| | | | How Bernie Sanders is taking over the Democratic Party | | When Bernie Sanders proposed single-payer health insurance in the 2016 Democratic primary race, the Democratic establishment rolled its collective eyes.
The idea, which had been kicking around liberal circles for decades, was seen as a nonstarter for any serious candidate because of the expected massive pricetag of the government paying for health coverage for everyone.
Hillary Clinton suggested the idea was a pipe dream that could undermine her work to shore up the Affordable Care Act. "People who have health emergencies can't wait for us to have a theoretical debate about some better idea that will never, ever come to pass," she said in January 2016.
Boy have things changed!
On Tuesday, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand became the fifth Democratic presidential aspirant to announce support for Sanders' "Medicare For All" legislation. Gillibrand joins Sens. Kamala Harris (California), Cory Booker (New Jersey), Jeff Merkley (Oregon) and Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts) as co-sponsors for Sanders' legislation.
What that means is that with the notable exception of former Vice President Joe Biden, every top tier(ish) 2020 Democrat is now on board with a policy proposal that Hillary Clinton said less than two years ago would "never, ever come to pass."
What does the Democratic change of heart tell us? That the energy in the Democratic party is entirely within the liberal base. And that for that base, it's not possible for a candidate to be "too" liberal on, well, anything. It also means the party is moving toward what was once considered the tilting-at-windmills approach of Sanders (who, it's worth noting, isn't technically a Democrat) and away from the reasoned pragmatism that Clinton preached in the 2016 campaign.
While it's clear the Democratic activist base wants the most liberal possible candidate to take on Donald Trump in 2020, it's less clear whether the broader public will go for a candidate advocating for single payer, or other long-time wish list proposals of liberals.
The sheer number of serious Democrats siding with Sanders suggests we may get an answer to that question come 2020.
-- Chris | | In case you missed it: A pornographic video -- from an account titled "Sexuall Posts" -- was "liked" by Sen. Ted Cruz's Twitter account late Monday night. It's unclear who was responsible for the like or if it was related to some kind of hack. But Catherine Frazier, Cruz's senior communications adviser, tweeted: "The offensive tweet posted on @tedcruz account earlier has been removed by staff and reported to Twitter."
Meanwhile, per The Washington Post, Cruz told reporters: "It was a staffing issue and it was inadvertent, it was a mistake, it was not a deliberate action. He added: "We're dealing with it internally but it was a mistake, it was not malicious conduct." An aide to Cruz confirmed the comments to CNN's Daniella Diaz, whose full article you can read here. Cruz declined to comment when asked by CNN about the incident.
As Chris pointed out earlier, Cruz's initial response to his "liking" a pornographic video is, "um, not good." | | | Johnny Cash died 14 years ago today. Here's Johnny and June singing "Jackson." | | Saba's copy of Hillary Clinton's "What Happened" doesn't arrive until 8 p.m., so she's been relying on the reviews. The book -- released Tuesday -- has already been generating a lot of buzz. As of Tuesday afternoon, the book is No. 6 on Amazon's top 20 most sold and most read books of the week list. Here's a look at some of the reviews:
-From New York Times' Jennifer Senior: " 'What Happened' is not one book, but many. It is a candid and blackly funny account of her mood in the direct aftermath of losing to Donald J. Trump. It is a post-mortem, in which she is both coroner and corpse. It is a feminist manifesto. It is a score-settling jubilee. It is a rant against James B. Comey, Bernie Sanders, the media, James B. Comey, Vladimir Putin and James B. Comey. It is a primer on Russian spying. It is a thumping of Trump. ('I sometimes wonder: If you add together his time spent on golf, Twitter and cable news,' she writes, 'what's left?'). It is worth reading."
-From Washington Post's Dave Weigel: " 'What Happened' is a raw and bracing book, a guide to our political arena. ... There has never been a candidate memoir like this, but there has never been a defeated contender like Hillary Clinton."
-From NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben: "Ultimately, it reads like a book she had to write, audience be damned — a book written out of exasperation. If Trump's combative inauguration speech was 'a howl from the white nationalist gut,' as Clinton puts it, her book is a howl from the gut of Hermione Granger — the embattled cry of the hyper-competent woman who desperately wishes the world were a meritocracy."
-From Boston Globe's Joanna Weiss: "If you are looking for juicy insider gossip and a scathing assessment of missteps, this is not your book. If you're looking for a fresh and clear-eyed manifesto about the Democratic Party's failings, this is also not your book. These books have been written by others, and more will be. This book offers something else. After the election, you may have been cornered by a relative or stranger or friend, and forced to listen to a detailed political manifesto, a rant at the universe, happy or sad. 'What Happened' is that experience — Hillary cornering you in a coffee shop, replaying the game tape, and explaining why she was right." | | Meanwhile, HRC continues her press and book tour. CNN's Dan Merica highlighted some quotes from her most recent interview with Pod Save America (a podcast created by former aides to President Barack Obama: Jon Favreau, Dan Pfeiffer, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor).
- On Sen. Bernie Sanders' lack of support: "I worked really hard to get him (former President Barack Obama) elected. I was still arguing with my supporters at the Denver convention. … And I was thrilled when he got elected. I didn't get anything like the respect from Sanders and his supporters, and it hurt,"
- On Fox News: "Fox doesn't even pretend anymore. They don't even cover stuff that is not going to promote the Trump agenda."
- On why she lost: "At the end of the day, I think Comey cost me the election, but I think also people with an R by their name said, 'OK, I want my tax cut, I want my Supreme Court justice.' So there was a calculation."
BTW: Clinton will be on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" tomorrow night. | | CNN's Laura Jarrett continues her coverage of Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez's trial in New Jersey. Here's her latest dispatch from the courtroom:
Most witnesses have places they'd rather be than in a federal courtroom, but don't readily admit they were forced to show up by the Justice Department.
Not so for Svitlana Buchyk -- the Ukrainian former girlfriend to Dr. Salomon Melgen, a wealthy ophthalmologist facing federal corruption charges alongside his longtime friend, Sen. Bob Menendez.
DOJ wanted to put up Buchyk to support the prosecution's theory that Menendez secured travel visas for Melgen's girlfriends to come to the United States in return for a "steam of benefits" from Melgen, including rides on private jets. But Buchyk had other plans...
Read Laura's full story here. | | Late-night host Stephen Colbert is on the cover of Variety this week. In the interview with Brian Steinberg, he touches on everything from the Emmys to -- you guessed it -- President Donald Trump. He called Trump "the biggest TV star of the year."
RE: his feelings toward the Trump administration: "I feel like I went on a bender last night. But all I did was watch the President of the United States, and then watch CNN to see who would burst into tears first, Van Jones or David Gergen. It turned out to be Van Jones, but if David Gergen were capable of expressing human emotion, I think he'd be clawing his own eyes out." He added he isn't sure what could stop Trump. "Comedy will not stop him. The democratic process — that's it. The democratic process will stop this guy. It's the only way. That's it." | | | Since we just shared a Colbert report (get it?), we couldn't resist including this GIF from when the comedian hosted the "Hungry for Power Games" from the Republican National Convention last year. Hungry for more Point content? Tell people to subscribe. | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media, and more. Our authors for The Point are Chris Cillizza and Saba Hamedy. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris or Saba. Follow on Twitter: Chris and Saba. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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