Have any of you read this Wired piece? I thought I was already as worried as I could be about the election. But now, I’m going to have to increase my zoloft, though it seems to be making my hair fall out.
According to the article, the Russian (and hence Republican) strategy is the same as 2016, but on steroids. They want Bernie to win the primary because they’re confident he’ll lose the election.
So what I have to know — what we all have to know — is whether Bernie’s campaign is aware of and addressing all the nasty stuff the Republicans are holding on him. I hope so. Bernie might be great at rallying support on the Dem side, but a lot of people, including many Dems (like me) aren’t so starry-eyed about him, and actually can’t stand him. Of course, most of us will vote for him if he’s in, though I’m pretty sure they will be wasted votes. But once the Republican shit hits the fan and is amplified and distorted a gazillion times over, a lot of others along the political spectrum will not be willing to do so. On Kos, we can talk knowledgeably all we want about campaigns and munch and crunch poll numbers. Meanwhile, the Dark Side is keeping mum, waiting for its moment, with its influence, its money, its oppo-research. They have stuff on Bernie that could easily tank his Hispanic support, for example. And that’s just for starters.
2016 was merely the set up for the end game, and the end game is now. The Bernie team needs to get on this, like, yesterday. The Repugs and the Russians have been on it for years. Team Bernie must look at his every single past misstep (and all politicians make them) with a vision that’s not dazzled by the brightness of their love. Be assured the Republicans have already done all this before 2016, and have probably been adding plenty more since then to their playbook. Bernie’s team must address every single item, however disadvantageous to Bernie it might be, so they can do damage control before the general election; otherwise, his general election campaign will be entirely about damage control. Instead of inspiring and winning over new voters, the whole energy of his campaign will be sucked out by making excuses and trying to explain nuances to people who don’t want to hear about them. His halo will vanish. We are not like Trump voters, after all; we have a moral compass. Sanders might win the primary because of the enthusiasm of his supporters’ and the begrudging support of his Dem non-supporters, but lose the election when the Republicans deploy their playbook with all its ugly surprises. I see that not only as a real possibility, but as an inevitability. And apparently, so do the GOP and Putin. Bernie will go down in flames, taking all the down ballot and state Dems with him. If this happens, it will be due in large part to Team Bernie’s lack of due diligence that democracy goes down the toilet, and it will go down the toilet. Which is exactly what Russian and the Republican politicians want.
All this being said, it’s quite possible that the Team Bernie is already on it. It’s just that I haven’t seen anything posted here on Kos that shows that, which is worrying. People, besides myself and others, have posted some of the Repug nasties, a few of which were revealed in the 2016 Eichenwald story that I’ve been posting ad nauseam in comments. But I’ve yet to see any responses from the Bernie folks that explain they know about the nasties and are working on it.
If you are, please tell us.