Sanders campaign wracked by dissension

[Gothmog]

From the daughter of one of DU's posters

Link to tweet

Some of Bernie Sanders’ fiercest supporters are sounding the alarm that the campaign is bogged down by disorganization, personality clashes, and poor communication between state operations and national headquarters.

After a pair of setbacks this week — the acrimonious shakeup of his staff in New Hampshire on Sunday and loss of the Working Families Party's endorsement to Elizabeth Warren a day later — Sanders’ allies and former aides are worried that recent disappointments are not one-off stumbles but rather emblematic of larger problems in his bid for the White House. The concerns are particularly acute in New Hampshire.

“Seeing the campaign not be able to outshine Warren with WFP progressives doesn’t have me questioning WFP’s process,” said Rafael Shimunov, a former national creative director for WFP and 2016 Sanders volunteer. “It has me questioning where the Bernie campaign could have done better, because I want to make sure the strongest candidate unmasks Biden and unseats Trump.”

The worries come as the campaign enters a critical, more urgent phase. After Labor Day, more voters typically tune into the election and begin to make up their minds. Expectations for Sanders are sky-high, especially in New Hampshire, where he defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016 by 22 percentage points.

[JoeOtterbein]

1. Yep!

By HOLLY OTTERBEIN and TRENT SPINER 09/17/2019 02:29 PM EDT

[Gothmog]

2. You have every right to be a proud father

Congratulations on raising a child with such talent. Mazel Tov.

[JoeOtterbein]

11. Thanks!

I always say, of course I'm 100% biased but, Holly really is the best journalist ever!

[lapucelle]

40. And she's really on her way...give her my congratulations as well.

[JoeOtterbein]

72. Thanks!

[Blue_true]

46. She is still young, but has star journalist qualities.

She digs out information, that is one feature of great journalists. Next up will likely be regular appearances on TV.

Congrats for raising her.

[JoeOtterbein]

70. Thanks!

[Blue_true]

85. I see a lot of bad people. Any parent that spend a child's upbringing bucking that trend deserves

applause.

[BannonsLiver]

78. Eh you might want to tap the brakes on the praise

This particular author has written more than one Biden hit piece and actively promotes the Dems in disarray narrative.

[Cha]

87. ..

I'm tapped.

[Starry Messenger]

65. My dad died recently, and it warms my heart to see you so supportive of your daughter

Nice work, dad!

[JoeOtterbein]

71. Awwww!!!!

That is so nice! Your Dad did nice work too!

[LanternWaste]

3. Will most likely be spun as a masterful overhaul of his campaign.

[stonecutter357]

4. K&R

[Hekate]

5. This hit me: "unmasks Biden." ...

Last edited Tue Sep 17, 2019, 05:48 PM - Edit history (1)

Is that where all the ugly crap this past week has come from at DU? *Of course* I don't mean Bernie or his campaign. But "unmask" Joe? Is there some horrible darkness behind the smile, that nobody has revealed in 40 years?

[Gothmog]

7. I am also not happy with the concept about "unmasking Biden"

I thought that sanders signed a pledge to run a positive campaign

[Amimnoch]

9. Ha! Good one! -NT

[NurseJackie]

18. I'm sure they are aware of how poorly BS is doing in the polls...

... the whole thing reeks of desperation.

[Gothmog]

24. What does "unmask Biden" mean?

This term is evidently a key part of the sanders plan but I am not sure that is involved in the process to "unmask Biden."

I got to shake Biden's hand on Friday and I did not notice any mask.

[NurseJackie]

26. It's a backhanded smear that is intended to suggest...

It's a backhanded smear that is intended to suggest that Biden is hiding something, or that he has skeletons in the closet, or that he's not all he appears to be.

It's just more dirty campaigning and denigrating honorable Democrats by a desperate candidate and a campaign that's clearly faltering and in trouble.

At this point, BS is clearly NOT going to be our party's nominee, and it really serves no good purpose for BS (or his surrogates) to be doing things that will have the effect of kneecapping our party's nominee.

[Gothmog]

37. Again, I was under the impression that sanders had agreed to no negative campaigning

How is this consistent with that pledge?

Link to tweet

[Thekaspervote]

56. Sure don't see positives coming from that direction

[Gothmog]

98. Agreed

[NurseJackie]

97. If I can't trust a candidate to live up to such a simple pledge...

... then I can't trust anything else the candidate says. He ("or she'') is not worthy of my vote, and not qualified to be our party's nominee.

[TexasTowelie]

41. It means that Joe is moonlighting as a lucha libre wrestler on the side.

[Gothmog]

44. Joe Is in very good shape

You may be right

[GulfCoast66]

50. Hah! If would be a 5 point bump if true!

I’m a steady, somewhat rotund, middle aged white southerner. Always hated Wrestlin. But I really like that Lucha Libre stuff. Laugh my ass off.

[TexasTowelie]

53. I'm glad that we can still have a bit of a sense of humor around here.

I thought about posting a photo of one of the masks, but hesitated because it might be deemed as racially insensitive. I'm sure that Joe would take a dashing photo if he wore one though.

[GulfCoast66]

54. I'll lose my sense of humor when I take my last breath!

Now for a horrible thought. trump in Lucha Libre gear! That would be hilarious!

I’m from Louisiana. I know good food. We owe a debt of gratitude to our newer Mexican residents for their contribution to our food culture if for no other reasons. And there are lots of other reasons. They are making this country better.

[Thekaspervote]

58. Me too! Gotta laugh at yourself sometimes...

[Thekaspervote]

57. Ohhhh too too funnieeeee!!

[emmaverybo]

28. Caught that too. "Unmask Biden AND" beat Trump. That construction implies the two goals are

equal, connected, as in a need to vanquish two evils.

[GulfCoast66]

51. It's exactly what it means. And what they believe. Maybe not Bernie.

Remember. Many of his closest advisors did not vote for the last Democratic candidate. They would not be allowed on DU.

[betsuni]

55. It will be "lesser of two evils" again.

[greatauntoftriplets]

29. That line just gave me a headache.

[Gothmog]

43. Same here

[betsuni]

49. Sounds like a murder mystery!

[comradebillyboy]

6. "bogged down by disorganization, personality clashes, and poor communication"

Sums up both Sanders campaign and his campaign team pretty well.

Many Sanders’ supporters blame WFP’s leaders for making the wrong choice, and knock them for not releasing their individual vote tally of online members. But some, like Shimunov, said they didn’t question it and noted the campaign had agreed to abide by the rules ahead of time.

Sanders’ team declined to share details about what it did to try to secure the endorsement.

So it appears he took the WFP endorsement for granted and didn't bother to reach out in contrast to Warren who did considerable outreach to WFP.

[ritapria]

8. 1 million individual Donors

Bernie is going down the Tubes

[Hassin Bin Sober]

10. Finished I tells ya!

Good thing they moved California up. Lol

Link to tweet

[Thekaspervote]

59. SurveyUSA out just today

SurveyUSA CALIFORNIA poll: Biden 27%, Sanders 18%, Warren 16%, Harris 13%, Yang 7%,

Buttigieg 3%, O'Rourke & Castro 2%, all others 1% or less

Third California state poll out today, and they're showing very different results.

This is a post-debate poll.

https://abc7.com/politics/poll-biden-still-frontrunner-but-yang-gaining-ground-in-ca/5547440/


Yang is currently sitting in fifth place - but he's been climbing since the last survey. He's now at 7% in California, up from 1% in earlier surveys. And among voters ages 18-34, Yang is taking 14% of the vote.

Unsurprisingly, Biden is leading the pack with 27% support from voters across the state.

Though Biden is well ahead in the poll, it's mostly because his nearest rivals, including Harris, did not gain ground with voters across the Golden State following last week's debate in Houston.

He's followed by Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, with 18% and 16% of the votes, respectively.

Biden also leads Sanders and Warren among Latino voters at 29%, compared to their 22% and 15%. The political veteran is also ahead among self-described "very liberal" Democrats.

Warren and Harris, who remains stagnant in fourth place with 13%, both slid down a few points each in the poll.

When asked which candidate they believed would defeat Trump in a general election, 62% said Biden, showing a 21-point lead on Warren and Sanders.



That last sentence contains one of the poll's more surprising findings.

When asked whether they thought specific candidates could beat Trump in a general election, the only candidate who had more than 41% affirmative answers (which both Sanders and Warren got) was Biden at 62%.

[NYMinute]

15. Who didn't know

about the sexual harassment, pay inequalities, labor violations and complete lack of governance.

The money is drying out already.

[Gothmog]

25. I am friends with Sarah Slamen

She was one of the former staffers who raised the sexual harassment issues https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016224223 I wonder what she thinks about these issues

[frazzled]

23. Well, given that there are approx. 140 million active voters

that represents less than 1% (.007) of the actively voting public, if you take 2016 numbers for participation in the presidential elections. I wouldn’t be all that heartened.

[OilemFirchen]

31. As of June 30...

"... nearly 1.7 million, or more than 80%, of the donors who fueled his earlier run have stayed on the sidelines..."

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-08-20/bernie-sanders-donors-split-sprawling-democratic-2020-primary

[TwilightZone]

39. Number of donors doesn't translate to votes.

Even if it did, he had around four million donors in the 2016 cycle. It seems unlikely that he's going to have similar numbers this cycle and there's more competition.

[Blue_true]

47. Someone posted that 80% of his 2016 donors are sitting this one out,

or going with someone else. That is inline with your data (he had 4 million plus donors in 2016, but 1 million this time around).

The campaign to be watched in Senator Warren, she keeps growing stronger and has a tightly cohesive campaign. Her New York staff did an impressive job of setting up for her speech there, the infrastructure that they set up was awe inspiring, and she delivered with her speech.

[TwilightZone]

48. Agreed.

Her campaign does seem to be gaining momentum and seems better set up for the long haul of the primary process. It's going to be an interesting few months.

[OAITW r.2.0]

12. If you can't manage your campaign, how will he manage the Presidency?

I get the impression that he is most engaged with the campaigning and speeches, but rather aloof to the process of getting elected. His best fit is Senator where he can live on his reputation with the Vermont voters who elected him and push the Party his way.

[NurseJackie]

21. Yes. This. Thank you.

While others are praising BS for his mastery in decision making... it's my opinion that a better candidate wouldn't need to be making these kinds of mid-stream course-corrections. Either BS is making bad decisions, or getting bad advice that wasn't recognized as being bad advice, or BS is giving too much responsibility to irresponsible campaign staff (and that in itself makes me wonder how BS would manage and run the Presidency.)

These are all fair observations and questions that deserve to be answered.

[emmaverybo]

30. He has waged a back-stabbing campaign using negative smears against his rivals. Yes, HE wages

this destructive battle through his surrogates.

As one of many working in Obama’s grassroots campaign, I can tell you that higher up the chain tight monitoring meant no going negative, no matter what the opposition did. In fact, a group of us left to do our own thing, finding “the rules” restrictive.

It all comes from the top.

Really want a president who will do anything to win, including provide Republicans ammo?

I am not supporting Warren, but was horrified Sarandon took that low, cowardly (“a certain candidate”) swipe. Did he disavow it?

[oasis]

13. A few soothing words from Bernie will get "cooler heads to prevail".

[NYMinute]

16. Assuming there are cooler heads nt

[oasis]

20. They'll look to their leader, Bernie to be the head "cooler".

[NYMinute]

22. Despite the laws of thermodynamics

anger and yelling are rarely successful in cooling heads ...

[NYMinute]

14. The old adage

If your campaign is in a massive chaos and disarray, how can the American people trust your ability to have a smooth, well-oiled administration?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

17. Umm

^^^^^^^

[NYMinute]

19. Thanks for agreeing with me.

[keithbvadu2]

27. I consider Bernie to be another self-important Ralph Nader.

[NurseJackie]

33. Many people share your feelings.

[Gothmog]

35. Yep

[OilemFirchen]

32. Yum.

[NurseJackie]

34. ...

[TexasTowelie]

42. Jesus on a tortilla!

Oops, wrong flour product.

[GulfCoast66]

52. Your from Texas! The only proper Tortilla is corn!

Oh yeah. Tex-Mex.

[Thekaspervote]

60. Great sense of humor!!! Thx for the chuckles

[TexasTowelie]

64. You're welcome.

I was in a bit of a groove this evening.

[BlueMississippi]

62. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahaha

Thanks for the laugh

[question everything]

36. I don't think we are in 2016 anymore..

[Scurrilous]

38. LOL

[aikoaiko]

45. Oh Politico --- still trying to create drama for the clicks.

I'll wait to see if more reputable sources describe the same issues.

[Gothmog]

63. The author of this article is the daughter of a DU poster

[aikoaiko]

74. ok

[Gothmog]

76. From my twitter feed

Link to tweet

[BannonsLiver]

79. So what?

Am I supposed to be in awe? Politico is a digital rag started by a Reaganite.

[NurseJackie]

73. Nothing to see here...

[BlueMississippi]

61. It is over for BS - he should just drop out of the race nt

[NurseJackie]

75. At this point, I believe you're correct. It's clear he will not be our party's nominee...

... and the smears, attacks and general denigration of our party (directly and indirectly by surrogates) only create division and negativity. All I'm trying to say is that negativity generates apathy. Apathy discourages voter turnout. Low voter turnout gives Republicans a chance to steal the elections.

[Gothmog]

90. sanders will not drop out until the convention

[NurseJackie]

91. Any candidate who's mathematically eliminated prior to the convention should bow-out gracefully.

Any candidate who's mathematically eliminated prior to the convention should bow-out gracefully. Any candidate who does NOT do so only emphasizes his (or her) desire to harm the party, create division, suspicion and distrust, weaken our party's resolve, depress turnout, and ultimately make it easier for the GOP (and Russia) to steal the election.

It would be beneath contempt for anyone to do that simply because of his (or her) vanity and contempt for the Democratic party.

[myohmy2]

66. they wish Bernie would disappear...

" Even some of Sanders’ rivals said it would be unwise to discount him. Despite the concerns about his ground game in New Hampshire, his volunteer army remains formidable: A Boston Globe/Suffolk University poll released in August found that 35 percent of Democratic primary voters in the state who had heard directly from a campaign had been contacted by Sanders’ team, more than any other candidate.

"I think he will do well here, frankly, but I'm a bit of a contrarian on that. Everyone seems to be in a big rush to write him off,” said a top New Hampshire Democrat and veteran of many presidential primaries in the state. “John McCain and John Kerry were both deemed 'dead men walking' at this stage, too, and came back to win the New Hampshire primary.” "


...but I'm not worried...we're a long ways away from the first primary vote...a week can an eternity in national politics and yet things can change on a dime...it reminds me of a fable,

https://berniesanders.com/issues/

...

[BlueMississippi]

77. If he doesn't win IA and NH by wide margins

he will have to go back to being a senator from VT. No one wants him to disappear. He is a reliable Democratic vote in the senate on all progressive issues except perhaps gun control.

[comradebillyboy]

80. He also votes against Russia sanctions...nt

[BlueMississippi]

81. Good point nt

[Gothmog]

83. sanders will not drop out but there is a chance sanders may not get name into nomination

I was a delegate to the Philadelphia convention and saw how the process works. One key item is that under the rules, a candidate cannot be put into nomination without 300 delegates. https://democrats.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2020-Call-for-Convention-WITH-Attachments-2.26.19.pdf

Nomination of the Democratic Candidate for President: The Permanent Chair shall receive nominations from the floor for the Democratic candidate for the Office of President of the United
States in the following manner:

a. Requests to nominate a presidential candidate shall be in writing and shall have affixed thereto the written approval of the proposed nominee and the name of the individuals who shall be recognized to make the nominating and seconding speeches on behalf of a presidential candidate and shall be delivered to the Convention Secretary at a location as specified by the Secretary no later than 6:00 p.m. of the day preceding the day designated for the commencement of presidential nominations.

b. Each such request must be accompanied by a petition indicating support for the proposed nominee signed by delegates representing not less than 300 or more than 600 delegate votes, not more than 50 of which may come from one (1) delegation. A delegate may not sign more than one (1) nominating petition for president and for vice president. Pledged and automatic delegates may sign the petition.

If sanders is frozen out of enough states due to the 15% rule and remaining non-Biden delegates are split among several candidates, there is a chance that sanders may not reach 300 threshold

[SidDithers]

67. DU rec...

Sid

[Maru Kitteh]

68. I'll second your rec, Sid.

[betsuni]

69. K&R

[Gothmog]

82. Sanders is sinking big time in Iowa

Link to tweet

[Cha]

88. But, "sarandon introduced him at the ice

cream social in Iowa with a slam at Warren"! Or could that be part of the reason?

[Gothmog]

84. Sanders has parted ways with his Iowa political director

Link to tweet

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) parted ways with his Iowa political director in recent weeks, his campaign confirmed Wednesday, part of a series of recent staff shake-ups in key early states.

The campaign announced in March that Jess Mazour would be political director in the first-in-the-nation caucus state, part of a first wave of early state hires. She is no longer on the team.....

The Sanders campaign has made other recent staffing moves in early nominating states, including New Hampshire, where state director Joe Caiazzo was replaced with Shannon Jackson, who ran Sanders’s 2018 Senate reelection bid. Caiazzo will now head up the Sanders campaign operation in his home state of Massachusetts.

Kurt Ehrenberg, a New Hampshire senior adviser whose hiring was announced by the campaign the same day as Mazour’s was in March, is no longer with the campaign. Ehrenberg and Caiazzo had clashed over the past few months.

[Gothmog]

86. Is it ironic that the request not to leak is being leaked?

Link to tweet

[NurseJackie]

89. Probably because they have so much difficulty in "scheduling" and priorities.

[Gothmog]

92. sanders loses another field director

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

93. From the Hoarse Whisperer

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

94. Bernie Sanders Is in Trouble

Link to tweet

With just four months until the first-in-the-nation caucuses, Sanders is in trouble. As he delivered his populist gospel to large crowds of camouflage-clad high schoolers, liberal arts college students, and trade union members across Iowa last week, a problematic narrative was hardening around him: His campaign is in disarray and Elizabeth Warren has eclipsed him as the progressive standard-bearer of the primary. He’s sunk to third place nationally, behind Warren and Joe Biden, and some polls of early nomination states show him barely clinging to double digits. He’s shaken up his staffs in Iowa and New Hampshire. He’s lost the endorsement of the Working Families Party, a left-wing group that backed him in 2016, to Warren.

[Gothmog]

95. Sanders Replaces Top Staffer in South Carolina (3:21 p.m.)

Here are more changes
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/biden-proposes-1-3-trillion-103000727.html

(Bloomberg) -- Bernie Sanders has replaced his South Carolina state director, naming to the job a political consultant who helped flip a Republican-held House seat in the state to Democrats in 2018.

Sarah Ford, a campaign spokeswoman, confirmed that Jessica Bright would replace Kwadjo Campbell. She did not respond to a question about why Sanders made the change.

Sanders is trailing Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren in the crucial primary state. In a RealClearPolitics average of polls between Oct. 3 and Oct. 21, Biden had support of 35% of the state’s likely Democratic voters, while Warren had 15.5% and Sanders had 12.8%.

In 2016, Sanders lost South Carolina by 47.5 points to eventual Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, largely because he failed to appeal to the state’s critical bloc of African American voters. He has launched a broad effort to improve his standing in the state for 2020 against Biden, who is deeply popular with black voters.

[Gothmog]

96. From Marc Veasey-co-chair of @BlueCollarDems ,

Link to tweet