Christine wrote about Democratic National Committee chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz's complete lack of self-awareness over her tweet mocking the GOP for hiding their New Hampshire debate on a weekend, or something. Now, we have Bill Clinton accusing Sanders supporters of sexism. Folks, you just can’t make this up (via Time):
Bill Clinton did not mince words when it came to his wife’s Democratic rival at an event in New Hampshire on Sunday.At an event in Milford, the former President blasted Sen. Bernie Sanders’ positions on health care, his assertion that Hillary Clinton is a part of the establishment during his fiercest attack on the candidate ahead of Tuesday’s pivotal primary.
“When you’re making a revolution you can’t be too careful with the facts,” Clinton said, the New York Times reports.
[…]
Clinton also called attention to a collection of male Sanders supporters dubbed ‘Bernie bros’ who launch vitriolic attacks on Clinton supporters online in solidarity with the Senator’s cause. Though the Sanders campaign has distanced itself from the “bros,” Clinton suggested that Sanders supporters made it difficult for women to speak freely about his wife’s campaign online.
Bloggers “who have gone online to defend Hillary, to explain why they supported her, have been subject to vicious trolling and attacks that are literally too profane often, not to mention sexist, to repeat,” Clinton said Sunday.
Even Gawker found Bill to be the last person who should be making claims about sexism in politics:
True as these claims may be, Bill Clinton—you know, the guy who screwed his intern—is probably not the right guy to be making them. It’s also not hard to remember what happened when Bill attacked Barack Obama in 2008, calling his campaign “the biggest fairytale I’ve ever seen.” Video of Bill delivering that choice comment was all over the news for weeks, and it didn’t do much to actually help Hillary’s campaign.
It’s not the only thing falling flat. Bill might be losing his edge on the campaign trail; his ability to communicate and energize democrats–the secret weapon–might be fading, providing yet another indicator that the Clinton-era of American politics is coming to an end. Such observations were made during Iowa (via NYT):
He seemed perfunctory, looked gaunt, didn’t seem to captivate the crowd,” said Jon Ralston, a veteran political commentator in Nevada, who attended the Las Vegas event last Friday. “I have seen him speak many times, and he just didn’t seem to be the same guy. He could still summon stats and an anecdote or two, but not with the same verve.”Mr. Clinton still shows flashes of brilliance. On Wednesday night, he acknowledged the appeal of the fractious Republican race in one breath, then eviscerated its candidates in the next.
“It may be entertaining, but it doesn’t have a lick of impact on how you live,” Mr. Clinton said, emphasizing those last three words and pausing between each one.
It is still early enough in the race for Mr. Clinton to warm up. (And he can take some time to warm up.) A more subdued Bill Clinton may not be such a bad thing either, say some Democrats, who cringe as they recall the distraction of his piping-hot words about Barack Obama in the 2008 race.
Yet the Clinton of lore, the once-in-a generation political natural who fought back to win his party’s nomination in 1992 and came through in clutch moments with great speeches over the years, has yet to appear.
New Hampshire votes tomorrow; it’s just a question of how bad Clinton loses to Sanders.
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