USA TODAY

Anna Merlan, Jezebel: "A 1972 essay by Vermont Sen. and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is getting some attention ... because it's weird. ... Bernie opines that men masturbate to images of women who are 'tied up' and abused, while women fantasize about 'being raped by three men simultaneously.' ... The essay, written in an alt-weekly called the Vermont Freeman, was uncovered by Mother Jones and embedded in a profile of Sanders as a young, semi-aimless radical."

Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review: "Nobody honestly believes that Sanders is a sexual pervert or that he is a misogynist or that he intends to do women any harm. ... There is only one reason that anyone would make hay of this story, and that is to damage the man politically. ... Until I see any sign of actual wrongdoing, I'd prefer to slam Sanders for his dangerous and ridiculous politics than to delve back into his past and embarrass him with a long-forgotten opinion."

Melinda Henneberger, Bloomberg: "If Sanders wants to be taken seriously ... then the right answer is to note that what he wrote about rape 43 years ago, at the age of 31, is seriously messed up. ... A Sanders campaign spokesman (said it) 'in no way reflects his views or record on women. It was intended to attack gender stereotypes of the '70s, but it looks as stupid today as it was then.' The statement doesn't begin to answer how Sanders thought about rape then and thinks about it now, or whether he feels his essay is not only ... 'stupid' but also offensive."

John Cassidy, The New Yorker: "While it is embarrassing to Sanders, the flap ... seems unlikely to have much lasting effect on his campaign. That's partly because ... Sanders is running for a cause — a resurgent progressivism that was conceived during decades of wage stagnation and rising inequality, born during the great financial crisis of 2008, and announced on the political stage by the street protests of the Occupy Wall Street movement and the widespread public support they engendered."

Peter Roff, U.S. News & World Report: "I'm not sure what Sanders' view of relations between the sexes has to do with his qualifications. ... It must have something to do with it, though, because Republicans get asked these kinds of questions ... all the time. ... If a Republican candidate anywhere in America had written, 'A woman enjoys intercourse with her man — as she fantasizes being raped by three men simultaneously,' as Sanders did, most every current GOP presidential candidate would be asked about it."

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