Ken Berwitz
A vortex is a whirling mass of air or water.
I assume you do not need me to tell you why I see Hillary Clinton as being in a downward vortex – one which has continued pretty much from April 12th, when she announced her candidacy, right to the present time.
The latest demonstration of that downward vortex? Bernie Sanders, a 73 year old Senator from a small state, who is not even a registered Democrat and had minimal national recognition when he declared his candidacy, is now 9% ahead of Ms. Clinton in the latest New Hampshire poll, and fully competitive with her in Iowa.
Excerpted from Julianna Goldman\’s article at cbsnews.com:
According to one new poll. Hillary Clinton is no longer trailing Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire. Sanders has pulled ahead.
The Sanders surge isn\’t just his massive crowds. The new poll shows Bernie Sanders beating Clinton in New Hampshire 41 percent to 32 percent. The Vermont senator is up nine points from July when he was trailing the Democratic frontrunner.
Vice President Joe Biden, whose entry into the race would further upend the Democratic field, is third with 16 percent.
After a summer marked by persistent questions about her private e-mail server while Secretary of State, Clinton\’s lead has also narrowed in Iowa. The 24-point advantage she had in July has been cut to just 11.
And if that were not bad enough news for Ms. Clinton, Joe Biden – who, let\’s again remember, has not even declared his candidacy -is at 20% in the Iowa poll.
Will Bernie Sanders be the Democrats\’ presidential nominee? It is the longest of long shots.
It is also, a wet dream for Republicans.
I can see the campaign strategy right now. Republicans will be saturating the airwaves with a message that the Democrat party – the party that cannot tell you how it differs from socialism (here is where they insert Debbie Wasserman Schultz\’s inability to offer any difference on video) – has nominated a socialist (insert video of Bernie Sanders saying so) as its Presidential candidate. He isn\’t even a Democrat, he is an independent. But, as you can see and hear, being a socialist is good enough for them. Is it good enough for you?”
Even more distressingly for Democrats, just as Bernie Sanders is a wet dream for Republicans, so, increasingly, is Hillary Clinton – who cannot even hold her own party\’s loyalty and who has proven, time and time again, that while her husband is a great politician and great campaigner, she averages him out.
Add in the huge and still-burgeoning email scandal (with the Clinton Foundation scandal in the background only because the email scandal is seen as even bigger), and what have you got?
Republicans, who have major problems of their own – problems that, with a strong Democrat candidate, could easly result in their being shut out of the White House again in 2016 – could not ask for much more than this…
…which is another reason that I find it harder and harder to believe Joe Biden, who – despite his own baggage, and there is plenty of it – comes across as a knight in shining armor to save his party, will not jump in. Very, very soon.
Stay tuned.
