The "Shush" Heard Round The World – Another Perspective

Already there are some on the Rec list, defending Bernie’s shushing of Hillary. I suppose that is fine. But don’t pretend that it was a moment and a moment that can be interpreted in very very different ways. Not everyone agrees that Bernie was just standing his ground.

I don’t. And neither do the people below.

Vox: Bernie Sanders awkwardly shushes Hillary Clinton during CNN's Democratic debate

Just four words made up one of the most jarring moments of CNN's Democratic debate on Sunday: "Excuse me, I'm talking."

That's what Bernie Sanders said to Hillary Clinton when she interrupted him during an exchange on trade.

The moment looked bad for Sanders. He came off as a man shouting down a woman. And the live audience did not like it one bit.

Unfortunately, the Vermont senator may have gone a little bit too far in essentially shushing his fellow candidate. Now, women are responding to Bernie Sanders' Democratic debate shade in which he waved his finger at Clinton and said, "excuse me, I'm talking."

Such a tactic is an especially risky one when many women feel as if they've heard similar lines to dismiss them before. Both candidates have been relatively respectful to each other, but the body language and tone that Sanders used made it seem as if he was attempting to shut his fellow candidate down in a seriously problematic way that carries with it far more implications than a friendly reminder not to interrupt.

Let’s take little closer look at how people thought Bernie and Hillary did at last night’s debate. Not just the shushing.

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Sanders found himself on the defensive for the first time ever over his vote against the auto bailout. He poorly handled delicate racial and gender dynamics. He seemed angry, and he came across as someone who is running to make a point – not to win. He even managed to offend the mentally ill.

While many pundits are calling the CNN debate a draw, after reading the clips and monitoring cable chatter this morning, we are convinced it was a clear loss. Here are five main reasons why:

1. Clinton caught Sanders off guard with her attacks on his vote against the auto industry bailout.

2.Sanders seemed condescending when he cut off Clinton.  

The 74-year-old got testy, even grumpy, multiple times. She clearly got under his skin with the auto rescue hit.

Sanders hushed Clinton as she sought to speak during the ensuing exchange. “Excuse me, I’m talking,” he said. The audience gasped.

“If you’re going to talk, tell the whole story,” Clinton replied.

“You’ll get your turn,” he snapped.

3. Sanders once again seemed oblivious on racial issues.

The biggest gaffe of the night was his response to a pretty straightforward question: “What racial blind spots do you have?”

His answer showed he has plenty. "When you are white, you don’t know what it’s like to be living in a ghetto, you don’t know what it’s like to be poor, you don’t know what it’s like to be hassled when you are walking down a street or dragged out of a car," Sanders said.

This, of course, suggests that there are not poor whites and non-poor African Americans. It shows the degree to which the democratic socialist views everything through a class-based lens.

African American voters accounted for 23 percent of the Democratic electorate in Michigan in the 2008 primary. He’s already trailing badly among this constituency, and talking about “the ghetto” is not going to help close the gap.

And this is just one article. The opinion I’m seeing is that Bernie didn’t win it, and fact lost some ground in the debate.

But, in the end, did anything really change? Maybe a little — with a small number of undecideds. But I agree with David Axelrod.

And that is bad news for Bernie and his supporters.