2020 watch: AOC vs. the Bernie Bros
Even Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who endorsed Bernie Sanders in October, “admitted on Wednesday that the Bernie Bros have become a ‘real problem’ for Sanders’ campaign,” reports the Washington Examiner’s Kaylee McGhee. AOC has a point in distancing Sanders from “the toxic environment his online army has created,” blaming it on “today’s Internet culture,”since “the internet uniquely allows anonymous trolls to swarm individuals and get away with it.” But Sanders should denounce their “vicious” behavior “more forcefully, as Ocasio-Cortez eventually acknowledged.” After all, their hostility “toward any person who disagrees, no matter how civilly, distracts from Sanders’ core message and isolates on-the-fence voters.” And their harassment of “many of Nevada’s union workers” after the state’s “largest union came out against Bernie Sanders and his unworkable Medicare for All proposal” could “very well” hurt his standing in the state.
From the left: The Dems’ New ‘Hunger Games’
The Democratic debate in Las Vegas on Wednesday marks “the Hunger Games stage” of the primary season, quips The Guardian’s Richard Wolffe. Elizabeth Warren, for instance, chose to “grab the ‘horse-faced lesbian’ weapon and hurl it” at Mike Bloomberg, while Pete Buttigieg tried to “trash” Amy Klobuchar. Why all the “mutual annihilation”? Because the primary calendar is “inexorably counting down to the Super Tuesday contests in less than two weeks,” and it looks like socialist Bernie Sanders will “emerge with a delegate lead.” Each of Sanders’ rivals desperately wants to “knock each other out of the contest” and “confront” him alone. Unlike four years ago, when Sanders was a “bitter insurgent,” this time around, the nomination fight is “Sanders’ contest.”
Conservative: Being Non-PC Could Help Bloomy
Last year, Mike Bloomberg criticized Democrats for concentrating on “some guy wearing a dress and whether he, she or it can go to the [female] locker room” — which is “hardly the first time he said something that was guaranteed to offend,” notes National Review’s Kyle Smith. “The elite stratum of the country” considers these “grave offenses against political correctness” to be “disqualifying,” but his “history of extreme political incorrectness” may actually “boost his chances,” endearing this “swashbuckling, trash-talking, don’t-give-a-fig capitalist buccaneer” to voters. People who “get the vapors at offensive comments” may shun him in November, but many Democrats may find “riding into battle with someone who is as arrogant, aggressive, politically incorrect and corrosively funny as Trump” a “tempting proposition.”
Legal beat: Blago’s ‘Insane’ 14-Year Sentence
At Politico, Natasha Korecki recalls the “one sentiment” she heard “over and over” when covering ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s sentencing in 2011: He “was guilty as hell, but 14 years is insane.” On Tuesday, President Trump commuted that 14-year sentence, which the ex-gov drew for “trying to sell President Barack Obama’s old Senate seat,” among other things. But at the time, even some of the “most ardent Blagojevich critics” thought that sentence was “overkill.” He’s already served eight years, longer than a prior Illinois governor convicted in “a massive bribe-taking scandal.” So Trump’s decision makes sense — and he “likely risks little political blowback” for it, even in Illinois.
From the right: Homeless Crisis Is on Cali’s Pols
California’s leaders long ignored their homeless population and pushed policies that made the situation worse — and now they have a full-blown “humanitarian issue on their hands,” sighs former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at The Hill. “Needles, human waste and garbage accumulate on sidewalks, streets and drainage systems,” creating conditions that are both unsafe and environmentally unsound. At least someone is taking responsibility for the horrors: “We own this issue,” Gov. Gavin Newsom just admitted. “It’s happened on our watch, and we need to meet this moment.” The Trump administration has pushed for action and sent $1.2 billion in aid over the past three years. But “it’s up to Californians to hold their leaders accountable,” warns Gingrich. “The real devilish action would be inaction.”
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
