The Democrats appeared to have moved on at their last debate, but they haven’t gotten past the alleged breach of Hillary Clinton’s voter data by Bernie Sanders’ campaign.
Yes, both candidates are saying all the right, conciliatory things. “I think on both sides we’d like to focus on the real issues,” Sanders said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday. They also have very different stories about what really happened.
While the sports world has also turned the page to other scandals, the controversy is the Democratic equivalent of last year’s deflategate drama.
Just as everyone on all sides agree that some of the footballs used by the New England Patriots during the AFC Championship Game were not inflated at the regulation pounds-per-square-inch, everyone acknowledges that Sanders’ campaign staff improperly viewed Clinton data. At least one Sanders staffer has been fired by the campaign.
According to the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee, this amounted to the theft of proprietary information. Sanders’ team was guilty of violating the integrity of the (political) game and deserved to be sanctioned appropriately.
Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver gave an impassioned defense of his candidate’s integrity worthy of Tom Brady attorney Jeffrey Kessler. He’s argued that the breach was largely the fault of an inept vendor hired by the DNC and that neither entity runs a tight ship.
The DNC, argues Weaver, is biased against the Sanders campaign in Clinton’s favor. Its initial reaction was restriction the Democratic challenger’s access to his own voter data, costing hundreds of thousands in potential campaign contributions per day. The DNC relented without Richard Berman, but is still acting as judge, jury and executioner in the case.
Who, asks the Sanders team, trusts the DNC and its Roger Goodell-like chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to make the right calls?
Coincidentally, Clinton held a fundraiser at the law firm that worked for the NFL on deflategate and produced the controversial Wells Report. (No wonder she’s losing in New Hampshire.)
Both sides would have you believe this is about the fundamental fairness of the primary process. At issue is who is violating that fairness. Is it the Sanders campaign by cheating or is it the DNC by colluding with Sanders’ enemies to bring down the only anti-Clinton primary challenge that has gained any traction whatsoever?
For those with no rooting interests on either side, the answer isn’t obvious. It’s not difficult to imagine socialists deciding that violating private property rights can serve some greater good. But the DNC has previously demonstrated it is in the tank for Clinton, especially with its ridiculous debate schedule.
Sanders’ biggest problem is that he hasn’t won anything yet to call into question. And as for the candidates’ fans, the argument will probably never be settled.
