I can’t decide whether it’s a problem that Bernie Sanders is branded as a socialist or if it’s not a problem because people look on him so favorably despite knowing that he’s a socialist.
Asked for a single word that describes each contender, the most frequent response for Clinton was “liar/dishonest,” followed by “untrustworthy/fake.” For Sanders, the most frequent response was “socialist” and the second most frequent “favorable/good.”
Honestly, if you asked me to describe Hillary Clinton with one word, I don’t think that would be a positive word. I don’t think she’s particularly dishonest or untrustworthy, but “fake” is a decent stand-in for how she comes across to me. It’s been that way since the first time I saw her interviewed back in 1991 or 1992. I think she gets beat up enough, often unfairly, so I don’t generally offer up my visceral reaction to her since it’s unflattering.
In the end, I think she’d be a decent president, but she’d also bring a mentality that, while in no way unique to her, just isn’t going to serve the nation or the party well. The way I look at it, she brings the worst of Obama plus a lot of stuff that is worse than Obama. The biggest problem is obviously how she instinctively thinks about foreign policy. On this issue alone, I’ll be looking for other options as long as other options are even remotely available.
In the end, I simply don’t trust her, but it’s not because I think she’s a liar or in any way uniquely dishonest. I don’t trust too many people on foreign policy, actually. There’s the president and maybe his vice-president. Then there’s folks who I worry are too inexperienced or weak to stand up to the warmongers or steer the ship of state without causing a full-on revolt. I’d put Sanders and Chafee in this category.
To keep us off the shoals of foreign policy disaster, you have to be smart, correct, a little ruthless, quite clever, and probably a little lucky. President Obama has been these things in a very tough foreign policy environment. Clinton won’t even try, and the others don’t have the same talent or in-party support.
I don’t know. I think we’re fucked, honestly.
