I want to preface this by saying I’ve been a Clinton supporter for a long time. I’ve given to the campaign, knocked doors, made phone calls, and all because I believe her to be the best person for the job. I was initially hesitant to support her, but after reading her policy platforms, watching interviews, and things like that, I was 100% on board.
I did the same for Bernie Sanders, and was very, very disturbed by what I saw. The man has a message. He has his bread-and-butter — his go-to refrain. But he thinks and speaks in platitudes, and that’s just not good enough. It was a relief to finally see someone finally dig deeper, and get to what Sanders’ problem is, at its most fundamental level.
He. Does. Not. Know. What. He’s. Talking. About.
That interview was as damning as it was revealing. If your pet issue is Wall Street, then know what you would do to fix it. But he doesn’t recognize the advancements that have come due to the Dodd-Frank Act, nor how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict works, nor how the MTA turnstiles function.
It was refreshing to see that finally get some air — and how various news organizations may finally be vetting Bernie.
From the Atlantic: How Much Does Bernie Sanders Know About Policy?
Throughout his interview, Sanders seemed taken aback when he was pressed on policy—and not just on the matters that are peripheral to his approach, like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or interrogation of detainees, but even on bread-and-butter matters like breaking up the big banks, the Democratic presidential hopeful came across as tentative, unprepared, or unaware.
To Michael Cohen from The Boston Globe:
To The Washing Post: 9 things Bernie Sanders’ Should’ve Known About But Didn’t In That Daily News Interview
(Excerpt in regards to his wall street platform)
Considering this is the core of his campaign message, Sanders should know all of the points covered in 1, 2 and 3 inside and out. He should have been able to lecture his interrogators into a stupor with his detailed knowledge. Instead, Sanders sounded slightly better than a college student caught off-guard by a surprise test in his best class just before finals.
This is the Bernie that Clinton supporters have been following for months — the one who is dangerously ill-equipped to the challenges of the office, one who has gotten by on a wing and a prayer — and is more experienced at railing — often incorrectly — at issues he sees with the United States. Sanders’ diagnosis of the ills plaguing our country is dangerously out-of-date — and survives partly due to the fact that Obama’s achievements have not been trumpeted all that well.
I have no doubt that I will be labeled an ‘establishment shill’ or will soon be labeled a variety of awful things, but these are the issues Bernie has chosen to campaign on, despite his incredibly naive understanding of them. That alone is worthy of comment.