As we have seen during this primary season, Hillary Clinton has often endeavored to co-opt Bernie Sanders’ rhetoric while at the same time strongly rejecting his ideas.
Now, it seems, the “Meeeee, Too!” syndrome has begun to show up in the Establishment of the Democratic Party. From Politico:
Hill Democrats are scrambling to figure out how they can capture some of Sanders’ magic — and his ability to conjure up campaign cash, seemingly out of thin air, from an apparently endless stream of supporters.
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Israel added that while Sanders has proved effective in tapping into voters’ anxieties, it will be up to House Democrats to follow through with tangible solutions to allay those fears — otherwise the party would be no better than Donald Trump or the Republicans.
“Our job is to deliver a crisp and disciplined message on how we’re going to resolve those anxieties in a pragmatic way,” Israel said. “It’s an opportunity for us. … Voters are going to make decisions based on who is going to solve those problems. When you go to the doctor, do you want the doctor to yell about what’s wrong or tell you how to fix it?”
So let me see if I have this right. Establishment Dems want to co-opt Bernie’s phenomenal fundraising and outreach, especially to young voters, but they also feel his message is too angry and the right way to reach people is with a “crisp and disciplined message on how we’re going to resolve those anxieties in a pragmatic way.”
Oy.
This reminds me so much of Norman Spinrad’s book, Little Heroes.
In the book, the entire music industry has consolidated into one giant corporation which uses armies of marketing and AI technicians to basically manufacture rock stars so that they can fire all the actual human musicians and singers and have complete control of the “product.”
Spinrad’s protagonists end up beating the corporation at its own game by the use of even more refined technology, creating an AI rock star which promulgates complete revolution from a corrupt system.
The part of the book the Politico story reminds me of is right at the end, where the Revolution is successful, and the fat cats of the corporation are huddled together — desperately trying to “market” the revolution and somehow make money off of it. They don't miss a beat.
They don’t care which political system comes to pass — they only care about making money off of it.
The story never ends, we all know that. All we can do is make our stand in the field of battle in which we find ourselves.
I wish I could find this Politico story — as bloggers say — “hilarious,” but I just find it sad. For these aren’t heads of corporations we see in this article, but our supposed representatives in government who are trying to co-opt Bernie’s methods without having the slightest clue as to what those methods are based upon.
It proves even more to me how corrupt a system our government has become.
Enough is enough! #feelthebern