Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks, as Hillary Clinton looks on, during the CNN Democratic presidential debate, at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York, April 14, 2016. (Chang W. Lee / The New York Times)
On the eve of the New York primary, Secretary Clinton and Sen. Sanders went at it tooth and claw in a CNN debate that may as well have been titled “CLINTON! (sanders),” thanks to CNN’s efforts. To wit: It was a demonstrably rigged game. The audience was packed with howling Clinton fans, and the moderators interrupted Sanders like they were getting paid an extra dollar every time they did it. Sanders: “Well I believe (‘Thank you, Senator’) we should (‘Thank you, Senator’) be (‘Thank you, Senator’) doing more (‘Your time is up, Senator’) for (‘Thank you, Senator’),” while Clinton was allowed to stemwind all she pleased. She invoked 9/11 exactly 43 seconds into the debate — I counted the ticks — and did so twice more again before the curtain came down. It was Sanders’ best debate performance to date, but it may be too late.
Simply put, if (when) Sanders loses New York, the clock will begin ticking toward his eventual withdrawal, and the “news” media will get the Clinton v. Trump contest they’ve been gibbering for (unless Cruz shoots the gap). If Sanders doesn’t win Pennsylvania next week, he risks being written off by the media as a mere protest candidate unworthy of consideration, and the Clinton campaign will be able to pivot to the general election. California isn’t until June.
Matters are far more funkadelic on the Republican side of the show. Ted Cruz did one of those insipid “Town Hall” things on MSNBC last night, hosted by the execrable Chuck Todd, and it made one wonder if a Donald Trump nomination might be preferable for the planet in general. Cruz is as smooth as quicksilver on a countertop, glib, engaging and deeply dangerous. Casting himself as the next Ronald Reagan, he flatly claimed that conquering the world is the essence of the United States, peddled the ridiculous…