Tuesday, May 17, 2016

The Clinton campaign thinks the barbarians are coming for them - by which they mean Sanders supporters!

The Clinton campaign and allied Democratic officials are metaphorically rending they garments over the raucous Nevada state democratic convention this past weekend. And they're making it sound pretty hair-raising:

Tierney Sneed, NV Dems Scold Sanders Camp After Supporters Threaten State Party Official TPM 05/17/2016

Amanda Marcotte, Bernie Bros out of control: Explosion of misogynist rage at Nevada’s Dem chairwoman reflects terribly on Sanders’ dwindling campaign 05/17/2016

Philip Bump, Here’s what happened at Saturday’s dramatic Nevada Democratic convention Washington Post 05/15/2016

Charlie Pierce writes in It's Time for Bernie's People to Calm Down Esquire Politics Blog 05/16/2016, "The latest chapter came at this weekend's Democratic state convention in Nevada, where the Sanders faction went completely bananas because the rules by which you had to be a Democrat to participate in a Democratic convention were simply too much for them to bear. Senator Barbara Boxer got booed. Punches and chairs were thrown." He doesn't mention who it was that threw the punches and chairs.

The WaPo story includes a tweet from somebody I don't know who says that "chairs were thrown." But the main story doesn't mention it. It does mention, "There was some sort of scuffle, though it's not clear what, and an apparently unrelated medical emergency." But the video linked doesn't seem to show any punches or chairs being thrown.

The Young Turks reported on the convention in the, uh, neutrally titled Nevada Democrats Screw Over Bernie Supporters 05/16/2016:



Sanders issued a statement condemning violence in general but defending his own campaign. (Maxwell Tani, Bernie Sanders releases defiant statement after complete chaos at state convention Business Insider 05/17/2016)

Charlie Pierce also gives us this look at the real existing Democratic Party [deep sigh]Meanwhile, , Could Someone in the Democratic Party Be a Politician Please? Esquire Politics Blog 05/17/2016.

The Clinton camp, though, seems determined to depict the Sanders supporters as something like a cross being the Manson Family and the Symbionese Liberation Army. [another deep sigh]

Just to be clear, reports of death threats to the chairwoman of the convention are a disgusting thing. Calls making death threats should also be reported to the law because its a federal felony. But unless there is actual evidence linking them to the Sanders campaign, it's pretty dubious to try to hang that around Bernie's neck. And, no, posting people's address and private number online is not a good idea in a situation like this.

Still, I have to wonder why the Clinton campaign is raising this kind of stink. Their campaign pulled some heavy-handed parliamentary tactics, because politics is politics. But they won. When you win, why make a big deal about trashing the losers in that fight? It's puzzling to me because I'm assuming that the Clinton Democrats would like Sanders supporters to go vote for the Democratic Party and Hillary herself in November. Maybe not.

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