With the latest Quinnipiac Iowa poll showing a huge Sanders surge -- a 26-point swing in Sanders' direction in just the last month in an apples-to-apples poll, with Clinton -8 and Sanders +18 -- we can be as sure as the sun coming up tomorrow that Clinton surrogates will soon be popping up all over to attack Sanders from every which way.
[NOTE: Surrogates are not people on a blog. Surrogates are the folks who go on the Sunday morning shows, show up on CNN and get quoted in the press. People like you and me are just jamokes on a blog.]
In advance of all of the folks who will write, "Politics is a bloodsport!" or "If he can't take it now, how will he take it from Republicans?" or "Oh, poor, poor Bernie! It's part of the game!" let me just say that, yes, I agree with you! I agree with all of that! And I bet Sanders does, too. He knows what's coming (some of it has already started), and I suspect he's ready for it. His supporters should be ready for it, too, because it comes with the territory of being an actual contender.
So embrace it, love it, laugh at it. Bernie has arrived! And who woulda' thunk it just a coupla' short months ago? I assure you that no one in Clinton's camp expected it.
So with that bit of ephemera behind us, let's take a look at what is about to happen...
The Clinton surrogates will now be out in force to pound Sanders. And her campaign and her supporters will trot out the ol', "[NAME] doesn't speak for the campaign," to keep Hillary's hands clean, just as they have already done with Claire McCaskill's lame "socialist" and "extreme agenda" attack, and Luis Gutierrez's "I-don't-know-if-he-likes-immigrants" smear.
With that in mind, let's sit back, relax, pop open a cold Bell's Oberon, the perfect summer beer, and make some predictions about which surrogates will pop up where and what they're likely to say:
Bob Kerrey
You can always count on Bob Kerrey to emerge from the bowels of his Gotham lair to heap a mound of dung on a Clinton opponent. Who can forget Bob's classic backhanded smear of Obama right before the Iowa caucus in 2008?
“It’s probably not something that appeals to him, but I like the fact that his name is Barack Hussein Obama, and that his father was a Muslim and that his paternal grandmother is a Muslim."
Look for Bob to offer up a gem like "Bernie should embrace his Communist roots!"
Evan Bayh
Never one to miss an opportunity to smear a Democrat, any Democrat, to his left (read: most of the party), Bayh will likely show up on a Fox News Sunday show to ask the loaded question, "Does Bernie Sanders disavow the radicals he associated with at the University of Chicago?"
Tim Kaine and/or Mark Warner
These two esteemed senators from Virginia have never met a deep pocket donor whose ass was too low to kiss. I suspect one or both of them will show up on CNN, a Sunday morning show or in the Washington Post to declare that Sanders is "unelectable as a socialist," and that he "won't have the money to take on the Kochs and their machine." Of course, these two guys know all about money. I am constantly amazed that they are still in the Senate, given what they will make as lobbyists (see: Evan Bayh, above) once they retire to "spend more time" with their respective families.
Harold Ford
No-brainer for Harold, another Beltway, deep pocket ass-kisser. His line will be as simple as that of Luis Gutierrez's classic "I'm-not-sure-Bernie-Sanders-likes-immigrants." Harold Ford, a fixture on Fox News (nuff said), will proclaim, "I'm not sure Bernie likes black people," the irony being that Harold Ford is about the whitest black guy currently walking the planet.
Luis Gutierrez
He's already been busy and I suspect he will continue down his same, well-trod path. (See above.)
Claire McCaskill
Look for Claire to continue her "He-has-an-extreme-agenda-like-Ron-Paul-or-Pat-Buchanan-plus-he's-a-socialist" schtick. Using a sports metaphor, Claire was the free agent veteran the Clinton camp brought in to replace the departed Geraldine Ferraro who spent the 2008 campaign claiming that the Obama campaign was sexist and that he was receiving preferential treatment from the press because he was black.
Lanny Davis or some other schmuck
Some real scumbag will throw out the "America-won't-vote-for-a-Jew" card at some point if Sanders gets closer. I look for the execrable Lanny Davis to be the one to toss this gem. On the other hand, this one may be more effective as a whisper campaign.
Bill Clinton
Bill made an ass of himself in the run-up to the South Carolina primary back in 2008 and I suspect he'll make an ass out of himself again if Sanders continues to close. Bill may have learned something from his 2008 blunder, and I suspect he will keep his mouth shut until such time as Sanders proves to have a real opportunity to beat Clinton in both Iowa and New Hampshire. (That time may never come, TBD.) If such events come to pass, count on Bill to be unable to hold his tongue. He will say something stupid.
I'm sure I'm leaving out a number of other surrogates with press access. People like James Carville, Paul Begala and other longtime Clinton allies can be counted on to show up on the boob tube and toss out some smears.
Hillary's campaign has to walk a fine line now. But we know what they'll do. They're very predictable.
Beginning this Sunday morning and into the foreseeable future, look for the Clinton surrogates to rip Sanders stem from stern. The fun thing about all of this is that Sanders stays on message, just as he has for 30 years. He knows what's coming. He's an outsider, a viral threat to the system. The Clinton camp will be rolling out the heavy artillery to see if they can rid their preferred system of this foreign presence.
Enjoy!