"Republican operatives have a strange crush on Bernie Sanders"

Bernie Sanders, AP photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Photo courtesy of The Blaze.

So do Republicans have a better fix than the Democrats on which candidate would be harder for them to defeat in the 2016 general election? It's possible. Maybe that's why the Republicans are giving "unsolicited" support to Bernie Sanders to help him defeat Hillary in the Democratic primary. Take a look at this piece by  Steve Benen at Rachel Maddow's blog:

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus was asked last week which Democratic presidential candidate he’d prefer to face in a general election. The RNC chief said Bernie Sanders is probably the tougher candidate.

 

It’s obviously difficult to take Priebus’ assessment at face value – even if he has a firm opinion, the Republican has no incentive to tell the truth – and his comments are all the more curious given what his party has been up to lately.

 

During Sunday’s Democratic debate, for example, reporters received emails from the candidates’ campaigns and their allies, but in a remarkable twist, the Republican National Committee also issued statements – two during the event, two after – defending Sanders against criticisms from Hillary Clinton and endorsing Sanders’ arguments.

 

Bloomberg Politics’ Sahil Kapur reported that Republican operatives have “a strange crush on Bernie Sanders,” and it goes beyond the RNC’s pro-Sanders rapid-response during Sunday night’s debates.

 

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