The Story Behind The Tense Non-Handshake Between Warren And Sanders

Most observers of a fairly mild Democratic debate Tuesday have homed in on one exchange that came after the main action ended: Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) refusal to shake Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) hand as they left the stage.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1284865

Bernie could have said he must have been misunderstood, or it was an incorrect assessment about the next election right after Hillary Clinton’s loss, or about Trump’s sexism or something instead of denying the whole thing and presenting all kinds of evidence about him saying something different or hiring women or whatever.

I believe Warren, but also don’t know why she or whoever did it revealed an inconsequential conversation that could only damage both of them.

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Bernie likely said this in some form. It doesn’t seem an outrageous comment, though disheartening. He didn’t want her to run. That’s not a sin. She’s in the race. Doesn’t this kind of thing happen pretty frequently? The issue now is the seemingly vicious response from his supporters and outside manipulators. Lots of snakes.

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This is precisely the sort of tertiary matter that, while not necessarily nothing, pales in comparison to the truly big issues, that the GOP exploits (if not manufacturers or at least gins up) to create and intensify divisions on the left, and enough doubt and uncertainty among swing voters to turn them off of both sides and make them either not vote or vote GOP or 3rd party. This is how it beats Dems, by turning non-issues into issues, and turning minor issues into major ones. And Dems’ typical reaction is some variation of “Not fair!”. And we all know how that turns out. It’s like each side can’t help playing its respective role in a drama that’s written in stone and cannot be altered. Repubs are the nasty bullies and manipulators, and Dems are the “good kids” who get beaten up and run home crying to mama.

This is all irrespective of whether Sanders actually said something like this.

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Pure speculation, but I’m thinking that some of the people who she spoke to about the conversation got mad about the volunteer script that was leaked the day before leaked this. That puts her in the position of either denying the truth and covering for him, or confirming the report and becoming an even bigger target for the contingent of Bernie supporters that were already out to get her. And if she denied it and further reporting confirmed that she had described the remarks afterwards, then she’d be in a spot. So she put out her statement yesterday and is trying to move the campaign on.

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If it wasn’t this, it would be something else. There’s always something else. Look at all the holes they’ve poked in Warren’s life story–all minor. Everyone’s misspoken or even outright lied, with some true whoppers here and there, but usually far less serious. But the GOP is expert in latching on to ones they believe will cause damage, and it usually works, even if they’re baseless or minor–mostly because Dems are terrible in fighting back, deluding themselves into believing that because they are baseless or minor, the public will see through it (which of course it doesn’t, being mostly stupid).

When shows like Jerry Springer, Inside Edition and TMZ cease to be popular is when Dems’ high road approach to politics will work. I.e. never. Trash talking works.

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I’m just waiting for the story behind the story.

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Liz was just shocked at how much larger Bernie’s hands were compared to Donnie…

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I remember a week ago so fondly…

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Yawn.

Do some real reporting.

As a man, the story didn’t seem like too big a deal. I was interested to hear Kate Riga mention that every adult woman has had a man tell her she couldn’t do something big. (I am paraphrasing here.) And then deny saying it. Suddenly, it made sense to me why the story is flashing the way it is. Why it resonates with a majority of Dems.

Also, he seems to be handling it in the most ham-fisted way possible.

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FCS, if he said it, likely it was “a woman couldn’t be elected president,” which would have been nothing more than his reading of the electorate. I highly doubt he said “a woman shouldn’t be elected president.”

And hopefully TPM will give us the backstory to both of those stories.

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And while we can discuss here how misogyny of American electorate hurts female politicians and the country, for Sanders to say this in a meeting with a competing presidential candidate represents a political blunder comparable to “deplorables” and “cling to their guns and religion” remarks – factually correct statements but huge blunders nevertheless. And just like Clinton and Obama before him, Sanders should have known better.

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I don’t think anyone is suggesting that’s what he said.

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I believe Elizabeth Warren. He cites some long ago speech where he supposedly said anyone could be elected POTUS. It doesn’t matter to me whatever he may have said years ago, when he wasn’t facing a woman opponent as dangerous to his campaigns as EW is. This the way some men try to break our spirits and keep us locked out. I don’t doubt for a minute he is behind the leaking of the story so people will question whether it is wise to vote for EW. Given the rampant stories of misogyny in his 2016 campaign, it doesn’t surprise me.

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So Bernie asked her to run in 2015 because he thought she would lose; then he went and did 30+ rallies for Hillary Clinton in 2016 because he thought she would lose. Yeah that makes sense…

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And yet, exactly the opposite seems to have cinched it for our Fair-haired POTUS.

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In the name of all that is holy:

WHO. THE FUCK. CARES.

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Clinton’s “deplorables” and Obama’s “clinging to guns and religion” were factually correct and not derogatory statements that hurt both of them with the Trump base (future Trump base in Obama’s case).
Trump’s many derogatory statements were lies that helped him with Trump base.
I do not see any inconsistencies.