February 12, 2016--The Beginning of the End of Bernie Sanders

In yesterday's debate with Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton won by a TKO.

For non-boxing fans, a TKO is a technical knockout. One fighter is doing so poorly that the referee steps in to stop the match.

Last night, the PBS and CBS moderators stepped in and ended it seven minutes early. Not because they lost track of time but because Hillary was overwhelming Bernie to the point that he began to resemble Marco Rubio--no matter the question he kept returning to his default position that the economy is rigged and it is the one-percent who benefit at the expense of the rest of us.

His problem was exposed early when Hillary dismantled his health care plan. Such as it is.

Agreeing that Obamacare is not the final answer--20 million Americans are covered by it but at least that many remain unprotected--she calmly, subtly, and not-so-subtly poked holes in his ideas to pay for it.

This was not that difficult to do because Sanders' numbers do not add up (nary a progressive economist disagrees with that) and he was left on stage unstrung. So much so that I found it hard to watch as I hate uneven boxing matches. American Idol was on TV at the same time and, political junky that I am and far from a fan of Hillary's--Joe Biden where are you--I still found myself switching back and forth.

So where are we?

Again last night a newly-retooled Hillary was politically brilliant at calmly playing to and at times pandering to the next demographics that she and Bernie will face in Nevada (Latinos) and South Carolina (African Americans). Though Bernie also could be shameless in reaching out to these communities, it was obvious that Hillary is much better at it. To be fair, she is also much more experienced in working with and for people of color and more comfortable talking about their issues, experiences, needs, and aspirations.

So it was Clinton by a TKO.

Bernie's only hope was that no one was watching. Aren't we all by now suffering from debate fatigue? Even if that was true, he has a chance in Nevada but will surely lose in South Carolina. The congressional Black Caucus endorsed her yesterday, South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn will do so this weekend and, chiming in, the bellwether Reverend Al Sharpton, incapable of turning away from a mealticket, will be on board by the middle of next week.

Among other things, I feel badly for young people (including my niece) who have made such a passionate commitment to Bernie.

But there is some good news--there's a lot to learn about life when things are not going your way and it feels as if you are being unfairly (or fairly) pummeled. It is at those times when the depth of one's beliefs are challenged that it is necessary to dig deep and keep on fighting. To use an old-fashioned phrase--it's character building. Who can't use more of that?