was created to diminsh Hillary Clinton’s chances of taking the White House. It’s funded by hedge fund billionaires such as Paul Singer and Kenneth Griffin, and has been subsidized by other wealthy individuals, including twice-failed CT Senate candidate Linda McMahon. Cursory searches also indicate that the candidate of choice for someone like Paul Singer is one Marco Rubio. See below for more information:
www.opensecrets.org/...
Thus far, Future45 ads have focused on Hillary. Here is the YouTube profile and video listings for Future45: www.youtube.com/...
Of the 7 videos posted since the fall, 6 have been focused on Hillary. And now, posted 4 days ago, in the midst of a heated primary battle, Future45 seems to have created its first ad targeting Bernie Sanders, the same ad shown last night during TRMS. Here is the ad in question: “Sanders Answer”
www.youtube.com/...
So this begs the question: Is Future45 suddenly worried about a possible Sanders nomination given the tightness of the primary? Or are they trying to pick their opponent, a la Claire McCaskill/Todd Akin (“How I Helped Todd Akin Win – So I Could Beat Him Later”): www.politico.com/...
We know that this proven-successful tactic has been used already this year. See McCaskill calling out Joe Rickett’s on Twitter back on January 25th. This ad gives the impression that Bernie is “just too liberal”. Some Bernie supporters on Twitter said “that ad makes me like Bernie even more”. I can’t help but think that this was the desired effect.
My thoughts beyond the ad: I do think that it paints a bleak picture of what a general election campaign would look like with Bernie Sanders as the Democratic nominee. Yes, I like Bernie and I admire his ideals, and the light he shines on the issues. And yes, I am an admitted practical Hillary supporter regardless. But I can’t help but envision the $1Billion attack freight train that would bear down upon Bernie if he were the nominee. And I fear that, despite protestations to the contrary, he wouldn’t know what hit him. He’s run virtually unopposed for some twenty years in Vermont. He’s never had the full force of the Republican party take aim at him. I fear that he will be defined, early and often, as a tax-raising socialist. Of course there is much more nuance than such an attack would suggest. And he’d have to explain how his higher taxes (and their offsets) would work and explain his definition of what being “democratic socialist” means.
And therein lies the problem: When you’re explaining in politics, you’re losing. Especially in response to an attack. It’s a sad fact. He will be hammered with the word ‘socialist’ repeatedly. It will be relentless. And he won’t be able to fight it off, no matter how many times he explains his position in detail. I fear that he has no idea what is coming if he wins the nomination, and to me the stakes are too high to take that kind of risk. It would mean the loss of the White House, a ruined opportunity to re-take the Senate, greater losses in the House, and now a missed opportunity to alter the ideological landscape of the Supreme Court.
Okay, the op-ed portion of this diary (my first in many years) is over. My main interest is what people think about the ad. Is it the GOP trying to pick their opponent? Personally, I think it is. Or am I letting my personal concerns/biases cloud my judgment, and in reality they are genuinely frightened of Bernie and his movement?