There’s a battle raging within American liberalism, and it’s a familiar one — a repeat of the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries. Then, as now, Hillary Clinton was the party establishment’s “inevitable” candidate, facing a challenger deemed more progressive and politically steadfast than her — a plausible embodiment of the aspirations of the party’s rank-and-file.

In 2008, Hillary Clinton’s challenger was a young black senator from Chicago; now it’s a grizzled Jewish senator from Vermont. But just like the 2008 campaign, Clinton supporters have leveled accusations of sexism against those who prefer her opponent while struggling to make a strong, substantive case for her.

This time around they’ve settled for describing Sanders as a naïve, unelectable dreamer. And then, as now, scathing criticism of Hillary Clinton could not be clearly distinguished from the anger that still simmers over her husband’s presidency — which cemented the Democratic Party’s long lurch to the right — and his profitable career in professional philanthropy that followed.