The drama of the Republican presidential race has overwhelmed interest in the Democratic contest. So has the virtual certainty that Hillary Clinton will be the nominee.
Yet there are good reasons to pay attention.
Bernie Sanders has suddenly decided to take the gloves off against Clinton. The Vermont senator’s assertion that the former secretary of state is unqualified to be president of the United States came after a New York Times story in which many Sanders supporters complained about his reluctance to go negative against Clinton earlier in the campaign.
“If Clinton had lost Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, it would have been a devastating series of defeats that would have called into question her entire campaign,” said Sanders adviser Tad Devine, stating the obvious.
Sanders’ own wife said he wasn’t on the campaign trail enough early on. She noted how much time he spent tending to Senate business instead, saying, “It’s something that gives you pause.”
Bernie is making up for lost time. He has hit her as hard as President Obama ever did on her ties to Wall Street and her vote for the Iraq war. He has beaten her in seven of the last eight states that have voted and is favored to win Wyoming this weekend.
Too little, too late? Almost certainly, given the Democrats’ proportional delegate allocation, which prevents him from using his victories to truly close the gap with Clinton in the delegate count. Even if he somehow beats her in New York, Pennsylvania or California, she will still pick up delegates.
Clinton’s edge in pledged delegates is beginning to erode, however. It’s still a solid 1,280 to 1,030. But what really puts the nomination out of Sanders’ reach is her overwhelming edge in superdelegates, supplying 469 of her 688-delegate lead.
What if Sanders keeps up his winning streak long enough to wipe out most of her remaining lead in pledged delegates? In a party filled with activists disdainful of the 1 percent, this could prove controversial.
Then there was Thursday’s confrontation between Bill Clinton and Black Lives Matter activists. The former president rebuked protestors interrupting his campaign speech for his wife and defended aspects of his record — such as the 1994 crime bill that now receives part of the blame for mass incarceration — that she has distanced herself from.
The triangulation and Sister Souljah moments that worked so well in the 1990s as “New Democrats” tried to cope with their party’s Reagan-era political weaknesses no longer reflect the mood today.
Fights with Black Lives Matter are particularly risky because black voters helped Clinton build her lead this time and cost her the Democratic nomination in 2008, when Bill Clinton was a major liability with African Americans during the race against Obama.
Although Sanders has some support from younger black voters as well as prominent black intellectuals like Cornel West, he probably can’t capitalize on these controversies.
Nevertheless, there are deep divisions in the Democratic Party that are starting to come to the surface. They bear watching, but Donald Trump and the GOP constantly overshadow them.
