A lot of folks are complaining that some Sanders supporters are spending their time attacking HRC rather than supporting Sanders. This is certainly true of some but it's not the whole story.
I'm a Sanders supporter. I agree with my candidate that this race isn't about Hilary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. Rather, it is about our future as a whole. Consequently, I have been an outspoken critic of those who seem to think that the purpose of Bernie's campaign is to provide a pretext for Hillary bashing.
That said, I have to point out what I think is a degree of disingenuous self deception on the part of some Hillary partisans here.
What do I mean? Well casting an eye over the debates here thus far, one has to be struck by the paucity of policy based criticisms of Sanders. Rather, most of what you find are variations of the "HRC is inevitable" meme. To whit, Sanders can't win because: HRC has an insuperable lead in the early polls, HRC has an unmatchable advantage in money, HRC has an unbeatable campaign infrastructure, HRC is more electable, etc.
The trouble with all of the above is that they place HRC the candidate, rather than policy differences, at the center of debate. They all turn on HRC's presumed competence and superiority as a candidate. These are legitimate arguments in themselves but employed as anti-Sanders memes, they have the consequence of not just inviting attacks on her competence and superiority but mandating them, since there is no other means of refuting them.
This is particularly so when one argues against Sanders with the assertion that HRC is more electable. The only answer to that is to point up every weakness, every flaw, every shortcoming, whether personal or political, that might trip her up in the General Election. Likewise touting her current polling levels opens the door for the same. Her advantage in fundraising, in this context, automatically raises the question of where all that money is coming from and what obligations come with it. Her organizational advantage will draw comparisons to old school machine politics, etc.
Let me be clear. HRC's partisans have every right to make these arguments in support of her. However, if they choose to deploy them against a competitor for the Democratic nomination, they really have no standing to complain of "Hillary bashing" when others respond to them. Moreover, they will be culpable for any damage to HRC that might result.
I'm going to make the same suggestion to HRC's supporters that I've made to those who think Bernie's campaign is an opportunity for trashing Hillary; build up your candidate and stop spending time tearing down the other guy.
10:37 PM PT: I just want to thank everyone who participated in the comments. The discussion, with one or two exceptions, has been good. I, for one, feel as though I have a much clearer idea of where people are coming from.
I never thought this diary would make the Rec list, so I want to thank everyone who found it worthwhile. In particular, I want to thank those with whom I've had sharp disagreements in the past and who I likely will have sharp disagreements with in the future.