During Thursday night’s Democratic debate in New Hampshire, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont told the audience that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton represents “the establishment.”
His evidence for this was the backing she had gotten from some major political figures in Vermont.
“She has the entire establishment or almost the entire establishment behind her,” Sanders said. “That’s a fact. I don’t deny it.”
Not such a big deal, but Clinton’s response should have floored the audience. Not only did she, yet again, play the gender card and remind the audience (seriously, does she think her voters are stupid?) that she is a woman, but she claimed her gender meant she was not part of the establishment.
“Well, look, I’ve got to just jump in here because, honestly, Sen. Sanders is the only person who I think would characterize me, a woman running to be the first woman president, as exemplifying the establishment,” Clinton said, to applause. “And I’ve got to tell you that it is … it is really quite amusing to me.”
Let’s look back at Clinton’s career. She has been involved in politics since the 1970s. She was the wife of the Arkansas attorney general (her husband, Bill Clinton), then of that state’s governor, then of the U.S. president. Then she was elected to the Senate thanks to her last name, then she ran for president (again, thanks to her last name) and then she became secretary of state as a consolation prize to losing the presidency to Barack Obama.
The Clinton family is now one of the closest things the U.S. has to a royal family, perhaps only after the Bushes. They are the machine, and there’s nothing more establishment than the machine.
Now look at Sanders. He has also been involved in politics since the 1970s, first as the chair of the Liberty Union Party, then the mayor of Burlington, Vt., then as an independent congressman and finally as a senator. Until 2015, when he announced he was running for president, “Sanders” wasn’t a household name. His politics — he is a proud socialist — are decidedly to the left of the Democratic Party (although they are heading in his direction, as the debate demonstrated).
Sanders only just joined the Democratic Party a few months ago, so that he could compete in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary. He can call himself an outsider because he is not part of the inner circle of Democrats.
Hillary Clinton is the Democratic establishment, no one could possibly think otherwise. She has been entrenched in the highest echelons of power for decades and the fact that she is a woman hasn’t kept her out of them.
Yet now she claims she isn’t part of the establishment simply because she’s a woman. Women are the majority in this country, and they hold many positions of power. They are not some weird alien species or group of outsiders. You’d think Democratic voters would see through such pandering.
Ashe Schow is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
