Hillary, Bernie, and money

Bernie Sanders calls George Clooney's Hillary Clinton fundraiser 'obscene'

$33,400 to get in the door.

$353,400 to sit at the head table with the Clooneys and Clintons.

It's about being rich.

Bill and Hillary have always wanted to be rich and, in a measure, actually are.

They like rich people and have no problems with them.

Bernie resents the rich, resents not only their disproportionate political clout but simply their wealth and their happiness to have it.

Think of the differences, personal and political, among the big four candidates in the election of 1912.

Taft and Roosevelt were both progressives and both relatively well off, and wanted to cushion capitalism and not get rid of it.

The progressive Wilson was not especially rich but definitely not a working mug, and also far from a socialist.

Gene Debs was born to the working class and was frankly and aggressively out to get rid of capitalism and replace it with socialism.

Of these, Bernie's hero is Gene Debs.

Not for nothing does he call himself a socialist.

Not for nothing has he for all these years refused affiliation with the Democrats, always running as an independent and always claiming to be not a Democrat but a socialist.

If he pushes too hard Hillary may well push back against socialism, though I don't doubt for a moment she would dread losing his voters in the general.

Clinton Aide To Sanders: Change Your 'Tone' If You Want Another Debate

When asked by CNN's Kate Bolduan about a potential New York debate, Clinton chief strategist Joel Benenson instead pivoted to what he said were Sanders' plans to hit Clinton with negative ads.

"I think what was notable this weekend wasn't so much that, but in my mind was the Washington Post story with his own campaign talking about how they're poll testing more negative attacks on Hillary Clinton. 

"They're talking about running harsher negatives now," he said, referring to a Washington Post report saying Sanders' campaign was looking into new ways to contrast the Vermont senator with Clinton.

"This is a man who said he'd never run a negative ad ever," Benenson later added. 

"He's now running them. They’re planning to run more. Let's see the tone of the campaign he wants to run before we get to any other questions."