Note to all my fellow Bernie supporters:
Don’t take the bait.
Yes, Hillary has in the past couple weeks taken the opportunity to use terms that can be legitimately seen as attempting to pin sexism and racism on Bernie. Granted, she did not directly name Bernie, but they are on an issue where Bernie tends to be perceived as weaker on the left and the phrasing used notes a couple of other terms used directly by Bernie in the recent past. Given that Hillary is very smart, I don’t think she is careless enough to have inadvertently said the very very specific things that she said, and given what her campaign did regarding Obama in 2007/08, this to me is more of the same, albeit more careful this time because Bernie doesn’t do personal attack politics. So this time around she’s leaving just enough plausible deniability to give cover so her supporters can use it as a brickbat when we Bernie supporters cry foul.
This is what the Hillary campaign wants imo. Instead of focusing and debating on the differences in policies and issues, we are arguing over whether either candidate is being sexist/racist/in the mud. This is one of Hillary’s strong suits, as she’s had a ton of experience fighting the mud slung by the right over the past couple decades. She handles it deftly and comes out ahead every single time. It will behoove her campaign this time around to get some more of the same, especially if it comes from us. She’s already got a lot of flack still coming from the right which has helped her, and if she can bait us into giving it to her from the left, it puts her in a power position.
We’re human, so we all do react emotionally when we feel we’re unjustly attacked or our candidate is unjustly attacked. But the more we focus on these personality based politics – the more we give in and want to argue about perceived sexism and racism in our political opponents, the more it distracts from the actual issues facing this country and the more likely it is to be turned on its head and get ourselves accused of that same sexism/racism. When those things become the primary topic, the accusations start flying, and to be honest, that kind of frivolous brickbatting does a disservice to combating the actual racism and sexism that still runs rampant in this country even today.
So yes, Hillary may have opened the door for this to be a line of argument, but that doesn’t mean we have to walk through it. I think most folks see what she said and why she said it for what it is, and if we do take the bait, it can only serve to derail advocating for Bernie based upon the issues. Bernie doesn’t need to be painted as a victim for him to be strong – his stances and consistency are his strength – and I think we as supporters can be stronger advocates for him if we stick to them.
Don’t take the bait.