Hillary Clinton forgot all the things she said when she ran against Senator Obama
Hillary Clinton opened a can of worms that will backfire when her previous statements about President Obama are re-examined. It was a very low blow.
Clinton accused Bernie Sanders of speaking out against the President by calling him weak on some issues as well as suggesting that Sanders wanted the President primaried. The statements are true but taken out of context. President Obama was conceding chain CPI to the GOP which would have reduced Social Security payments to the elderly in the long run. It was a middle-class centric move.
To millions of progressives, President Obama conceded too much to the Right. Granted, the fact that he was able to pass healthcare reform, something all previous presidents failed at, proves that his tactics worked. Given the super majority that Democrats had for the first few months of the Obama administration, many believe that more could have been done. He was cautious in the false belief that he would eventually get GOP support.
Bernie Sanders believed then, and many still believe now that the fear of primaries generally gives the one that is being primaried a resolve to negotiate rather than capitulate. If there is any doubt, listen to Hillary Clinton today relative to how she spoke about banks before.
Here is the text of the exchange.
Hillary Clinton: But I want to — I want to follow up on something having to do with leadership, because, you know, today Senator Sanders said that President Obama failed the presidential leadership test. And this is not the first time that he has criticized President Obama. In the past he has called him weak. He has called him a disappointment. He wrote a forward for a book that basically argued voters should have buyers’ remorse when it comes to President Obama’s leadership and legacy. And I just couldn’t agree — disagree more with those kinds of comments. You know, from my perspective, maybe because I understand what President Obama inherited, not only the worst financial crisis but the antipathy of the Republicans in Congress, I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves for being a president who got us out of that put us on firm ground, and has sent us into the future. And it is a — the kind of criticism that we’ve heard from Senator Sanders about our president I expect from Republicans. I do not expect from someone running for the Democratic nomination to succeed President Obama.
Bernie Sanders: That is Madam Secretary, that is a low blow. I have worked with President Obama for the last seven years. When President Obama came into office we were losing 800,000 jobs a month, 800,000 jobs a month. We had a $1.4 trillion deficit. And the world’s financial system is on the verge of collapse. As a result of his efforts and the efforts of Joe Biden against unprecedented, I was there in the Senate, unprecedented Republican obstructionism, we have made enormous progress. But you know what? Last I heard we lived in a democratic society. Last I heard, a United States senator had the right to disagree with the president, including a president who has done such an extraordinary job. So I have voiced criticisms. You’re right. Maybe you haven’t. I have. But I think to suggest that I have voiced criticism, this blurb that you talk about, you know what the blurb said? The blurb said that the next president of the United States has got to be aggressive in bringing people into the political process. That’s what I said. That is what I believe.
Bernie Sanders: President Obama and I are friends. As you know, he came to Vermont to campaign for me when he was a senator. I have worked for his re-election. His first election and his re-election. But I think it is really unfair to suggest that I have not been supportive of the president. I have been a strong ally with him on virtually every issue. Do senators have the right to disagree with the president? Have you ever disagreed with a president? I suspect you may have.
Hillary Clinton: You know, Senator, what I am concerned about, is not disagreement on issues, saying that this is what I would rather do, I don’t agree with the president on that, calling the president weak, calling him a disappointment, calling several times that he should have a primary opponent when he ran for re-election in 2012, you know, I think that goes further than saying we have our disagreements. As a senator, yes, I was a senator. I understand we can disagree on the path forward. But those kinds of personal assessments and charges are ones that I find particularly troubling.
Bernie Sanders: Well, one of us ran against Barack Obama. I was not that candidate.