Let’s imagine for a second that come summer, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are the lead candidates for their respective parties; what could possible go wrong, since Hillary is viewed in a more “favorable” light compared to the Donald?
Well, remember that tricky little email scandal that our favorite lady had to combat earlier? If she gets even a whiff of an indictment from the FBI (whose recently appointed director is, surprise surprise, a partisan Republican), let the floodgates of Trump brownshirts open up and hellooooo 1984!
*Note: Fox News suck, but remember the case that people are TLDRs, so they watch mass media and go OMG SHE’S INDICTED, WE NEED TRUMP.
Interestingly, while the CBS poll points to Hillary as the winner of the second democratic debate, many online polls clearly signify Bernie as the victor. This interesting dichotomy between the results of major media’s polls versus those of independent online polls continues to persist!
I am very suspicious of CBS’s sampling though. Many Hillary supporters believe that we should trust more the “scientifically” compiled polls of CNN, CBS, MSNBC etc. Do you know what that entails? Here’s the exact quote I pulled out of the website:
This CBS News poll was conducted online using GfK’s web-enabled KnowledgePanel®, a probability-based panel designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The poll was conducted among a nationwide random sample of 674 voters who identified themselves as Democrat or independent who watched the debate.
GfK’s KnowledgePanel®’s participants are initially chosen scientifically by a random selection of telephone numbers and residential addresses. Persons in selected households are then invited by telephone or by mail to participate in the web-enabled KnowledgePanel®. For those who agree to participate, but do not already have Internet access, GfK provides at no cost a device to connect to the internet. – Taken from CBS website: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/poll-who-won-the-second-democratic-debate-november-2015-cbs-news/
When I took a look at the study’s sampling technique, I can hardly tell the difference between its mechanism and those of the independent online polls. They’re basically the same! Random folks from around the country log on to the web and go to sites like Slate and vote their hearts out, regardless of their political affiliation! Can you tell the difference?
My generic opinion: Bernie wins. This is generic because the general public thinks so too.
CBS Poll
Total respondents are 674.
Syracuse.com Poll from last night. Total respondents here are 607. Nearly the same as CBS!
Slate Poll from last night.
*Update: Syracuse.com’s polls results show 8000 respondents believing that Bernie won, versus Hillary’s 800!
Need I say more? They either are or seem to be more left-leaning than their opposing counterparts. Perhaps this is a trend of post-Iraq tiredness of many countries with their right-leaning leaders and their fiscal austerity measures under the 2008 recession.
And then…Bernie (who actually was reportedly happy for Corbyn becoming the new Leader of the Opposition). 2016 is going to be a very interesting year…
I was initially going to compose an analysis comparing the issues and stances of both candidates, but many sites beat me to it! Regardless, I would like to share these sites as the analyses in them are brilliant and nicely summarized.
Now, wait. Before you rile off against me about how biased I am towards Bernie Sanders, let me mention that OF COURSE I AM! I have read extensively on both candidates’ voting backgrounds and political stances, and truly Sanders has rarely (almost never) shifted his views throughout his entire political career. And guess what? His views are progressive and evidence-driven, which I deeply admire.
Let’s look at the issues in depth and analyze why Bernie is the man for the plan. Let me be absolutely clear that of course, I will be harsh and denote policy shifts as flip-flops. They are politicians of course and they naturally want to gather a larger political base and more popularity – the only way to do that is to FLIP-FLOP. Period. I will naturally avoid the issues that they both agree in, since those aren’t going to be the contentious issues to be debated on.
Wall Street:
Bernie is the vehement enemy of Wall Street. He advocates following the Nordic, particularly Icelandic, form of banking reform – i.e. break up the “too-big-to-fail” big banks and consider them ineligible for government bailout.
Hillary does not support the reinstatement of Glass-Steagall. She was also the first lady during the big merging of commercial and investment banks of the late 90s.
Analysis: Need I say more? If Bernie wins, he is considering taking Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren as his Veep. I attended her rally before, and wow can she rile up hatred against Wall Street!
Immigration:
Bernie:
Strongly advocates for immigration reform but voted no on previous bills due to his disagreements on the provisions regarding guest worker programs (an extension of his opposition to free trade agreements).
Against the construction of a US-Mexico border fence.
Opposes increased law enforcement on the border.
Opposed making English the official language of the US.
He DID vote for an amendment that prevented using American funds to inform the Mexican government on the Minutemen Project movements (the racist anti-immigrants who wanted to patrol the borders instead of actual officers).
Hillary:
Strong advocate for reform, but generally opposed guest worker programs unless they’re in the agricultural sector.
Was for the construction of a US-Mexico border fence, but then flip-flopped later in the 2008 presidential campaign.
Supports increased law enforcement on the border (and the Canadian border).
Opposed making English the official language of the US.
Flip-flopped on giving driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants (now against?).
Analysis: Both folks support the DREAM act and providing millions of undocumented immigrants paths to citizenship. Hillary was the one who was staunchly opposed to illegal immigration generally, though. Both oppose the guest worker program due to the basic macroeconomic theory of the “race to the bottom”, in which companies around the world will forgo workers’ rights and decrease wages in order to remain competitive on a local or global scale. If the US allows cheap labor to come to the country, then they will replace the workers who are already receiving low wages to begin with (and thus force other companies to lower their wages to remain competitive). On the other hand, immigrants who come work in the US HUGELY contribute to the Social Security fund through taxes but receive no benefits in return. My response: Border patrols are a waste of money, and border fences are useless as the immigrants always find amazingly innovative ways to enter the US (e.g. via underground tunnels). Provide a framework pro-workers’ rights regulations and allow unions to flourish and collectively bargain for fairer wages (are we really supposed to accept 10.10 as the minimum wage?). In other words: Screw you Scott Walker. Bernie wins (and general immigration indexes vote him as more pro-immigration reform and pro-immigrant rights).
Health Care:
Bernie:
Advocates for a single-payer system, i.e. the government will be the payer for all health expenses (interestingly, the Donald supported it once-upon-a-time!).
Wants a guarantee for “right to health care” for all. Shall we see an amendment to the Constitution’s Bill of Rights?
Believes that the ACA is a good start, but it needs to be more extensive.
Hillary:
Wants to build on “what works” in the ACA.
Believes that a single-payer system is not for America (because they are afraid of “socialized medicine”). Instead, she advocates for consumer choice in multiple government-provided insurances.
Has a history of fighting for health care reform since the 1990s.
Analysis: Both candidates are obviously health care advocates. They deeply support policies that will try to extend coverage to the uninsured. However, it seems that they differ on the extent of governmental outreach in insurance coverage. While Bernie advocates for a European/Nordic system of healthcare provision for all, Hillary wants to form healthcare into a combined public-private sphere driven by consumer choice. The healthcare debate is long and extensive, maybe even ideological. As a medical student, I strongly support an insurance system where everyone pools their risks together (young and healthy with old and frail), so that premiums can stay low, since the young and healthy are paying in and included in the risk pool. This kind of moral hazard reduction can only be accomplished through a government-enforced single-payer system, and the individual mandate of the ACA is a great step towards that direction. Let’s call it a Social Security of Healthcare, paid for by FICA taxes from everyone, including the ultra-rich and super healthy. In other words: Bernie.
Campaign Finance:
Bernie:
EXTREMELY opposed to Citizens United SCOTUS decision and will attempt to overturn it.
Anti-super PACs and will not accept donations from them.
Hillary:
Softly hints at opposition to Citizens United.
Accepted super-PACs money. In fact, the majority of her campaign is financed through large individual donation, and a small part through super-PAC money. But she has promised to remove money from politics.
Analysis: Bernie takes the cake for this. I suppose in Hillary’s case, you could argue that the only way to win is to fight fire with fire. Get your own super-PACs to fight Republican and Koch-brother super-PACs. But in her own words, it’s a “slippery slope” from there…
On the issue of gay marriage:
Both are currently pro-gay marriage and gay rights, but you MUST take into account that Clinton flip-flopped heavily on this issue. She supported the Clinton admin. in the 90s for the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell fiasco and DOFA. In fact, it really seems that she became pro-gay marriage recently after a facing a “moral crisis” with herself. Wait, what? First ladies don’t have influence on their husbands in office? Umm…Abigail Adams, Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosalynn Carter, Dolley Madison. So you really can say that she and ole’ Bill were truly partners in office during his tenure.
Gun Control:
Bernie:
Voted YES on a ban of magazines with more than 10 bullets.
On every other issue it seems, Bernie voted on laxer gun control laws (like allowing users to carry firearms on Amtrak trains, prohibiting UN aid on making gun ownership harder, and protecting gunmakers and sellers from lawsuits due to gun misuse).
Hillary:
Staunchly pro-gun control. She is pro-universal background checks and voted against protecting gunmakers and sellers from lawsuits.
Flip-flopped on national gun registry (was for, now against).
Analysis: Oh Bernie. I suppose this stems not only from his Vermont roots (a very hunter pro-2nd amendment state), but also the idea that We the People need to arm ourselves in case of … corporate encroachment? Bahahaha. Hillary definitely takes this issue (but why the flip-flop?).
Another notable issue is the Social Security Tax Cap: Bernie, as you all know, is extremely for increasing taxes on the wealthy. This includes eliminating this ridiculous tax cap (anyone making incomes of 118,500 or more are exempt from paying higher Social Security payroll taxes). On the other hand, Hillary is for this cap because, and I quote, “that would impose additional taxes on people who are educators, police officers, firefighters and the like.” Secretary Clinton, I would LOVE to meet an average educator who makes 118,500 per year!
On the education aspect, you all know about Bernie’s free college loveliness and the proposed payment plan for both the humongous student debt and the governmental coverage of tuition costs. The bill is available to view for the public and for criticism. What did Hillary say about student debt and rising tuition costs? Well, we need to tackle it. Yup. (O’Malley frantically applauds).
Well, you guys know the rest of the issues. I suggest you take a look at the readings I posted to get a fuller glance at both candidates’ stances on war, foreign policy, international trade, and Wall Street regulations. It really does seem that Bernie, however, is true to his word from the very beginning. Even the wince-worthy lax gun control stance has remained constant throughout Bernie’s career, although I do hope he changes his perspective.
Why would many vote for Hillary Clinton? Well, not only is she campaigning on a platform of equality for women, the destruction of ISIS, and other hawkish attributes, but electing a first female president would be revolutionary to the country! Following up on the first black president, her election would symbolically signify the end of the glass ceiling and the opening of doors for women’s rise in social hierarchy. But let’s get down to reality really quickly. When Obama became president, has the country’s racist past truly fell behind for the history books? Anyone of you that has even remotely followed the news this past year (and read books like the New Jim Crow), you will know that this is just an imaginary fallacy. Providing an opportunity for one woman to rise to the top of the social ladder doesn’t equate with the immediate enforcement of equality for all women. That can only occur in the deeper, grassroots, and cultural level. For those more interested in that field, read up on sociology and gender studies.
For now, the exciting election is at hand! The Democratic National Convention is going to gather this week, right after the Republican National Convention! Who will you vote for????
To quote the big guy…”OF COURRRSSEEE!!!!!!”
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