On Tuesday's podcast of Ed Schultz News and Commentary, he said a lot about Bernie. I'm liking what Ed has to say now that he's no longer on MSNBC's leash. The main part of what he said about Bernie starts at the 23:05 mark for those who want to watch. It includes a telephone interview with Tad Devine, one of Bernie's advisors.
You can listen to all of Ed's podcasts at wegoted.com
For those who have crappy internet connections, who are hearing impaired, or who are at work and can't have sound, below is a cleaned-up transcript/synopsis of the segment, and I bolded three small things I thought were important.
Just prior to the segment, Ed's talking about there being all kinds of things in the news that don't get covered. He says every time he does see a news story, he asks himself, "What would the guy I'm supporting do?" He says the Obama administration has made good strides in terms of wind power and solar energy. He also says there's no doubt that Obama has gone after the coal industry, pushing for cleaner coal. These were environmental issues that appealed to many of the voters who elected him.
But then he mentions that President Obama has approved offshore drilling off the coast of Alaska for Shell Oil and calls it a "reversal" on Obama's part, and says it got an angry response from environmentalists to say the least. Ed says he truly believes Bernie would never pull a stunt like this. He also makes note that this is not being covered by FOX News or other MSM and that he found it on a website called Portside.
See: Obama Approves “Reckless” Arctic Oil Drilling Plan
The article notes that:
President Obama’s approval for Shell Oil drilling in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea has undermined his recent push to protect the environment and provoked an angry reaction from environmentalists. The August 17th decision comes two weeks after the release of the United States' most aggressive attempt to limit greenhouse gas emissions, the Clean Power Plan, and just days after Obama announced he will visit Alaska later this month to highlight the impacts of climate change.
This leads into his segment about Bernie.
Ed: That's why I like Bernie. I believe that if Bernie were in charge, he'd do everything in his power to break up the big banks on Wall Street. I believe that he would do everything in his power to make sure that college is free at state universities - college tuition. I believe that he would do everything he possibly can to address institutional racism in this country. I believe that he would go after the corporations who park their money offshore and rob our treasury of taxes.
And so that's where I'm at. When it comes to trade, I know that Bernie Sanders would never do a reversal the way Obama has done a reversal. Obama ran around this country talking about the middle-class, and how he was going to do everything he could to help jobs and the middle-class. The middle-class starts with labor. Every single union in this country is against the Trans Pacific Partnership. I know that Bernie Sanders - when he says it's a bad trade deal and he wouldn't support it - I know he's not going to do a reversal and Obama has done a reversal.
Obama has taken on another bad trade deal and tried to sell it to the American people and I think this is going to be a big problem for Joe Biden. There's no way Biden is going to be able to go out and do the bidding for Obama on a lousy trade deal, and then turn around and go on the campaign trail and say "Well, you know, it's not really what I wanted to do." I don't think he can do that. And I think when you've got every labor union in this country saying that this is a bad trade deal, and you've got candidates who are definitively making statements on where they stand on it, I think it puts competition in the corner.
This is another issue. No negative ads. I think a lot of Americans are sitting back in wonderment trying to figure out "Now how the hell is this going to work?" How in the world is Bernie Sanders going to pull off what he has done his entire career, not bad-mouthing competition, no personal attacks, no negative ads, and keep it straight to the issues? The polls so far - early on - have been good to Bernie Sanders, but there are some suggestions that maybe his campaign has peaked. That there's still this margin that the Clinton camp has on the Sanders camp, and I want some take on that so we're going to go to Tad Devine, who's one of the political directors for Bernie Sanders. Tad, good to have you with us here on Ed Schultz News and Commentary.
TD: Thank you Ed. Great to be with you.
Ed: Bernie is who he is. Is that a good definition? I mean he's not a flip-flopper in any way. This is who the guy is.
TD: That's for sure, Ed. I've had the privilege of working with Bernie Sanders for almost 20 years, going back to when he was a member of the House of Representatives. Nothing about him has changed in the last two decades. I mean - he has been on the issues that he cares about and that he's talked about on this presidential campaign for decades. And he has spoken about them with the same enthusiasm and the same determination then as he does now. I think the times have caught up with Bernie and his message, and the issues have really come into focus as well.
Ed: Everyone who's ever run against a Clinton runs attack ads. Bernie Sanders is going to be a historical first for American politics. How's this going to work? Is it going to work? Do you think it's going to work?
TD: I think it will. You know, I'll cite some experience. When Bernie ran for Senate in 2006, he ran against a very wealthy individual. His name was Rich Tarrant. And Tarrant went on TV in January - he stayed on TV all through the spring and into the summer - and then towards the end of the summer he launched a vicious series of negative ads against Bernie Sanders. And I will tell you that there was a lot of pressure from sort of institutional Washington - towards Bernie and his campaign that we needed to respond in kind.
It was really clear to me from the beginning that there was no way that Bernie Sanders was going to do it. He doesn't believe in it. His formative race I think, when he was first elected to the House of Representatives - I did not work for him then - was in 1990, and he was attacked by his Republican opponent and a lot of people there in that race said "Well we have to respond. This is the way you do politics." And instead, he made a 5-minute ad. He went to camera - he spoke directly to the people of Vermont - and that was the turning point in that race. I think that's when Bernie became convinced, you know, if we speak to voters as intelligent people, if we tell them what is happening; if we deal with these attacks in a straightforward way, they're not going to sink you.
And we found that out in 2006. We ran an ad as soon as the attacks came that basically - we were anticipating these attacks - and we had filmed the spot with Bernie basically saying - well this guy's - it's his money and he can spend it if he wants - but I want you to know the truth. Go to my website. We then ran an ad which explained that Bernie Sanders, in fact, was not for terrorists and child molesters and murderers and everybody else that his opponent was accusing him of being for, and then the next ad we ran was an ad with Willie Nelson on a family farm that talked about how Bernie Sanders was working to save family farms and we never looked back at the guy.
Note: This is the 2006 Bernie ad with Willie Nelson Tad Devine is referring to.
TD: I think people in Vermont - sure they know Bernie well, but I believe beginning in Iowa and New Hampshire - that's where this process begins - it begins in IA and NH - I've done a lot of races in IA and NH as well, and I will tell you that voters in those states - if you're going to launch a vicious negative campaign against an opponent, you're taking a great risk in both of those places. And if it's going to start there, I think we'll deal with it the way we did in the Senate race. We'll reassure people that the attacks against him are not true, and he will continue to talk about the issues that people care about and not the attacks they [the voters] want to get rid of.
Ed: This is what he's doing on the stump. This is from Salem, NH this past weekend and he leaves the door of hope open. This is what I find interesting. Go ahead.
Plays clip of Bernie's speech in Salem, NH.
Bernie: If you think about it, it is very likely that our country today - if you throw in climate change as well - probably faces more serious crises than at any time since the Great Depression. That's the bad news. The good news is that these crises have been caused by human decisions. We can transform America by making better decisions
End of clip.
Ed: Now three big issues here, Tad. #1 - trade; #2 - Wall Street; and #3 - climate change. I know where Bernie stands on all three of these, and these are things he's talking about out on the stump. Do people grasp this? Is this the gravitater, so to speak, to his campaign?
TD: I think it is Ed. Listen, one of the reasons I think Bernie is succeeding - and I don't buy into this group-think that's coming out of a lot of the number-crunchers right now -
that "Oh - he's peaking out, there's no more room for him," I think there's a lot of room for him because what Bernie has done is - I think he has diagnosed the problem successfully. He understands that the middle-class of America is being destroyed by a set of economic policies that sends practically every shred of wealth to the top. To the very top of this society.
If we don't do something about it, there won't be a middle-class anymore. And I think the fact that he understands that, and that he can explain that to people in a language they understand - and also that he's willing to take on huge problems - like the fact that climate change is real, it's made by man, it needs to dealt with immediately; like the fact that the Citizens United case has opened the floodgates to the special interests taking over the government. He's talking about the big issues that people care about. People understand these issues are affecting their lives. They want action on them immediately, and they see someone who understands these problems - and also understands that the problems that we face in this country today are real, but they are solvable problems if they have the right leadership and the right policies.
Ed: What is the official statement from the Sanders campaign about the ordeal that Hillary Clinton is going through with her e-mail server when she was Secretary of State using a private e-mail? I mean, obviously you're getting hit with this on the campaign trail. What is the official statement of the campaign on this issue?
TD: I think the official statement is that there's an investigation of this going on right now. It should occur, it's appropriate, the chips should fall where they may,and the one thing we're not going to do is to try and politicize an investigation by the FBI or some other authority. OK? Let's get to the facts, lets put the facts out, and let's talk about the real issues - you know - and not these political issues.
Ed: Tad Devine - great to have you with us here on Ed Schultz News and Commentary. Appreciate your time. All the best. Keep it going.
TD: Thank you Ed.
Ed then goes on to talk about Joe Biden and how it might affect the overall race and in particular Bernie's campaign.
Ed: And on the campaign trail last night in NH, Bernie Sanders talked about Joe Biden. Now I just want to look at this Biden thing possibly a little bit different than other folks. I think Bernie Sanders is a different kind of Democrat - a more contemporary Democrat, because he's focusing so heavily on the issues instead of long-time Democratic platform-type stuff. When it comes to minimum wage, everybody's for an increase. When it comes to healthcare, everybody's for people getting healthcare. But - there's a difference with Bernie. He's very clear about universal healthcare. When it comes to trade there's a clear difference. The issues today are different than what they were in 2012 and in 2008.
And I think Biden offers somewhat of a yesteryear view of where the Democrats need to go. Bernie is more of the future. And I think there's a calculation in the Sanders camp right now that if Joe Biden jumps in, he'll peel away [votes] from Hillary Clinton. He's not going to peel away [votes] from Bernie Sanders. And I believe that, and I think that the people who are with Bernie Sanders right now are a cast-off of disenchanted Obama believers, who thought that there was going to be some hope and change, and weren't satisfied with the result, and they're trusting a guy named Bernie Sanders, who has been so dogmatic on the issues, and so focused on what he would do if he were president. Here's his reaction - playing it cool on the campaign trail - when asked about a Joe Biden run
Plays clip of Bernie who basically says he's known Joe for 25 years, they've worked together in the Senate, and you won't find a more decent guy. Says he's told Joe that if he chooses to run, Bernie will stick to a campaign about the issues, and says he knows Joe has different opinions on some issues than he does. Bernie says the American people are entitled to a serious debate on serious issues. Says politics is not a soap opera and let's stop running around attacking each other and stick to the serious issues. Bernie also says he honestly doesn't know what the impact of Joe Biden entering the race would be for him, or for Hillary Clinton.
Ed: Well, I think deep down, behind closed doors, there are Sanders supporters and campaigners and organizers that are saying, "You know what? This is good for us. Number one, it's going to push the debate forward, and it's going to force Clinton and Biden to show some differentiation, or are they the same candidate? And Bernie keeps talking about this debate. The reason why he's talking about debate is because he knows he views things differently from the other candidates. And this is, I think, a big part of the attraction.
There were the three things said in this show that - when put together - sum up this election for me.
1. I think the times have caught up with Bernie and his message.
2. Biden offers somewhat of a yesteryear view of where the Democrats need to go. (applies to almost all the other candidates as well, IMO.)
3. The issues today are different than what they were in 2012 and 2008.
The times are changing (and not in a good way) for the "have-nots" and the "outsiders." And we make up the 99%. While the other candidates are trying to catch up with the times, the times have caught up with Bernie and his message that he's been preaching for decades. That's why - as a 99%-er - I think he's the right candidate at the right time, and that's why I'll be voting for Bernie Sanders in the primary.