Sanders' hit on Clinton not the first, or likely the last

Bernie Sanders' claim that Hillary Clinton isn't qualified to be president landed with a boom this week. The blow was far from the first — and won't likely be the last — from the candidate who pledged to stay away from negative campaigning.
The Vermont senator kicked off his insurgent presidential bid last year with a pledge to focus on issues over character attacks and boasted often that he's never run a negative ad. But for months Sanders has sharply criticized Clinton, slamming her for supporting the war in Iraq, for her record on trade and most aggressively for her lucrative paid speeches before Wall Street bankers.
While his tone has shifted as the race has grown more combative on both sides, Sanders' campaign officials argue that he has kept his promise. They say he has focused his fire on policy and is simply fighting back against Clinton's own attacks.
"Bernie Sanders decided yesterday that he wasn't going to go into the New York primary and be run over by their campaign," said Tad Devine, a senior adviser to Sanders' campaign. "He responded in kind."
The conflict between the two flared this week ahead of the crucial April 19 New York primary. On Wednesday, Clinton questioned Sanders' truthfulness and policy know-how, though she avoided direct questions about whether he was qualified to be president.
Still, Sanders seized on the remarks at a rally that night, telling a crowd of thousands that Clinton has been saying that he's "not qualified to be president."
"I don't believe that she is qualified if she is, through her super PAC, taking tens of millions of dollars in special-interest funds," he said.
Clinton aides and supporters pushed back aggressively. A fundraising email sent out shortly after from Christina Reynolds, the Clinton campaign's deputy communications director, said Sanders had "crossed a line," calling it a "ridiculous and irresponsible attack."
The increased scrapping comes as the surprisingly competitive Democratic race heads into the high-stakes final contests. Sanders has been on a winning streak, but still must take 68 percent of the remaining delegates and uncommitted superdelegates to win the Democratic nomination. That would require blow-out victories in the upcoming primaries.
Steve McMahon, a Democratic strategist who advised Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign, said Sanders is unlikely to win the nomination unless he can win "big states by big margins" — beginning with New York, the state Clinton represented in the Senate.
"For Hillary Clinton, this is about bragging rights. For Bernie Sanders, this is about survival," he said.
McMahon added that Sanders' comments on Clinton's qualifications was an "authentic reaction" to the situation, but "it was not accurate."
"Trying to prosecute an argument that she's not qualified to be president is ridiculous and it's a losing argument," he said.
Clinton's campaign has grown increasingly frustrated with Sanders' attacks, particularly around campaign finance and Wall Street, which they say amount to character criticisms. They have amped up their own rhetoric in recent days, hitting him for being weak on gun control and trying to pit him against the families of children murdered in the Sandy Hook school shootings.
Sanders supporters argue that he has stuck to the issues.
"I think that Sen. Sanders has been very consistent not just throughout the campaign, but throughout the years in pointing out the utter destructiveness of the campaign finance system. I think that what he's done in the last few days is exactly in line with that," said Florida Rep. Alan Grayson, who has endorsed Sanders.
Sanders volunteer Brenda Brink, from Huxley, Iowa, said Sanders was doing what he needed to do.
"If you want to call it negative, I call it politics," said Brink, 58. "He's not going to lay down and let it pass and no one really wants him to. It's a fight."
Sanders has rejected some lines of attack against Clinton. During a Democratic debate in October, Sanders diffused the issue of Clinton's private email server during her time as secretary of state, saying "the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails!"
So far, he has not featured her or referenced her name in advertisements, though some have alluded to her, such as an ad in Illinois that sought to tie Clinton to embattled Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
"He's going to talk about differences he has with her on issues. We have not made personal attacks part of this," Devine said. "There are important issue differences."
With over a week to go before the New York primary, the tension is only expected to get worse.
New York Assemblyman Luis Sepúlveda, whose district is located in the Bronx, is supporting Sanders. He said he thinks Sanders is responding in kind to Clinton's rhetoric, but he wished the entire race would tone down.
"I don't think this type of campaigning from either side is helpful to the process," Sepúlveda said.
Sanders softened his line of argument in an interview Thursday evening on "CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley."
"What I said was in response to what she has been saying. Washington Post h eadline, quote 'Clinton Questions Whether Sanders is Qualified to be President.' I thought it was appropriate to respond."
"Do you believe Secretary Clinton is unqualified to be president," he was asked.
"Well, does Secretary Clinton believe that I am unqualified to be president," Sanders responded.
He did say that Clinton "has years of experience. She is extremely intelligent."
Sanders said that If Clinton is the party's nominee, "I will certainly support her."

NIGERIA: STATE Of THE NATION REVIEW By Abiola Akintunde

ABIOLA AKINTUNDE

The Nigerian situation today is that which call for concern, knowing how difficult things have become for the populace; sparing no one. Things have gone so bad that earnings can not anymore satisfy basic needs recently.

It does not matter where you work or who you work for, neither does it matter where you resides nor where you are from. The system surely have its way of getting to the individual always. Thus, we can not remain indifferent anymore in front of these national challenges.

The economy today has been poor and our understanding of the cause which was the irresponsible management of national resources by unpatriotic Nigerians is fading at a greater pace than which we realised the remedy being done by President Buhari administration.

Our patience is running dry with conditions not improving in spite of our expectations after sending the previous tenants of Aso Rock packing but I believe we understand that home cleaning always require time, especially when the previous tenants left a serious mess to be undone for the new tenants.
READ ALSO Reviewing Omar al-Bashir Narrow Escape: A Story Of ICC's Acceptability In Africa
Though this home cleaning business is taking more time than envisaged but what annoys the most is the inability to limit this difficulties for Nigerians and it seems the government of the day does not understand how difficult things are.

Salaries are not being paid, Power Holders are either on strike or withholding power from service users while fuel has become an expensive commodity in a territory where it is abundant. As of today, Nigerians are children of butchers who are living on bones.

Transportation has become expensive, cost of running business has become expensive and consequently, cost of consumption has also become very expensive. Nigerians are finding it difficult to cope with this economic climate and there is need for a climate change.

We are a people who are mostly unemployed or underemployed while the minority of the population are those that can be said to be employed. Majority of Nigerians are hustlers, cheap transportation and readily available fuel is needed for fruitfulness of their hustle. Presently, this is not the reality.

You may not find putting a meal on your table difficult but you must know that you being able to provide yourself with a meal does not automatically translate into others being able to provide themselves with the same.

Should we be more patient and put the blame on former tenants of Aso Rock or should we continue to criticise this government so that it will put in more effort needed to resolve primary issues necessary for Nigerians to put a meal on their table?

This is a question for those of us that occupy the office of the private citizen of Nigeria which is the most important and strategic office when it comes to nation building.

I, unlike others who believe we should forget the past, believe we should not for we must learn from it as posterity continue to judge it. Thus, we must know the bad governance of President Jonathan for what it is and make sure governance under democracy will not suffer such fate never again.

To avoid such fate, President Buhari administration must take back the National Assembly from Peoples Democratic Party proxies for the good of good governance which he so wish to administer. He must also take charge of the challenging fuel scarcity caused by greedy oil marketers and distributors alike for the good of Nigerians and the good of Nigeria's economy.

President Muhammadu Buhari must realise that when governing, it does not matter which name you are called, what really matters is how much good your administration have done and to do this good, you must keep your moral compass intact and the moral whip must be ready to whip those that find joy in misconduct into line.

Abiola Akintunde is a political commentator based in Nigeria. He tweets at @AAbiolat on twitter, blogs on www.abiolaoakintunde.wordpress.com and can be reached via paulakintunde@gmail.com

Buhari and the cynics’ catechism BY VINCENT AKANMODE

The ease with which human memory fades cannot but amaze any right-thinking individual. Less than 10 months into the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, a good number of Nigerians, seemingly bitten by the bug of amnesia, seems to have forgotten the clear and present danger the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan constituted to our collective future.

They are therefore pandering to the propaganda machinery of a section of the political class which since the build-up to the last general election has sworn never to see anything good in the former head of state.

The reason, of course, is understandable. His ways are not their ways. He would not condone the rot that gave some mindless Nigerians the courage to pocket billions of dollars meant to purchase arms for the fight against Boko Haram, the soulless gang responsible for the senseless murder of no fewer than 15,000 innocent Nigerians in the North East, Abuja and elsewhere in the country, and the maiming of thousands of other hapless souls.

To be sure, President Buhari has had his imperfections—a fact of life that is true of every mortal. For instance, it is hard to justify the fact that it took him seven odd months to constitute his cabinet after he was sworn in as president on May 29 last year, particularly because the names he came up with in the end did not emanate from Mars. Not a few people think, and rightly so, that Chris Ngige, Rotimi Amaechi, Audu Ogbe, Babatunde Fashola, Abubakar Malami and Udo Udoma are not names that should have taken the President eternity to compile. Their screening by the Directorate of State Service (DSS) should also not have taken more than a week or two, such that in a space of two or three months, a government would be in place.

It is also indefensible that 10 months into Buhari’s tenure the contractors in charge of the death traps we call roads across the country are yet to return to site for the construction works they have long abandoned because the previous administration would not fulfill its contractual obligations to them. It should not have been difficult for the government to call a meeting with the contractors to strike a deal with them to return to site with the assurance that the sums due to them would be paid once the National Assembly passed the 2016 budget. Instead, the government waited and waited till the rains are back.

But these few lapses cannot deny the Buhari administration credit for the good works it has done towards righting the wrongs that drew us from the zenith of prosperity to the nadir of misery. Its massive achievements in such areas as security, anti-corruption war, the restructuring of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), improved power generation, reduction in the cost of governance and enhanced image of Nigeria in the international community would only go unnoticed by negative-minded individuals who would rather see the cup as half-empty than see it as half-full.

Only diehard cynics would deny the fact that the strength of Boko Haram, the killer sect that once constituted veritable danger to our collective existence, has been decimated since Buhari became president. Not only has most of the territories occupied by the sect in the North East been reclaimed by our resurgent troops the frequency of explosions masterminded by the sect in different parts of the country has drastically reduced. Gone now are the days when residents of Abuja, the nation’s capital city, slept with an eye open.

The President has not only arrested the rot in the all-important NNPC, it has also restructured the organisation for better efficiency and transparency. He has resuscitated some refineries with a view to reducing the nation’s dependence on imported fuel. The knotty issue of subsidy removal has also been addressed without the anticipated fuss.

For obvious reasons, however, diehard critics of Buhari would rather harp on the few things he has failed to do than highlight his numerous achievements. Having failed to stop his emergence as president with such issues as his age, religious disposition and certificates, they believe that the next thing they should do is rubbish his achievements and dramatise his failures in order to discredit him and his party. Hence, rather than commend the President for the trips on account of which Nigeria is being restored to its pride of place in the comity of nations, the trips that resulted in the formation of the multi-national force that has been dealing deadly blows on Boko Haram, attracting foreign investors and facilitating financial aid from wealthier nations, they say he is globe-trotting and wasting the nation’s resources on foreign trips.

The cynics would blame the President for fuel scarcity and blackout rather than question the activities of pipeline vandals and Niger Delta militants who think the best way to express their grievances with government is to blow up oil and gas installations. Rather than question the exotic taste of Nigerians who would not touch a toothpick except it is imported, they blame the high exchange rate of the naira on President Buhari’s government. Rather than credit the administration for detecting an ungodly practice the nation has been living with for ages, the cynics are holding up Buhari and his party for the padding of the 2016 budget masterminded by some civil servants.

Unfortunately, many unsuspecting members of the public cannot see through the masochist plans of anti-Buhari elements. Rather than look into the future with hope, they have joined the murmuring crowd that says Buhari must turn the economic fortune of the nation around in less than 10 months in spite of the pillaging it has undergone for decades.

God help Nigeria.