Here’s Bernie Sanders’s best closing argument against Hillary Clinton in Iowa

[Uncle Joe]

Bernie Sanders sat down for an interview with The Washington Post over the weekend. This is, by far, the most important thing he said in it:

I do not believe that you can get huge speaking fees from Goldman Sachs and then with a straight face tell the American people that you’re prepared to do what is necessary to take on the greed and illegal behavior on Wall Street. I don’t think people think that passes the laugh test. .?.?. Why do special powerful interests give you money? Are they dumb? I don’t think so.

That, in the space of 71 words, is Sanders's strongest closing argument against Clinton in this week leading up to the Iowa caucuses. It not only casts the difference between Clinton as consummate insider and Sanders as outsider-in-chief but also effectively raises the central question at the heart of this race: Can someone who has played the game for as long and as well as Clinton possibly be able to fundamentally change that game?

Then there's the more visceral hit that bringing up Clinton's speeches gets Sanders. The idea that Clinton was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by Goldman Sachs and lots of other major corporations — here's a full-ish rundown of the $11 million Clinton earned from speeches in 2014 and the first three months of 2015 — suggests a level of access and elitism that many people will blanch at. Clinton got paid $200,000 for a single speech to Goldman Sachs; the average median family income in Iowa is just more than one-quarter of that ($53,712).

(snip)


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/25/heres-bernie-sanders-best-closing-argument-against-hillary-clinton-in-iowa/

[ViseGrip]

1. Bernie, always telling the truth.

[KoKo]

2. That's a great read from the "WaPo." and a bit more at the end:

There's so much wrapped up in Sanders's hit on Clinton's speaking fees. Her insider-ness. The idea — totally unproven and likely impossible to prove — that she was, in part, selling access to well-heeled corporations. Her perceived flexibility on issues. Her inability to simply say some things are right while others are wrong. And so on and so forth.

For Sanders, the speaking fees attack encapsulates all of his strengths and Clinton's weaknesses into a tidy package that is easily understood by almost anyone.

In short, you can expect to hear lots more about Goldman Sachs before this week is out, Iowa Democratic voters.

and Thank You, Uncle Joe!

[Uncle Joe]

3. Hillary never had a straight, good answer rebuttal to that point.

Thank you, KoKo.