Bernie Sanders Savaged Madeleine Kunin Just Like Hillary Clinton In 1986 Governor's Race

Bernie Sanders's Campaign Past Reveals Willingness to Play Hardball New York Times

In 1986 Burlington, Vermont mayor Bernie Sanders considered himself to be a far better candidate for governor than the popular Democratic incumbent, Madeleine Kunin. "She does very well on television," Sanders told one interviewer. "She has an excellent press secretary."

As Kunin herself admits, Bernie Sanders saw her as a lightweight -- a vagina as Sanders presidential candidate Sanders surrogate Susan Sarandon would call her.

"Many people are excited because she's the first wman governor," Sanders said. "But after that, there ain't much."

This derisive, combative -- some would say sexist -- side of Bernie Sanders is expressing itself in the utter loathing of Hillary Clinton that Sanders now expresses.

In New York, Sanders argues -- as he did in the 1986 race -- that he is a stronger feminist who will do more for women than Hillary Clinton. There is no basis for his assertions. Bernie just makes them, based largely on his support of a federal $15 minimum wage for all. Hillary supports a federal minimum of $12, with states and cities raising it higher, based on local business conditions, as New York state just did. Asked in the Brooklyn debate if she would sign a federal $15 minimum wage as president, she replied "Of course!"

There are other comparisons with Sanders' attacks on Hillary Clinton's character and values and his race against Kunin.

While granting that Ms. Kunin was “not corrupt,” he questioned if she had the same “courage” that he had. He repeatedly challenged her credentials as a fellow progressive, using some of the same language he aims at Mrs. Clinton. In the end, he damaged Ms. Kunin politically, as some Clinton supporters and political analysts think he may do in the current race.

“In a tough fight, Bernie is hardly the all-positive, all-substance guy that he claims to be,” said Garrison Nelson, a longtime political science professor at the University of Vermont.

Note that Bernie doesn't play Mr. Nice Guy with his male opponents either. But his savage, relentless attacks on Clinton are right-on the same as his tactics against Madeleine Kunin.

Find Some Heart On Guns, Bernie!

Gillibrand's Tearful Plea to Bernie: Give Up Your Guns Politico

New York Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is another rising star in the Democratic party. Reading about her evolution as a senator, it seems that she, too, would be called a flip-flopper by the Berners -- and therefore lacking the ideological purity they require before backing a candidate. One of Gillibrand's biggest flips has been on gun control legislation, and in this tearful podcast with Glenn Thrush, the mother of two -- who previously kept a shotgun under her bead -- suggests that Bernie could use a couple flips of his own, and nowhere better than on gun control.

"Sanders, a paragon of political consistency who has almost never flip-flopped on a major issue, enters Tuesday’s critical primary here lagging badly behind Hillary Clinton among black voters. A significant drag on his popularity in violence-ravaged African-American neighborhoods remains his refusal to back a Democratic bill that would hold weapons manufacturers liable for gun violence. Clinton, fairly or not, is painting a solid small-state progressive as a callous gunslinger carrying the NRA’s ammo against the interests of black urbanites.

His option? Change positions. That’s what Kirsten Gillibrand, a proud, passionate turncoat on guns, urges her Senate colleague from Vermont to do for the sake of his politics and, you know, his immortal soul. New York’s junior senator, a passionate Clinton backer and feminist, broke down during an emotional sit-down here for POLITICO’s “Off Message” podcast when I asked her about her own conversion from an upstate House member with a 100 percent NRA rating (who once stored a shotgun under her bed) to an upper-chamber anti-gun crusader."

Bernie Cuddles Up To Pope Francis

Sanders Praises Anti-Gay, Anti-Contraception, Anti-Choice World Leaders: He Is A Beautiful Man' Slate

Writer Daniel Politi echoes my own personal sentiments about Bernie's 'accidental' five-minute encounter with Pope Francis, as he was leaving for Lesbos from the Vatican yesterday morning. 

Although the presidential hopeful was seemingly ecstatic about the very brief encounter, the pontiff did his best to play it down, characterizing it as pretty much a quick hello. "When I came down, I greeted them, shook their hands and nothing more,” the pope told reporters. “This is good manners. It's called good manners and not getting mixed up in politics. If anyone thinks that greeting someone means getting involved in politics, they should see a psychiatrist.”

Sanders, on the other hand, said the hallway encounter amounted to “an extraordinary moment,” adding that he “enjoyed the opportunity to chat with him.” After their brief encounter, the presidential hopeful was filled with praise for the leader who has done precious little to tackle the rampant child sex abuse perpetrated by members of the institution he heads and has repeatedly talked about the need to treat gays and lesbians like second-class citizens.  

"I just conveyed to him my admiration for the extraordinary work he is doing raising some of the most important issues facing our planet and the billions of people on the planet and injecting the need for morality in the global economy," Sanders said. No photographs were taken of the encounter and Sanders declined to say what the pope told him.

BERNIE OFFICIALLY JOINS THE BOYS CLUB

Anne's HillaryWomen News Facebook post

Remember also -- now that Bernie has preyed on Pope Francis, ambushing him in the hotel hallway, and is using him as a campaign surrogate spokesman without his permission -- one of the first actions that Hillary took as Secy of State was to work with President Obama to change the rules demanded by the Vatican and embraced by Republicans that no foreign aid could go to NGOs in poor countries if they provided birth control. Forget abortion. We're talking birth control.

The Archbishop of the Philippines says that poor Catholic women can have 10 children, and it's the world's duty to care for them. Only a man would tell poor women to have 10 babies, as if it's no big deal. It seems, though, that Bernie agrees.

It's interesting that Bernie flat out rejects what he perceives to be the evils of capitalism but paints a sugar-coated rainbow around the greatest patriarchy in the world.

Pope Francis is a wonderful, inspiring man. But it was the US Conference of Bishops who sat in Nancy Pelosi's office and called Rome, willing to bring the ACA to its knees because they didn't like the provisions around women's reproductive healthcare.

I will never forget Dem Rep Bart Stupak walking out onto the steps of the Capitol, announcing the deal that had been made around controlling women's bodies in the ACA. Stupak didn't have the guts to call women human beings. He called pregnant women 'incubators'.

It's good to know that whenever the Vatican patriarchy needs to move against women, they have a direct line in Bernie's White House.

Today women can die in over a quarter of America's hospitals if they are pregnant. Even if women will die, pregnant with a 12-week old fetus with no chance of survival, they cannot be treated if the drugs or procedures to help save the woman could in any way harm her fetus.

I have worked with the most prominent Jews to change these policies or to keep hospitals from being merged with a Catholic hospital. In Philadelphia the mostly Jewish doctors threatened to resign if a merger went through. They stopped if after the agreement was signed.

I am not attacking Pope Francis in any way. But I am attacking a man who seeks to be president of America, when he makes Pope Francis his campaign surrogate.

This is just one more reason why I am defiant in my belief that Bernie Sanders will totally deal women's rights up the river to get his revolution.

Call me very distressed and every young woman should be, too. The only personhood legislation Bernie cares about is corporate rights. The greatest personhood threat is the goal of Pope Francis, the US Conference of Bishops and the Republican party to equate the civil rights of grown women with those of a zygote. Laws to makes miscarriage a felony are all over state governments.

When it's time to deal, Bernie Sanders will be in deep with the world's biggest boys club. We have separation of church and state in this country for a reason. Bernie just crossed the line big time. There is NO trust. Be afraid. Be very afraid. The boys club is moving in our direction. ~ Anne.

Poll: Clinton Keeps New York Edge, Leads Sanders in California CBS News

Hillary Clinton retains her lead over Bernie Sanders in New York, 53% to 43%. New York is a must-win state for both candidates but for different reasons. Hillary's loss in New York -- a totally unexpected event today -- would not end the math of her winning, in terms of delegate count. But it would be a severe humiliation, especially since she won the state against Barack Obama in the 2008 campaign. Clinton still trails Sanders on measures like "authenticity" and in understanding people's needs -- largely due to Bernie's commaning lead with voters age 30 and younger. Clinton has wide leads over Sanders as a policy wonk with 61% saying she is far more specific, on effectiveness and also her electability in November.

Clinton also maintains her lead in California, 52% to 40%. The June primary winds up the nomination race, and Sanders is expected to stay in the race, even if it's clear he cannot win. The Clinton campaign hopes he will stop savaging the nominee, creating Republican attack ads for the general election.

Hillary Clinton Headlines April 18, 2016

Progressivism doesn't die with Hillary Clinton: Debunking the myth that only Bernie can foster hardcore liberal ideas Salon

There Is No Bernie Sanders Movement Slate

Why Hillary Clinton Could Be the Kind of President Bernie Sanders Supporters Will Love New Prospect

Sanders: Polls understating my support in New York Politico

Despite Polls, Republicans See Sanders as an Easier Opponent Bloomberg Politics

What to Watch for in New York Tonight Slate

The Secret Shame of Middle-Class Americans The Atlantic