Why Bernie Will Win – Part 4: The Big Difference

Why Bernie Will Win – Part 4: The Big Difference

by Joe Brunoli

a.k.a. EuroYankee

This post is a very easy one to write, because it is, in effect, a simple question: Will Hillary Clinton represent the interests of the working people of America?

What do millionaires talk about?

Hillary is a woman who has “served” as first lady of Arkansas, then first lady of the U.S., then as a senator, and then as Secretary of State. Her professional life has, for all intents and purposes, been a purely political one. And yet, through her connections, her contacts and her skill in manipulating the system, she has managed to parlay this “political career” into a fortune worth up to $55,000,000 according to USA Today.

Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, has been a “real” political animal. During the same period that Hillary was amassing her fortune through an establishment political career, Bernie served as a city mayor, a congressman and a senator, all the while running on his famous Democratic Socialist platform. The result? According to the same USA Today article, Bernie has a net worth of just $330,000.

Bernie flies economy class when he travels.

So, here is the question: How is it that two candidates, who many claim have the same priorities and the same goals, could both dedicate their lives to politics, to “fighting for the working families” —and yet one ends up with a net worth of $55 million, and the other ends up with a net worth of just $330,000?

I think this is a big part of the reason that people do not like the Clintons. They are a political family. They have been making their living in political “service” to their state of Arkansas and then their country for virtually all of their adult lives, and yet they have managed to amass an incredible fortune while supposedly “serving” the public.

No one begrudged the Roosevelts their wealth, nor the Kennedys theirs.  Even Mitt Romney was generally considered to have “earned” his fortune. And Donald Trump has become famous almost solely for his success as a businessman. In other words, they “earned” their money the American way—in business.

But the Clintons? They are simply “America’s Political Family.” They have never done anything else. They travel in the same circles as the Trumps and the Bushes. Indeed, it is now widely known that the Clintons went to Trump’s last wedding, and Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, is best friends with Chelsea Clinton.

And this brings us to what I term the Big Difference. 

Bernie Sanders is a true believer. He is motivated by a genuine desire to help people, to speak truth to power, and as he says so often in his speeches, he wants to use his political position to “take on the billionaire class.”

Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, has used her political positions and connections to become  part of that billionaire class.

That is, I think, why people in the U.S. don’t like her. She literally embodies all that is wrong with the corrupt and money-driven political system that is running America today.

She is, in essence, the poster-girl for why Bernie’s political revolution is needed, and that fact will come out over the course of the campaign. It has to.

Bio: Joe Brunoli, , a.k.a. The EuroYankee, is a US ex-pat with dual US-EU citizenship. Originally from Connecticut, Joe currently splits his time between his ancestral residence on Lake Como, Italy and his apartment in Barcelona, Spain. He travels Europe extensively for his work and tries to find time to comment on trends, attitudes, politics and points of interest - especially as they may affect or regard the US. 

 Letting "Our Side" Down

by Cindy A. Matthews

You know what really irks me about the recent Democratic candidates' forum? Rachel Maddow showed each candidate a photo from their early (supposedly) political years and had them describe it and asked what they learned from that experience. It's how Maddow handled each candidate that gets to me.

Martin O'Malley: Maddow showed a photo of him as a young man working on Gary Hart's presidential campaign. He said he learned a lot about campaigning and politics from that early experience.

Bernie Sanders: Maddow showed a photo of Bernie at age 21 leading a sit-in to desegregate student housing at the University of Chicago. Bernie said he learned a lot about forming coalitions and how to lead others to take a stand on moral issues that affect us all as Americans.

Hillary Clinton: Maddow showed a photo of Bill and Hillary getting married. Yeah, nothing to do with Hillary's political growth or holding an office or leading others--but a photo of her on her wedding day. They talked about her then-fashionable spiral hair perm and how Bill's hair was now all white.

Maddow didn't press Clinton to say anything about her early years being politically active (as Hillary Clinton supported Republican Barry Goldwater for president in the 1960s). No, they talked about Hillary's hairstyle. Why didn't Maddow show a photo of Hillary Clinton campaigning for Goldwater? What would Hillary have said she learned from that experience? It's better to switch parties?

The overall message I took away from the Democratic candidates' forum was this: If you are a female politician, it's all about your hairstyle and nothing substantive like forming coalitions and leadership. So, MSNBC (Maddow's network) is saying that Clinton is "ahead" in the polls because she has a great hairstyle and can talk eloquently around in circles without answering questions fully, if at all. 

(Really, who all was in on this "secret conversation" in 1996 that made Hillary Clinton say she was against gay marriage then? Are there any "witnesses" to this "secret conversation" and if so, why was Hillary allowed in a conversation with her husband's advisors at the time? She wasn't a senator then, only the first lady, so how did she get the clearance? Does that mean as "first husband" he'll be telling her what to do? Isn't that essentially giving Bill Clinton a third term?)

Rachel Maddow and Hillary Clinton have made women in politics look shallow, who must rely on their looks and marriage connections to get ahead, and aren't to be pressed hard to fully answer questions in a straightforward manner. Talk about reverse discrimination! Thanks for letting "our side" down, ladies!

Bernie Sanders has many intelligent and capable women currently working on his campaign. I know we will see many strong women working in his administration, women who can answer questions without talking in circles. Women who will make good role models for our daughters and granddaughters.


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"Bernie" from Econia

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