At a New York rally on Thursday, hecklers interrupted Democrat frontrunner Hillary Clinton, yelling, “If she wins, we lose!”
Clinton didn’t miss a beat: “Oh, I know the Bernie people came to say that,” referring to supporters of her challenger, Bernie Sanders. With a coldhearted cackle, the frontrunner added, “We’re very sorry you’re leaving.”
Then the crowd started chanting, “I’m with her!” In fact, they were so enthusiastic, Clinton tried to speak and couldn’t get a word in edgewise. “Wait, before….Can I just say this?” Clinton asked, impatient to add a final thought. Then she bellowed, her voice cracking:
I have earned nine million votes in this election, already. I have one million more votes than Donald Trump and I have two and a half million more votes than Bernie Sanders!
Again struggling to speak over the crowd, and with a voice growing more hoarse with every word, Clinton added, “And here is what I regret, what I regret is they don’t want to listen to anybody else.”
“They don’t want to hear the contrast between my experience, my plans, my vision, what I know I can get done, and what my opponent is promising,” the frontrunner declared. Referring again to Sanders, Clinton proceeded to eviscerate the self-proclaimed socialist’s promise of free college:
He goes around telling young people he’s going to give them free college. Well, I wish it were so, but you go and read the fine print — which everybody should do any time somebody makes a promise about something being free!
Some of us would also caution Hillary supporters to read the fine print. According to the RealClearPolitics polling averages, Sanders performs better against every Republican candidate. While Clinton beats Trump by 11 points, Sanders wallops him by 16 points. Kasich beats Clinton by 6 points, but loses by one point to Sanders.
It’s still too early for general election polls to have much meaning (Jimmy Carter destroyed Ronald Reagan in such match-ups at this point in 1980), but maybe the Hillary hecklers were on to something — something suggested by Clinton’s hoarse voice and horrifying trail of scandals. She also holds abysmal trust and favorability ratings. Maybe, just maybe, Republicans would beat her in November. If she wins, Democrats might lose.
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