Well, it seems that even Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) agrees that his legions of supporters, who gave Hillary Clinton a bigger fight than originally projected, are basement dwellers. In an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on This Week, Sanders said that Secretary Clinton was correct in her assumptions about his supporters being basement dweller. These observations were revealed in a leaked audio recording from a private fundraiser in McClean, Virginia back in February (via RealClearPolitics) [emphasis mine]:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They're children of the Great Recession and they are living in their parents' basement. And so if you're consigned to, you know, being a barista or, you know, some other job that doesn't pay a lot and doesn't have much of a ladder of opportunity attached to it, then the idea that maybe, just maybe, you could be part of a political revolution is pretty appealing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[…]
STEPHANOPOULOS: Here's what Donald Trump Tweeted about that. He said, "Crooked H is nasty to Sanders' supporters behind closed doors, owned by Wall Street and politicians. HRC is not with you," making a direct pitch to your supporters.
How did you take it?
SANDERS: I took it exactly the opposite way. I think what she said -- and, by the way, during the campaign, we do have our differences, Secretary Clinton and I do disagree on issues. But what she was saying there is absolutely correct. And that is, you've got millions of young people, many of whom took out loans in order to go to college, hoping to go out and get decent-paying, good jobs.
And you know what?
They're unable to do that. And yes, they do want a political revolution. They want to transform this society. They want to make sure that when they get out of school, they can get a job that pays them wages and salaries commensurate with the education they have. I think that's a very important point. And that is an issue that, as a nation, we have got to address -- how do we create good-paying jobs for people who have a decent education?
And one of the issues that Clinton is talking about is rebuilding our infrastructure, pay equity for women, raising the minimum wage to a living wage, so, in fact, we can have decent paying jobs for all of our people.
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Sanders just threw his supporters under the bus, yet gave a tepid answer to those who are fence sitting. He did imply that they should vote for Clinton due to pay equity, climate change, and overturning Citizens United:
This is what I say, George. Look, we live in a tough world. This country faces enormous crises. As we do, as a planet. And I would like people simply -- I'm not going to tell people how to vote -- take a look at issue by issue.For example, climate change. A lot of young people are appropriately very concerned about climate change and what happens to our planet if we do not transform our energy system.
Compare what Donald Trump says to what Hillary Clinton says. Donald Trump is ignoring science. Trump thinks that climate change is a hoax. Clinton has a serious plan in order to transform our energy system.
Raising the minimum wage -- most Americans understand that a $7.25 minimum wage is a starvation wage. It's got to be raised to the living wage. That is what Secretary Clinton wants.
If there are two things that have been proven so far between Sanders and Clinton is that the former secretary of state is having trouble getting young Democrats excited about her candidacy. Second, they’re straight up ignoring Bernie Sanders’ call for unity. The Democratic National Convention showed this explicitly, especially in light of the leaked emails from members of the Democratic National Committee, which showed senior DNC officials plotting mischief to undercut Sanders’ campaign. Bernie Sanders has been on the stump for Clinton, though that hasn’t translated into more enthusiasm/support for old, sick Hillary.
Also, say Clinton is elected, Republicans are going to hold the House and Republicans might retain the majority in the Senate. Some scenarios have the upper chamber ending 2016 in a split 50-50, though Tim Kaine would put Democrats in the majority being the tie-breaking vote. With her baggage, there’s little chance that anything meaningful will get passed on climate change, pay equity, or raising the minimum wage, especially since it’s been a disaster in its application. Nine million jobs could be placed on the chopping block. We lost 700,000 jobs in 2013 due to this political theater. In Seattle, the $15/hour minimum wage is to be phased in completely b 2018. It’s currently $11—and it’s led to fewer people working and hours being cut. All of this was sort of predictable.
On top of not having enough votes to maneuver much, let alone put forward the robust progressive agenda that the Left lusts for on Capitol Hill, the political baggage from her emails, the Clinton Foundation, and the lingering issues on Benghazi that now ties into her emails will make for one ineffective presidency. Will Bernie try again in 2020 should Clinton win and fail as president? Let’s not get too far ahead, though he’s trying to pull as many of his supporters out of the basement, even if it means agreeing with Clinton’s patronizing observations.
Sanders did say that it bothered him that the audio captured Clinton describing his agenda as a collection of indefensible false promises.
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