Head Tale

Here’s some random thoughts…

• I wish Bernie would be more explicit in making some points.  Don’t just mention that you’re 20 points up against Trump in head-to-head polls; compare that to how Hillary does against Trump.  Similarly, when they bring up her delegate count including super delegates, point out that these delegates changed to Obama when it was clear he was beating Hillary even if they’d already endorsed her and that you’ll trust in voters who actually participate actively in the process.
• He may make this point eventually but he really needs to hammer that he’s winning mostly Blue states and Hillary’s winning Red States they likely won’t win in the general election.
• It’s nice that Jorge Ramos discloses his daughter works for Hillary’s campaign off the top but it really shows how the establishment works. (You think that his daughter fears for her job if dad does too good of a job tonight?)
• I love that these moderators, more than any other debate I’ve watched, are asking hard-hitting, relevant questions *and* doing the basic follow-up to re-ask if the politicians (both of them) dodge initially.
• But on the topic of pointless questions, someone had an interesting theory that the crazy lady who asked about each candidate’s religion in a recent debate (which seemed like a way to trap quasi-atheist Bernie Sanders) actually backfired as Hillary rambled and babbled (like she tends to do) and Sanders’ genuine secular humanist “we are all equal/follow the golden rule” answer probably resonated with many religious people who were put off by Hillary’s answer.
• When they’re talking about deporting immigrants, Bernie should quote the Statue of Liberty plaque as an easy appeal to emotion.
• I really wish he’d throw “artful smear” back in her face when rebuking her cherry picking of his votes.
• Does anyone track the actual amount of time each candidate speaks?  My biased impression is that Hillary runs long *way* more than Bernie does.
• Lots of ideas on how to deal with this issue but I really wish they both would get a 30-second warning and their mics were cut off instead of letting them run on or moderators trying to interrupt repeatedly.
• Hillary voted to build a wall with Mexico?  WTF?  Why am I only hearing about this now???   Trump/Clinton 2016!
• Hillary corrects “Fence”, not wall. <snicker>
• Hillary is actually pretty funny imitating Trump “A beautiful wall, a great wall.”  I honestly like when I see that side of her.  I still wish I could find the Reddit comment that laid out how we could’ve avoided all of this if she’d run herself not as a Queen-in-waiting but as a humble, genuine, progressive candidate.  (Poorly described but it was a brilliant comment about how she could’ve thwarted any challenge by positioning herself slightly differently than she did.)
• Splitting families via deportation?  You know what works?  Humanity.  Empathy.
• That woman whose husband was deported gets some authentic “Hispandering” (ha!) from Hillary.
• When I get frustrated with Bernie’s answers, I have to remember Hillary doesn’t always shine and could often give better, more effective answers too.
  From Reddit:

  Honestly all Hillary has to say is “Look, yes Wall St got bailed out by that bill. But it was the only way the auto bailout was going to pass. Without that bailout, hundreds of thousands of Americans would have been unemployed, and our manufacturing industry would have been irreparably harmed. It was a compromise. The fact is Bernie, that your hatred for Wall St is so much that you are fine with letting Main St suffer so long as Wall St suffers more. “

• She rambled (which proved her point) but I did like her admission that she’s not a natural politician like Bill or Obama.
• On Bernie’s demand that Hillary release the transcripts – two good ways to force her hand:  1) she says she’s being “transparent” with her e-mail stuff but that’s part of a legal Freedom of Information request she can’t deny.  If she truly believes in transparency, she should release the speeches.  Also, she defends herself that *all* candidates should do it if she does and he needs to point out she’s getting ahead of herself and not running against a Republican nor would he expect what a Republican says to Wall Street to be comparable to what a Democrat says (or should say.)
• Holy shit!  The crowd basically calls for Bernie to be given a chance to respond to Hillary’s bullshit explanation for taking corporate donations.
• Is that Bernie Sanders or Walter White?  “He said I’m dangerous.  I *am* dangerous for Wall Street.”
• Benghazi question gets boos from the crowd.  Such a weird election cycle – Fox News town hall was actually “fair and balanced” and a CNN/Univision debate has Benghazi questions?
• Why is the Secretary of State even e-mailing her daughter during a national crisis?
• Bernie keeps bringing up climate change but has he mentioned the very real threat to Florida and other coastal areas?  (Shit – Hillary just did it.  Such an obvious point to be made but Bernie missed it.  Sometimes I think Bernie’s always operating on the big picture level instead of down on the retail level where his answers could have more impact.)
• It’s fascinating to think about the impact of pop culture – Trump is a reality star but Bernie has “YUGE!” as a catch phrase like something you’d like on a sitcom or SNL and repeat to friends at the water cooler the next day.
• Again, spell it out Bernie.  “Fifty years ago, a high school diploma was like a college degree now” could be vastly improved by saying “Fifty years ago, a publicly funded high school diploma should now be a publicly funded university degree.”  (Edit: he almost made the point is passing by saying Trump’s kids can go to public school so why not public university?)
• Hillary literally cannot respond to a question from the public without pandering: “You work so hard.”  “Good for you on getting your PhD”.
• Bernie pointing out how Hillary’s copying his ideas.  Has Bernie had *anything* in his campaign influenced by Hillary?
• Many say that Bernie repeats himself but you’ve got to admit he’s got some very effective lines – “We bailed out Wall Street, now Wall Street needs to bail out Main Street.”
• Hillary 2016: “Make America Meh Again.”
• Great response by Bernie to Hillary’s claim that 90% healthcare coverage is great. He says this isn’t actually true due to high premiums, drug costs and wasteful spending.
• Climate change discussion – since Bernie does this about universal healthcare and free post-secondary, it’d be useful to point out what some other countries are doing with renewables.  What’s Germany at – 20% renewable or something?  (27% actually.)
• Hillary filibustering after the moderator called on Bernie to speak is probably not helping her cause.
• A clip from 1985 to trap Bernie yet Hillary can change her views from debate to debate?  Right.  To steal a line from Reddit, that video is older than most of his supporters!  Also, they pick some ancient video and Hillary just happens to have a quote from that interview at the ready to attack him?  Riiiiggghhht!
• Bernie could connect back to his overarching campaign message by pointing out that a lot of Latin American regime change was pushed for by corporations.
• Great point for Hillary to bring up Bush v. Gore which hinged on Florida.
• Hillary 2016: “Like Bernie’s Vision But Smaller”
• Was that DNC Chair, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz who leapt to her feet in the front row when Hillary gave her closing statement?
• Spell it out Bernie – define oligarchy – don’t trust people to Google it.
• Wow – this is the most pro-Bernie crowd I’ve seen at a debate. Unlike Hillary who got one person jumping to her feet then immediately sitting down, he got a pretty wide standing ovation for his closing statement.  I’m sure I’ve said it before – for Democrats, enthusiasm wins elections.