The results in Michigan have now given us proof positive that---contrary to all of the spin we heard from Hillary supporters, both in the MSM and here at DK---Secretary Clinton did not win the Sunday debate.
If she had won the debate she would not have lost what appears to have been about 10% of her support to Bernie Sanders (if the ‘last polls’ can be taken as a true reflection of the support she did have a week before the Michigan primary).
I make that assessment even after granting that her team of spin meisters did a masterful job of winning for her the post-debate spin.
(Not that it convinced very many Michigan voters that Bernie is a sexist pig, but simply because it did successfully keep Clinton’s misrepresentation of Bernie’s support for the auto bailout out of the headlines.)
So yeah, it was a devastating defeat for the Clinton camp, definitely surpassing the devastation they felt when they lost that huge lead in Iowa. A lot more time has run off the clock.
And most important: if he pulled off this kind of come-from-behind win in Michigan when the polls said he had no chance, why couldn’t he do the same thing in Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and even in Florida?
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And alas, the Michigan result also exposed the myth that Hillary Clinton’s debating performances are so stellar, they are actually her best chance of thwarting Bernie’s efforts to take the nomination.
When you have the best post-debate spin team in the nation, it doesn’t take all that much to win the debate in the next day’s headlines when most voters---who didn’t watch the debate---form an impression of who won and who lost.
Except it would probably help if you had a record that would stand up to scrutiny and you didn’t have to rely on misrepresentations of your opponent’s record in order to cunningly pull off a win in spite of your inherent disadvantages as a candidate.
Bernie may get angry, but even when Hillary was able to goad him into anger with an outrageous insinuation of major proportions, he was never rude. Objective people notice such things.
Clinton has been relying on her Angry Hillary performances to try to drive up Bernie’s negatives, but it may be time for her to change her tactics...again.
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If I’m Tad Devine, I’m putting together an ad for immediate circulation throughout the Midwest and Florida that mentions the historic victory Bernie pulled off in Michigan, the huge amount of ground he made up, and then speculating on what brought the Michiganders out to the polls in such numbers.
Ahh, it’s a great time to be a Bernie Sanders supporter.
And yes, I made my biggest contribution ever to his campaign last night ( $200 :)
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