Why Bernie’s persistence is a powerful reminder of Clinton’s troubling centrism

Hillary is sick of the left: 

 

Heading into the final months of the presidential primaries, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton and her team seem to be increasingly fed up with the Sanders campaign, which has remained competitive since the first votes were cast in Iowa, and continues to dog Clinton from the left. Early last week, Clinton’s chief strategist Joel Benenson remarked that if Sanders wanted another debate, he would have to “tone down” his “very negative” campaign, which — as I discussed in a previous article — is an absurd allegation, considering the Clinton camp has held a virtual monopoly on negative campaigning.

(True, there are some nasty and vulgar Sanders supporters on social media, who Sanders has condemned; but we are talking about the campaigns, not random users on the internet, and Clinton has plenty of unpleasant online enthusiasts as well.)

On Thursday, Clinton herself vented about the Sanders campaign at a rally in New York, and when confronted by a Greenpeace activist about her financial ties to the fossil fuel industry, she replied testily: “I am so sick of the Sanders campaign lying about me. I’m sick of it.”
Of course, no one is lying about Clinton, who employs a number of bundlers registered as lobbyists for the fossil fuel industry — as Greenpeace documents here — and in an issued response, Greenpeace Democracy Campaign Director Molly Dorozenski said the following:

“Secretary Clinton is conflating Greenpeace with the Sanders campaign, but we are an independent organization, and our research team has assessed the contributions to all Presidential candidates.  We have not and will not endorse candidates. Earlier this year, we asked both Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders to sign our pledge to #fixdemocracy, and while Sanders signed, Clinton did not. We intend to continue to challenge all candidates to listen to the people, not their biggest donors.”

Of course, this may not be possible; Clinton currently has a solid lead over Sanders, especially if you count her hold on pledged superdelegates. But Clinton shouldn’t assume that those on the left will simply fall in line if and when she becomes the nomination (though most left-wingers would probably agree that a neoliberal is better than a proto-fascist). Clinton may be sick of hearing about her Goldman Sachs speeches, but those on the left were sick of the Clintons twenty years ago, and will remain critical well beyond election year.

Source : Salon