As a young City Hall reporter years ago in Philadelphia, I witnessed an astonishing case of political deceit, the lessons of which might be helpful to Democrats still wavering between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.
It was the early 1980s, and the Philadelphia City Council was about to vote on an economic development bill strongly favored by the business community. Hundreds of inner city residents packed a public hearing before the vote, and all who testified urged the bill’s defeat.
Leaders of the largely Democratic Council chimed in with rousing speeches in support of the community. The crowd cheered their every word, and it seemed the bill was doomed.
But a few hours later, after most of the crowd had gone home, the same councilmen who had condemned the bill proceeded — without another word — to vote in favor of it.
That day taught me: Follow their actions, not their words.
Which brings me to the signature issues dividing Sanders and Clinton: How best to deal with Wall Street’s endless greed, with those giant banks that are still too big to fail, and with our country’s staggering wealth inequality.
Mary Altaffer/AP
In politics, never mind what they say. It's what they do that counts.
Bernie Sanders, if you believe most media accounts, showed himself during an interview with the Daily News Editorial Board two weeks ago not ready to be President.
When my editors pressed him for details of how he planned to fulfill his campaign promise to break up the big banks, Sanders seemed to falter.
I was present in the room and came away with a far different impression.
After all, the details of Dodd-Frank, the law Congress passed six years ago to reform our financial system, will be litigated in our courts for years.
That Sanders did not have its finer points down pat is missing the forest for the trees.