'No one went for a knockout blow': Inside Bernie's campaign nosedive

[JoeOtterbein]

Politico

Many of Sanders’ aides and top allies are convinced they should have gone for Biden’s jugular.

By HOLLY OTTERBEIN

04/10/2020 07:28 PM EDT

It was late February, and Bernie Sanders was days away from the most important debate of his political career.

The Vermont senator had finally clawed his way to the top of the presidential primary after winning New Hampshire and crushing the field in Nevada. His closest rival, Joe Biden, was reeling. Moderate Democrats were terrified Sanders could win the nomination, and the target on his back was bigger than ever before.

Two of Sanders’ top advisers — pollster Ben Tulchin and speechwriter David Sirota — told Sanders that he should pointedly take on Biden at the Feb. 25 debate in South Carolina, which the former vice president saw as his firewall state. They also said Sanders should use billionaire Mike Bloomberg as a foil, and attack him over his record of supporting stop-and-frisk, in order to deflect from the onslaught he would no doubt face as the newly anointed frontrunner.

The stakes were high: In an email to senior staff, Tulchin said that moderate voters were beginning to unify behind Biden and that the consolidation would intensify if he won South Carolina, according to people familiar with the message.

snip

more great reporting at link

[LaurenOlimina]

1. I agree...

Whatever he didn't use doesn't go away. It is still there. Airing it in the primary would have negated it somewhat.

[Hortensis]

5. That crew of bloody attack dogs used everything they had but

had to rely on lies, deceptions, insinuations almost entirely because they didn't have anything they could hurt him with, not even spreading accusations of rape and child molestation. (Boy, are they NOT Democratic Party kind of people! )

But if you have anything to back your insinuations, why not spit it right out? We'll get together and negate it right here.

[LaurenOlimina]

6. Nope. I posted the laundry list when he announced.

Now is not the time. Now we all need to back him. Primary is over, etc.

If you are curious, his oppo file is out there. I read the one Hillary compiled on Bernie and I read one on Biden from an undisclosed source.

Anything in there is now, by definition, a rightwing attack on the Democratic candidate.

[Hortensis]

8. So, as I said it's all out and nothing. The worst things

the Republicans know about Biden is that he's a friend to minorities and an enemy to the kleptocracy they've created.

That means that, like his primary opponent, they're going to have to make up lies. And, yes, they are good at that. They had several Sanders scandals all ready to go in 2016 in case they were needed, so you can imagine they have a stack for Biden. And yet, everything they've tried so far (remember Ukraine?) has been a miserable flop.

[LaurenOlimina]

9. No, they have a lot that will peel off voters a bit at a time.

My impression is that Sanders really held back. I makes me think he never thought he would win.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

13. Wishin' and Hopin'. eh?

LOL

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" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[LaurenOlimina]

15. More like frettin and worrin

But blissful ignorance is an acceptable response.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

16. LOL

Think I'll spit the hook out and swim away

[JoeOtterbein]

57. Sorry Lauren!

And thanks for agreeing. The idea that Bernie is a good guy is an difficult for others sometimes. Despite the fact that Joe and Bernie are old friends. Many are just plain worried. Considering the Trump/GOP, I can't blame any of them for that.

[LaurenOlimina]

66. No, I can't blame them either.

And it's making us paranoid. I've noticed though, If you post anything slightly negative about Biden or pro Bernie, there are people who will follow you around all night looking for the secret Russian.

[TwilightZone]

109. You agree that Sanders should have gone more negative?

His campaign *did* go negative, and it was a primary cause of the campaign's demise. The beginning of the end was when Sanders tweeted that no one could stop him and amped up his attacks on the Democratic "establishment" while his staff was plugging fake news like the clearly-debunked, fake videos of Biden's "dementia", sourcing them from Fox News and the Trump team. Attacking Elizabeth Warren certainly didn't help.

If you're looking for someone to blame for his demise, start with his campaign.

[ehrnst]

145. +1000.

[George II]

35. What was there to "hold back"? Virtually nothing. Any so-called attacks would have rung hollow.

On the other hand, even though Sanders has suspended/withdrawn/conceded, his attack dogs on Twitter (Gray, Sirota, et. al.) are ramping up the attacks on Biden and the Democratic Party.

That's not sitting well with voters.

And what's the deal with your Elizabeth Warren graphic? Inasmuch as she's no longer a candidate and we have only one remaining candidate, it's a moot point.

[LaurenOlimina]

36. You actually can find that yourself.

[George II]

37. Not interested in looking for anything non-existent, thank you.

[LaurenOlimina]

41. I haven't met any Biden supporters on here who know or care what his full oppo file looks like.

Bernie held back.

[George II]

43. We know what the "full oppo file" looks like, it would fit on a 3X5 index card. Why are you still...

...attacking Biden at this point? Seems pointless here on Democratic Underground.

[LaurenOlimina]

49. Again, I'm not attacking Biden.

I'm saying Bernie held back. I'm scrupulously NOT sharing details from Biden's file. I'm not going to pretend it will fit on a 3x5 card though. Around here, realism seems to be disallowed. Bernie held back. I don't think he intended to win after South Carolina. He left the rawest of raw meat on the ground.

You either know enough to understand that, or you don't.

Jesus, I'm not even a Bernie fan and that's obvious to me.

[George II]

54. You mention something but "scrupulously NOT share details". So why mention it at all?????

In other words, it doesn't exist.

[TheFarseer]

125. You know full well such information cannot be posted here

Quit trying to bait people.

[KPN]

126. hear, hear!

[George II]

142. Then it should have remained unsaid. It irks me when people throw things out....

...and then say "but I can't talk about it."

[The Magistrate]

147. That Is Not Strictly True, Sir

It is no violation to expose a likely attack line the right may be counted on to employ. It is another thing to do so in a manner which indicates the poster considers the attack credible, in the sense that the poster indicates belief in the attack line, rather than states the opinion people it is meant to persuade could well believe it. When the source of the material is a right wing outlet, it will be more problematic --- the rule suggests disagreement or even active scorn ought to be clear enough there is no question of the poster's intent.

Fairly bitter attacks on Democrats from left sources have gone up fairly often, and were a feature of the Primary forum, being put up both by people who considered them credible, and people exposing things that made them angy, that they thought were hateful.

Material from a Sanders campaign 'oppo team' brief would certainly be from a left, not a right wing source. It could be put up as an exposure of what the Sanders campaign contemplated using against a Democratic rival. If what the Sanders campaign contemplated using echoed right wing lines already in use, or treated claims and charges made by right wing sources as true and credible, the problem really would lie with the Sanders campaign. If the poster indicated agreement with such charges, or suggested pressing them was a proper thing, that could be problematic, especially if they were rooted in right wing sources.

Continual hints of dire dangers no one is allowed to expose has a rank odor about it....

[emmaverybo]

74. He did. It would not have helped him. Did not help others who went at Biden. You see Biden has

tremendous personal warmth and so he’s likable, not a quality Bernie easily pulls off. Biden has wider appeal and so Bernie knew he would simply come across as ugly and jealous.

I hope folks here will stop this divisive crap now. Twitter is a good place for it.

I don’t appreciate your allusions to something nefarious you and Bernie know about.

[Cha]

81. Mahalo, emmaverybo!!!!

[emmaverybo]

70. [phone]

[lapucelle]

133. The BS campaign started dumping their "oppo" in January 2020...

... and the voters didn't buy into the narratives.

The only oppo that remains are the ridiculous conspiracy theories that the RW noise machine and their cohorts shill. That might be why those who insist on its existence are unwilling to even obliquely share their "sources".

“Everybody’s Getting Nervous”: Unloading Oppo, Bernie Tries to Dent Biden’s Black-Voter Lead
January 23, 2020

But with the Iowa caucuses closing in and four candidates in tight contention, the Sanders campaign has launched the multi-pronged attack it was readying for some time, forcefully contrasting its man’s record with the front-runner’s. “The 2002 vote on the Iraq war was one instance where I think Bernie Sanders has a record of fighting for the right thing at the right time on the first instance, not on the second, third, fourth, or fifth, as the case might be with Joe Biden,” Sanders’s campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, told me in early January. “Cutting Social Security versus expanding Social Security. The bankruptcy bill—Biden pushes for it, makes alleviating student debt and medical debt harder, and Bernie Sanders opposes it. There’s a whole host of them.” That same week a senior Sanders adviser retweeted a misleading video clip where Biden seemed to praise a Paul Ryan plan to cut Social Security benefits. Blistering op-eds by Sanders allies Nina Turner and Zephyr Teachout soon followed, plus a detailed anti-Biden Twitter thread from Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“Those pieces didn’t come out of nowhere,” a veteran Democratic strategist says. “They’re clearly informed by an opposition research package. Up until now everybody’s been wary of getting too negative. But now everybody is getting nervous, and Bernie has to find votes in Iowa beyond his core 20%.” The conventional wisdom has held that it’s Warren and Sanders, the two avowed lefties in the field, who are competing for the same voters. But the more tenacious battle—especially in Iowa, but also in New Hampshire—is turning out to be between Biden and Sanders, for white working-class support. And unlike Harris, whose shot at Biden about school busing lacked context, Sanders’s emphasis on Social Security fits squarely with his economic populist message.

One element of the current skirmish is very much aimed at an audience slightly further down the road. Biden has enjoyed a large and so far unshakable lead with black voters in South Carolina, where the primary is on February 29. “Why do you think Bernie picked Social Security to go after Biden on?” the veteran Democratic consultant says. Gosh, could it be because Social Security is the primary means of support for roughly half of black senior citizens? Biden is currently advocating scrapping the Social Security tax cap and raising benefits slightly for the oldest seniors. But his long record provides openings for his opponents: As a senator from Delaware, Biden pushed for “freezes” in Social Security spending—cuts, effectively—during multiple budget negotiations. In 1995, Biden fought for an amendment to protect Social Security from a Republican-crafted balanced-budget proposal; when the amendment failed, he voted for the balanced-budget proposal anyway. “The Sanders campaign pushed a video and transcript that were intentionally, deceptively edited to make it seem like Vice President Biden was praising and agreeing with Paul Ryan, when it is clear he was doing the exact opposite. PolitiFact rated this smear false,” a Biden campaign aide says. “The Alliance for Retired Americans gave Biden a 96% lifetime score and a 100% rating in his final term as senator, when there were a lot of big battles over Social Security privatization.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/01/bernie-tries-to-dent-bidens-black-voter-lead

[lapucelle]

137. Hey George...

There's a group called The Institute for Progressive Memetics that sells oppo files on Democratic candidates.

They're very busy on twitter at the moment trying to convince folks not to vote for Biden in the general.

There's also some some remarkably desperate crap on jackpineradicals, but it's from RW sources or Russian fronts, just like their HRC "oppo" during the general election in 2016.

It's a shame to see people so easily played, time and time again.

[Cha]

78. No "BS did Not hold back".. he LOST and Spent 4x the $$$$ to do

it than Joe Biden did to WIN.

[emmaverybo]

93. Thank you and thank you, Cha. 4x the $$$$ to LOSE! Time for the remaining candidates and their

followers to join the fight against Trump, truly a fight for our lives.

[Cha]

96. I know.. I'm tired of the excuses of why BS Lost

so overwhelmingly.

[emmaverybo]

98. "So overwhelmingly."

[sheshe2]

107. I am confused who you support.

I too backed my Senator Warren. She withdrew her candidacy. Bernie withdrew his candidacy. Joe Biden is our nominee.

Yet.

LaurenOlimina
41. I haven't met any Biden supporters on here who know or care what his full oppo file looks like.

You show your candidate of choice as Warren. She dropped out. You are defending Bernie, he dropped out.


Here you are making innuendos about our Democratic nominee. What Oppo files are these of which you speak of? Link?

[LaurenOlimina]

139. You can google it up.

There was a book, yesterday's man. The first two campaigns on the Republican side are straight out of that. I listen to a LOT of rightwing radio at nights. There is a consistent message. You just have to skim Twitter to see what the current smear is.

On Facebook, Bernie supporters are getting a steady diet of hair sniffing, rape accusations and claims of senility where Biden is concerned. The right is trying hard to cleve them from the pack. I try to post refuting such stuff, but sometimes the charges are baseless. Like the senility thing. The best thing there is to just post a link to any recent speech of his.

They announced a war room for shutting down such campaigns.

You are the first Biden supporter to actually care what might be coming. Thanks for taking an interest.

[LuvLoogie]

46. Shades of "journalist" Nadine B.?

Sounds familiar.

[George II]

48. A chill just ran up my spine! Thanks for the look back..........

[still_one]

65. +++

[MineralMan]

128. Sounds like many people, really.

I remember when it was clear that Hillary had the nomination sewn up, too. The attacks just kept coming, typically in thinly-disguised "concern" posts.

That went on for a long, long time. Eventually, most of those doing so left here, or were shown the door.

I expect similar things in 2020, but with Biden as the target this time.

[kcr]

130. We can find that in the super secret vault of oppo that's been held back?

Seems it wasn't very secret then if anyone can research it.

[ehrnst]

143. BOOM!!

[still_one]

61. Just ask the Hillary hating assholes Sirota and Turner, along with Jill Stein supporter Gray how

they held back

What bullshit, and they are still doing it even after sanders stopped his campaign

[ismnotwasm]

39. No, he didn't.

Also, hold back...What exactly?

[LaurenOlimina]

42. You don't think?

Bernie sat on one major story that's in play now.

[George II]

44. If you're going to insinuate something, why not just come out and say it? Coyness doesn't fly.

[LaurenOlimina]

53. You understand that it is against the TOS at this point?

The moment that primaries group came down, it quit being campaign criticism and became attacking the candidate to point out right-wing attacks. And that's who has attacked. The right. Bernie sat on it.

[George II]

55. Then why allude to your so-called "campaign criticism", why not just let it go or say it outright?

[ismnotwasm]

115. I think we know George

Last edited Sat Apr 11, 2020, 11:30 AM - Edit history (1)

I’m going to assume they mean some of the more unsavory attacks, which actually DID happen through proxies, as policy differences are quite easy to define and point out. Especially when there is a long political history as is the case here.

On edit, because I don't want to kick this thread, now is a perfectly respectable time to place this were is belongs.

[uponit7771]

50. Could you come out with it? thx in advance

[LaurenOlimina]

62. No, posts about the current rightwing smears get flagged and removed.

I've had posts removed for being attacks will not post specifics. I'm just saying Bernie held back. He should not have. He should have aired everything the Republicans might use no matter how silly or mundane. It inoculates the candidate from attack on those grounds in the general.

It is foolish not to discuss them.

I have friends who repeat this sort of thing. It demands a response. I would love for there to be a Biden war room dedicated to fighting disinformation. He announced one today.

It's why I think Kamala Harris was right to attack Biden hard in the debates. She inoculated him from a bussing / civil rights attack by doing that.

[TwilightZone]

69. "He should have aired everything the Republicans might use "

Sanders' campaign pushed debunked, doctored videos of Biden's "dementia" and plugged a shaky rape story that not even Fox News would touch.

Is that the kind of stuff you're encouraging? Because I'd have to disagree with you. Bullshit is bullshit, regardless of the source. Going negative with bullshit only accelerated the demise of the Sanders campaign.

[Cha]

86. Exactly.. There was so much Negativity in the BS campaign about JB..

and BS LOST.. Voters weren't buying what they were selling. the poster thinks more ugly Smears would have helped them to WIN?

I call BULL.. that's just an excuse.. and not a very good one.

[TwilightZone]

95. Yeah...

The intentions are a bit transparent.

[Cha]

97. Clearly.

[Hav]

127. Are you seriously suggesting

that BS should have directly attacked Biden by using unsubstantiated and shaky abuse allegations? He let his people in the campaign do that, I think it was their last hail mary and he resigned shortly after it when it didn't work.

But again, BS would have looked desperate had he used unfounded smears but let's not pretend that his spokepersons didn't try and failed with every smear attempt they could find.

[lapucelle]

134. In play where?

[GulfCoast66]

103. Let me guess. You got this from 'Q'. Because it's the same bullshit I can read at Freeperville.

You know some nefarious information you can’t share. Because it is super secret. And I don’t have the secret handshake. And it is against the rules here. Then feel free to mail me this devastating information.

I won’t stay up waiting.

[Hav]

129. That's sadly the apparent modus operandi of this poster and it's annoying

Lots of recent innuendo and insinuations to attack Biden, the "meh candidate", and when pressed to offer something concrete on any topic, the poster mentions forum rules as an excuse to offer more than simplistic platitudes. What's the point then in lobbing that grenade in the first place? This is a discussion forum. If you are unwilling to support your claims and evade any discussion based on facts, just keep it to yourself and don't start arguments.

[George II]

30. Very good analysis, and well stated.

[OilemFirchen]

20. Based on your profile...

you might wanna get it all off your chest in a hurry.

[LaurenOlimina]

21. what?

[OilemFirchen]

22. Huh?

[LaurenOlimina]

23. I don't understand...

[OilemFirchen]

28. Okay, then.

G'night!

[LaurenOlimina]

33. What about my profile suggests urgency...

"OilemFirchen (6,258 posts)

20. Based on your profile...

you might wanna get it all off your chest in a hurry."

[Cha]

75. Just FAKE SMEARS.. they threw it out there thinking it would

help their candidate.. but BS Lost & Spent 4x More $$$$ than Joe Biden did to Win.

[ehrnst]

146. I think that that Brie and Sirota are still out there pushing an anti-Joe narrative.

[msongs]

2. great reporting and politico lololol nt

[herding cats]

3. Damn... I already miss GDP.

[Cha]

71. Good times.. now The GE is lumped in with

GD and all the trump/CV hews.

[herding cats]

76. It was inevitable.

Some folks just gotta spoil everything in their wake. 😑

[Cha]

80. They can try.. But Joe Biden WON the Nom.. and they

can deal with it or not.

[herding cats]

89. Who has time for this right now?

I know I don't. I also have less than zero shits to give to this bullshit.

Seriously, go away and leave those of us alone who are trying to deal with the insanity the last election wrought on us right now. I have zero cares and even less time to spend caring about childish bullshit right now. I'm, sadly, entrenched in the reality the last election cycle brought down on our heads.

Let's just focus, and coalesce behind our candidate. Everything else at this point is useless white noise to me.

[Cha]

92. Really.. I hear ya, Cats.. Enough with the Excuses

of why BS lost so Overwhelmingly.

[herding cats]

99. Fact is... It's. Over.

We all just need to move the hell on and focus on November. Anything else is counterproductive at this point.

Our stress levels are extremely high right now. Many of us have people we know who are sick, or we've lost people. Much of which could have been avoided if things would have been handled differently.

The absolute last thing many of us give a crap about is petty, childish shit right now. That's not what we're wanting to see... Go. The. Fuck. Away. We're over it. It's what's literally killing us right now.

Onwards and upwards. Let's get Trump out of office and Biden in. Nationally, that's all I care about right now!

We've got this! The vast majority of us are smart and laser focused, Cha.

[Cha]

101. I know that about our "stress levels"... I have so

many I can't even count or know where they're all coming from!

And, yes the trumphucks are killing us right out in the open now.

[herding cats]

106. I'm sorry, Cha.

I know we're all at our limits now. Which is why I tend to snap at foolishness more than I used to.

I'm apologize if I seemed fatalistic. I was screaming about "judges" and the Supreme Court in 2015-2016. I'm on record here about it. Now I'm one of many just trying to mitigate the damage done as best we can for my future generations. Bellyaching over a democratic loss tends to trigger me.

The people spoke. This time let's accept it and move the hell on to getting some shit done we desperately need to be doing.

[Cha]

114. No worries.. best to

get it out instead of bottled up inside. Better for our immune systems which we have to keep in optimum shape.. prepare for the worst case scenario and hope for the best!

Cat! Virtual Love you!

[Blue_true]

72. It was better here when only the coronavirus was being discussed.

The primary is over, Biden has won it. People need to focus like a laser on November and helping every democrat on the ballot, local, state, federal.

[herding cats]

85. This doesn't even enter my give a crap meter right now.

I cannot imagine at this point in all our lives this ridiculousness being a focus.

I'm so over all this ludicrous bullshit.

[Me.]

4. They Are Still Kidding Themselves About What Was

and what would be. And that was/is also a major problem.

[George II]

45. Unfortunately it still IS. The nomination has been won and done yet some persist in keeping it alive

[Me.]

64. But The "He Could've Won But For..." Lie/Illusion Lives On

I was particularly annoyed to read the media did him in meme, when there was hardly a nighttime or Sunday when he wasn't on somewhere. Chris Hayes, fervent BSer, had him on for a lengthy interview this week, as did Andre Mitchell and I'm sure there were others.

[George II]

68. He was on an interview just today insinuating that Pete and Amy dropping out was a "conspiracy".

[Me.]

122. Point Made

he hasn't given up anything and is holding on hoping something happens to save him. He had to do something because there was/is too much pressure to face the facts so he's thrown a bone.

[Cha]

90. They're just throwinng out excuses.. trying to hurt JB in

the GE. Not gonna work.

[Me.]

123. It's Really Quite Despicable

He never was going to make it and he never will.

[NBachers]

7. Loud fart noise

[Cha]

12. lol

[George II]

47. Yes indeedy......

[mcar]

10. So we're still advocating that Democrats (and those who run in our party) eat their own?

Rather than fight against the mass murdered in the WH?

What is the purpose of this Joe? I know your daughter wrote it and I appreciate you being a proud dad. But, seriously? What is the point of continuing with the primary when it is over? What is the point of people on the left bringing up RW talking points against the presumptive nominee?

What is the point?

[Hav]

11. A telling choice for the thread title

The article points at many failures in BS' strategy that have nothing to do with being more aggressive. The suggestion by the thread title that even more negativity and toxicity, which is what was advised by the deplorable Sirota, was the way to go is very naive. Even if Biden had dropped out, BS never got over his ceiling and he never gained considerable support among AA. In fact, he apparently didn't even care enough to make an effort at times.

[George II]

84. Interesting how people are looking for failures in the strategy....

....but I suspect it's more a failure in policy.

[GusBob]

14. Great reporting lol

Not an ounce of fucking truth in it

Bullshit

[ucrdem]

19. +1

Next: all Bernie wanted to do was hug everyone but his campaign said no

[ucrdem]

17. LOL, revisionism at its finest.

How many weeks did Bernieworld run their NAFTA ad with Biden's name pasted over Hillary's?

How many weeks did he run his Biden-wants-to-cut-your-SS ad?

How many surrogates pumped that Tara Reade story?

Sorry, no sale.

[betsuni]

18. "due to the fact that Sanders disliked negative campaigning."

[NurseJackie]

24. I know! Right?

Hysterical!

[Cha]

27. right! They're just so busy re-writing history like there's NO

******* INTERNET.

[George II]

58. Yep, he really dislikes negative campaigning:

Link to tweet

But as a postmortem, guess what, he was stopped.

[betsuni]

116. Pretty embarrassing to spend years claiming that the

political, financial, and media establishment elites and billionaires will stop at nothing to defeat you, it's The Establishment versus The People, and The People stopped you. Kind of a let down.

[George II]

25. What could he have done to "go for Biden's jugular"?

That would have done more harm than good. People just preferred Biden to Sanders. His policies are more realistic, they make sense to the voters and most importantly, the voters know that they have a better chance of being enacted than Sanders' policies.

This time around the debates had very little effect on the actual voting, they rarely do anyway.

Biden played it perfectly. Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada collectively were meaningless - Biden won almost as many delegates in South Carolina than Sanders won in the first three states. And coupled with the delegates he did win in those three states, he closed the gap. From there it was all down hill for Sanders - on Super Tuesday I Biden converted an 8 delegate deficit to an 80 delegate lead, increased that to 149 delegates on Super Tuesday II and then 300 on Super Tuesday III.

It's a marathon, not a sprint, and in the primaries that have been contested, Joe Biden was the proverbial "Silky Sullivan"!

[Cha]

26. BS Lost and he Spent 4x More $$$$ to do it than Joe Biden

did to WIN.

And, his Jill Stein Hires did NOT help him nor did the 30% base they insisted on staying at.

They need to look at themselves.

[blm]

29. LOL, he was hurt by Warren. After what his camp did to her?

Bull-fvcking-shit. Trying to play like Sanders was her victim.

He knew she was the better candidate and he let his camp be total assholes to her and smear her with lies..

[betsuni]

40. Her not endorsing him "made him question her progressivism."

There is not a face palm hard enough.

[blm]

59. I think that's staff talk not him. A lot of his policy positions,

as well as the policy positions of other progressive politicians over the last few decades, were informed by the years of painstaking research and analysis performed by Warren and other academics.

Pack of egotistical idiots around him can go fvck themselves...gently....with a chainsaw.

[betsuni]

91. But he does immediately throw anyone who doesn't endorse him into his large Establishment binder.

And Establishment can't be progressive, so it sounds like typical Bernie to me.

[Cha]

94. yeah, he can study on that fallacy while

the rest of us Move Forward.

[betsuni]

100. Funny, I keep thinking: "flawed candidate" running a "bad campaign."

How many times did we see THAT?

[TwilightZone]

73. They're blaming everyone but themselves.

As they've been doing pretty much non-stop since Super Tuesday.

They really should consider looking in the mirror once-in-a-while. The real problem is there, particularly in his top staff.

[ReformedGOPer]

124. +1

[FM123]

77. He was hurt by Warren?

I can only imagine how incredibly hurt she was by the things he (and his team) said...

[ucrdem]

31. Lucy Flores endorses Bernie

Good times!

[W_HAMILTON]

32. You mean amplifying bullshit """rape""" allegations from a clearly disturbed individual...

...wasn't "going for the jugular?" Pushing this idiotic notion that he is in the throes of dementia? Posting highly edited clips to coerce people into believing lies? Running op-eds about how he has a corruption problem?

If that shit wasn't them doing their damndest to manufacture some of the nastiest, most deplorable shit you'll ever see someone stoop to in order to win a political campaign, what the fuck else did they have in mind?

[ucrdem]

34. This.

[BGBD]

60. They

which includes Sanders campaign officials and surrogates, called Biden a racist, segregationist, perverted, child molesting, warmonger, corrupted, dementia patient and literal rapist.

They blamed him on everything from the war on drugs to the war on terrorism. They accused him to trying to destroy social security, wanting poor people to die, and wanting to end reproductive rights.

So unless we want to get into some Qanon level shit, what is it exactly that they were holding back on?

[ucrdem]

83. It completely backfired on Sanders in the debates.

South Carolina went badly, but the one with Biden was catastrophic for Bernie, and running around with that dementia bs before it made him look even worse. People forget that Biden is an attorney and Bernie isn't. That's not to cast aspersions but Biden is the better legislator, and debater.

[BGBD]

88. Also

He was a very active VP for 8 years. He wasn't a do-nothing like Pence. Obama had him doing a lot of high level work. He has gone toe to toe with some of the most powerful people in the world who had adversarial relations with the US positions. To think that anyone believed he couldn't handle Bernie Sanders was foolish. They seem to forget what he did to Paul Ryan as well.

Of course these are the same voices saying Biden will be destroyed by Trump in the debates and he has no chance of winning.

Given their track record of predicting these things, I feel pretty good.

[ucrdem]

132. And they can't figure out why they couldn't sell him on electability.

“There wasn’t enough money put into talking to black older voters who didn’t have an opinion on Bernie or didn’t like Bernie.”

[BGBD]

136. They also

try to say "The corporate money silenced the voice of the people."

I ask what corporate money? Biden was broke when he came back. He couldnt even afford to run ads in most states that he ended up winning!

Biden won SC. All of the moderate lane candidates realized they had no path because they couldnt get black support from Biden and dropped out. All of the voters who didnt support Bernie coalesced with Biden and he rolled. That was what happened and that was the voice of the people.

Biden won without bug spending and without all that much media support. The media was declaring him dead for a month before he won.

The best candidates dont move the people to them, they figure out where the people are and move to them.

[ucrdem]

138. Sanders made his nut by bashing Bill Clinton with RW memes on NAFTA.

I well remember. Nothing original, just the usual dog whistles about corrupt dirty deals. But he helped it all stick and it hurt us at the ballot box. In other words this guy is nothing BUT going for the jugular and pretending he's progressive.

[uponit7771]

51. +1

[George II]

52. On the other hand his staffers, surrogates, and supporters took that faux scandal and ran with it...

....and are STILL running with it, even though the candidate himself has conceded to Biden (well, in a sense anyway)

[JCMach1]

38. They ran a terrible campaign and won't admit it

They thought it was 2016 still, had missteps,o and then ran straight into a Corona buzzsaw...

And heck, I voted for the guy.

They need to look in the mirror to find their failure

[TwilightZone]

56. Ah, more ignorance of reality. They ran a shitty campaign.

They just can't admit it. It's always someone else's problem, someone else's fault.

The problem was that Sanders loaded his top staff with political hacks who spent the campaign acting like tantrum-throwing children.

If they want to look for the real problem, they should look in the mirror.

[relayerbob]

63. People are sick and tired of the bullshit

That's what's driving the Biden campaign in the first place. Sanders had already gone so negative he had no real chance with the 70% if the voters who didn't like him. Acting like a total ass would not have helped him, it would have backfired.

[Blue_true]

67. I am glad that the primary is over.

But I resent out Sanders team consider only themselves to be progressives. It is insulting and enraging to progressives who they sleight, I believe that played a big part in his defeat.

[OAITW r.2.0]

79. From an aviation perspective-

Bernie had a whole lot of thrust, but no air under his wings.

[tirebiter]

82. There's more of us

We can surround their firing squad with a circle of love

[Azathoth]

87. Yeah, going scorched earth on the likely nominee would have been a sure path to M4A

[awesomerwb1]

102. LOL

Blame this, blame the "Establishment", blame that, and ultimately....blame the voters!!!

Weak sauce.

[herding cats]

104. The few of you who want to make this into an internal war need to educate yourselves.

It's not us against us, it's literally us fighting to save us from them. And, it's end game.

Where have you been?! You've apparently missed a lot of chapters. We're at the end of the RW handbook and they've enabled most everything. Wishing away most of their damage won't do it at this point. Even a full Democratic House, Senate and President won't undo much of this damage for decades.

We had to vote, and we didn't in large enough numbers where it mattered to offset this fucking mess we're in. Now they want to extend their control even further. Are we going to just let them?!

Ultimately, this is all in our hands. We can roll over and play dead like they want, or we can fight.

[ucrdem]

105. Fine, but Bernie went for the jugular, and let's make that clear before closing the books.

Because if past is prologue he'll be back in 2024, and it's only by the grace of dog that we didn't wind up with a complete 2016 replay this time, or worse. And we're not out of the woods until Bernie endorse Joe, and not even then. Fool me once etc.

[herding cats]

108. Oh, I agree.

I'm over him entirely. He needs to grow up and just stop the drama.

On edit: I think most of us who are Biden supporters recognize what you said already. Now we (not us but Bernie's people) need to accept reality, and focus.

[still_one]

110. The problem is cats, people in his campaign are using social media to undermine Biden, and if

Sanders doesn't step up and tell them to cut that crap out or fire them, then that is a problem

[herding cats]

112. He won't. Let's not delude ourselves here.

It's not who he is, nor ever was. So, we have to figure out how to manage this beyond his failings. Because that's where we are.

Bellyaching about what is, won't change reality. We have to focus on the here and now and the hand we've been dealt. This leopard isn't going to change its spots.

[still_one]

113. You're right. We need to focus on defeating trump and regaining Congress

[herding cats]

117. Yes! Exactly! Being angry on the internet is a distraction. We need to be laser focused.

They know that. Pick candidates to support, do everything in your power (especially in swing areas) to make calls and get out the vote for them. Work! I beg you!

I'm walking the walk, but I know for a fact we're desperate for people right now because of COVID-19. If you can, please give some time. This is how we will win. Phone banking is still a safe alternative and of great value right now.

[still_one]

118. +++

[tavernier]

111. Enough

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSLvq0nc6_tKNUMEBvYHvYZBeK0RGwHvJGPCBx2cquX0mrxn67cD8d1YNTKuw&s

[J_William_Ryan]

119. "Many of Sanders' aides and top allies are convinced they should have gone for Biden's jugular."

...and get Trump reelected as a result.

[seaglass]

120. How unoriginal. I already read this 3-4 days ago. n/t

[betsuni]

121. And ignore any Republican's jugular, never going for the knockout blow.

[MineralMan]

131. Politico, with some help, from political writers with agendas, is still stirring the shit.

It is time to leave off this kind of garbage. Truly.

[lapucelle]

135. "Some Sanders aides think he should have used the period between Nevada and South Carolina to appear

presidential and broaden his appeal, including to seniors. That was the idea behind a sit-down interview he did with Anderson Cooper on “60 Minutes.”

Instead, he spent much of his time doubling down on defending positive comments he made in the 1980s about Cuban dictator Fidel Castro’s education program.

Aides said that weakened his case on the single-most important issue to Democratic voters: beating President Donald Trump."

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/10/inside-bernies-sanders-campaign-nosedive-179576

Despite Politico's clickbait headline, the article seems to be a compendium of the mistakes and missteps of the campaign and candidate that goes far beyond "going for the jugular on Joe Biden -- which (by the way) Vanity Fair documented the campaign doing in January 2020.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/01/bernie-tries-to-dent-bidens-black-voter-lead

[GeorgiaPeanut]

140. I love the news of an autopsy in the morning

[GeorgiaPeanut]

141. Holly Otterbein

Her biased reporting didn't work

So she is now doing what other partisan bros are doing -- trying to post stories about smearing Biden.

[ehrnst]

144. They didn't go for the jugular?

I assume the author isn't on twitter or has seen Sirota or Brie's feed?

The warrenisasnake hashtag certainly wasn't discouraged by the campaign...

[Gothmog]

148. Barack Obama wins the Democratic primary

Link to tweet

Obama mostly stuck to his pledge not to interfere in the race, but in 2019 there was one enormously important exception. In mid-November at a Democratic donor event he weighed in forcefully on the left vs. centrist argument that was then dominating the race. He warned Democratic candidates not to confuse actual voters with “left-leaning Twitter feeds.” He said that voters “don’t want to see crazy stuff,” that America is “less revolutionary than it is interested in improvement,” and that politicians pushing immigration policies that deny the existence of a border “may be in for a rude shock.”

If there was a casualty of Obama’s comments, it might have been Elizabeth Warren, who lost her lead in both Iowa and New Hampshire (to Pete Buttigieg) that same week and never regained it. Obama’s warning about the electoral consequences of leftism may have been the most important moment of the 2019 pre-primary season. At the time of those comments, several of Obama’s closest advisers, who all opposed Sanders, told me in interviews that Sanders was a spent force, a mistake that many observers made at the time. Obama was publicly silent for the remainder of the campaign. But one of his closest advisers issued a warning: “If Bernie were running away with it, I think maybe we would all have to say something.”...

But some of his aides now concede that behind the scenes Obama played a role in nudging things in Biden’s direction at the crucial moment when the Biden team was organizing former candidates to coalesce around Biden.

“I know he did a few things,” said one longtime close adviser to Obama. “He was talking to Biden regularly in that period. I don’t know exactly what he said, but you can speculate! It’s noteworthy that he called Klobuchar and the others right when they got out.”

A person with knowledge of Obama’s conversation with Buttigieg after the former Indiana mayor exited the race explained it this way: “Obama talked to Pete the night that Pete dropped out. When Pete told Obama that he was 99.9 percent of the way there in terms of endorsing Biden, I would say that Obama was encouraging. But I would also say that Obama was very careful not to be seen as putting a thumb on the scale. He and the people close to him are very careful about the optics — the 2016-style optics. Sanders and his supporters had reason to believe the party put the thumb on the scale for Hillary in 2016 and he wanted to avoid that. Obama wasn’t the driving force, but he was encouraging of people who had those instincts to rally around Biden. But he was very cautious and discreet in how he operated.”