It’s not the creepy rape fantasy he wrote about or his praise of a murderous dictator’s literacy program that will sink Bernie Sanders according to Vox’s Ezra Klein, it’s that he will increase everyone’s taxes:
I agree with @RonBrownstein on this. There's this weird belief that Bernie Sanders's great vulnerability is something about Fidel Castro, or an essay he wrote as a kid. It's not. It's the tax increases implied by his plans: https://t.co/sMrgHmlnGW
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) February 26, 2020
“It’s a huge political risk”:
Sanders is *extremely* good at turning back attacks on him that aren't true. But this attack is true. Sanders simply believes much higher taxes are the price we pay for a decent society.
I think he's right, but all polls and most past elections show it's a huge political risk.
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) February 26, 2020
Politico’s Ryan Lizza agrees:
Agree with this too. The Fidel stuff is like Obama/Iran in 2008: pearl clutching from foreign policy elites but voters don’t care. Of the 3 kinds of attacks last night—Fidel, filibuster, financing his $60 trillion—the third is the most powerful: https://t.co/XMjOx5PEs2 https://t.co/uRNsK8ujXg
— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) February 26, 2020
But Hillary adviser Zac Petkanas thinks it’s both:
It's both
His saying he'll raise taxes on the middle-class will show up in lots of attack ads
But the Castro stuff, Soviet honeymoon, anti-American Ortega rally, Canadian separatist convention, maximum wage, orgasm therapy etc… all contribute to Trump's "Crazy Bernie" theme https://t.co/BFGOFGvGHK
— Zac Petkanas (@Zac_Petkanas) February 27, 2020
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Oh, and then there’s this pesky part of Bernie’s plan. You mean cheap energy and open borders won’t sell well? Who knew!
I actually think his biggest general-election weak points are proposing to ban fracking and decriminalize illegal entry. https://t.co/boh9a2uBsS
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) February 26, 2020
Maybe Bernie can start being honest with folks?
It’s both. Sanders’ anti-American & creepy past will hurt him in the general, as will the near-certainty that he’s going to raise everyone’s taxes. (Sanders likes to talk about the social welfare state in Europe, but never mentions how highly taxed they are for it.) https://t.co/7ewaTbGJkQ
— John Aravosis?? (@aravosis) February 27, 2020
Oh, and it’s a nice trick Ezra pulled there as he dismissed Bernie’s creepy writings “as a kid” when he was 30 at the time:
The fact that people think he wrote those essays about rape fantasies "as a kid" and not as a 30-year-old man tells you a lot. https://t.co/ByyGyWH9td
— Praying for the President – Psalms 109:8 (@coryprovost) February 26, 2020
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