Scenes from Bernie's dispirited would-be victory party

[TexasTowelie]

By HOLLY OTTERBEIN

02/04/2020 09:53 PM EST


ABOARD BERNIE SANDERS’ CHARTER PLANE TO NEW HAMPSHIRE — The political revolution was put on hold.

When Bernie Sanders’ campaign was preparing for a potential win in the first 2020 contest Monday, his aides and allies envisioned him giving a primetime victory speech, raising millions of dollars from small-dollar donors amid their ecstatic high, and savoring proving so many elites wrong at a party at the Holiday Inn.

Instead, Sanders and his senior aides found themselves working to reassure demoralized and shaken staffers and volunteers on Tuesday.

In a last-minute all-staff call around noon, Sanders’ campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, told aides that the Iowa Democratic Party had been incompetent and the delayed results were frustrating. But, he said, it was critical to appreciate what had just happened despite receiving the most negative news coverage of any 2020 campaign.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/04/scenes-bernie-would-be-victory-party-110791

[Cha]

1. KR!

Gracias, TT

[krissey]

2. I think it is more telling the postures and body language of people in the background.

Heads down, following Sanders with eyes, hand around their mouths.

[Cha]

5. Absolutely

[ChubbyStar]

15. Two days in on DU and a body expert as well

What a gift! Thanks for sharing krissey. Welcome.

[sheshe2]

30. That is not very nice, ChubbyStar.

Two days or seven years in, not hard to read his face.

[dware]

43. Wow!!!

The length of membership dig.

[ChubbyStar]

44. Sorry Danny

That wasn't it. Thanks for your reply.

[dware]

46. Well then, why even mention the persons length of membership?

[Cha]

48. Good question

[ChubbyStar]

53. Mystery huh?

[dware]

54. Not willing to answer the ?

Hmmmm, I wonder why.

[ChubbyStar]

55. Why because I am afraid, intimidated, crouching waiting for an answer to come?

Nope. Simple answer Danny you just don't seem like someone I want to engage with.

[dware]

57. LOL.

You're funny.

[krissey]

59. lol. Made me laugh.

[dware]

63. Yeah, his/her response was a tad bit

evasive about questioning your length of membership.

BTW, welcome to DU.

[Cha]

110. "2 days" 18 years.. same conclusion.

[Me.]

28. Welcome To DU

Just because you've only been here for a few days doesn't mean you don't know what you're talking about. People sometimes have a tendency to take their disappointment out on the wrong people. After all, it wasn't you who didn't meet certain expectations.

[sheshe2]

32. Thanks, Me.

[dware]

45. Well said Me..;

That happened to me also, but, unbeknowest to the person, I first joined in 2001 when DU first started up, but life intervened and I had to take a 15 year hiatus.

After I made that reply, I didn't hear anything else from that person about my length of time here.

[Cha]

49. Glad you came back to DU after life intervened

for so long!

[dware]

51. Thank you Cha.

[Me.]

61. :)

[krissey]

60. I took a nap and had some food.

Then wow. Thank you.

[Me.]

62. ...

[Cha]

98. Mahalo, Me..

[Me.]

99. Aloha Hoa

[sheshe2]

34. You are correct.

A sincere welcome to DU.

Hang in there. It is not easy to be new here.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

35. You mean the ones that look like they are doing work?

And are frustrated? Aren't all Dem candidates frustrated with Iowa and the clusterfuck there?

[Cha]

64. I think she meant what she actually posted.

[Gothmog]

103. Welcome to DU

[msongs]

3. bernie lays an egg in Iowa lol nt

[Cuthbert Allgood]

36. Biden lays an egg in Iowa. Fixed it for you.

Tied for first is not laying an egg.

[Love-All]

65. I agree, Biden laid an egg, not Bernie.

[Cha]

108. Pete Won Iowa.

[Cha]

70. No.. sorry, you didn't "fix" anything.

[TexasTowelie]

71. It is laying an egg because Bernie was touted to win overwhelmingly. nt

[Cha]

109. Exactly.. and it was under

[George II]

97. Considering the all-out effort his campaign put into Iowa, that's "laying an egg". Remember....

...he claimed 25,000 volunteers in Iowa, he got 45,000 votes - that's less than 2 votes per volunteer, INCLUDING those who would have voted for him anyway.

He touted a "massive grass roots movement" that generated less than 2 votes per worker. Plus, his self-proclaimed huge GOTV effort resulted in less than the turnout in 2016.

Those are two laid eggs of ostrich magnitude.

[lapucelle]

100. No one is reporting a tie. Buttegeig is ahead.

BS finished in the same place that he always finishes in Iowa.

Second.

[lapucelle]

101. Buttegeig was just declared the winner.

[saidsimplesimon]

4. Thanks Holly and father Joe.

[HarlanPepper]

6. Well, the results are what the results are.

[McKim]

7. That Was Then, This is Now

That was then, this is now. With the results of Iowa trickling in, I would say that Sanders is now on the upswing. I am hoping that he does well. Most of all, I hope The Democratic Party will listen to his supporters and incorporate his ideas into the platform. While Warren is my first choice, I like Sanders’ ideas and support him for what he wants to do for struggling Americans.

[krissey]

8. He needed a landslide. He knows it. His people knows it. He thought he had it.

It does not really matter where the numbers settle. Not going to be what he needs.

[ChubbyStar]

16. LOL!

You are killing me krissey

[ehrnst]

20. Put a bit of a dent in that aura of inevitability that so many of his

supporters are frantically trying to create, didn't it?

[krissey]

21. I think so. By Sanders face, I think he thinks so, too.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

38. You're talking about Biden, right?

Because he was the annointed one going into Iowa. And got 4th. I mean, he beat your choice. And Yang. So there's that. But Sanders is basically tied for first and, if the trends in these last precincts go the same, he'll win. So I think he's happy. Pete did great, for sure.

[krissey]

58. Gut punch for Biden. Pretty sure Sanders is not happy. He fell well under expectation.

Yes, it is fun to see Buttigieg do so well. I preferred Warren surprising us a bit with a better than expect performance but she did ok.

A caucus of young, white and rural is not Warren or Biden's demographic.

[Cha]

66. No.. Biden wasn't the "annointed one" as you keep

asserting.

Iowa isn't diverse enough for Biden's coalition.

[krissey]

76. Biden has votes in Iowa, they just aren't going to sit in a caucus all day.

Who know how Iowa actually feels but after really learning about caucus watching Iowa Monday, so many Democrats were not able to vote on who they wanted. I find that appalling there is a process to pick a nominee by making it so very hard to vote for so many. It is what it is, but not reflective of what people want. Look at Washington in 2016. With the caucus Sanders won hands down. When people voted in the next round, Hillary won solidly and many many more people participated. This doesn't make sense to me.

[Cha]

77. You're right.. I didn't add my ususal.. and it's a "Caucus" state

to my post. It's not Democratic at all and does not "make sense".

Thank Goodness Washington State has switched to Primary Voting this year!

Thank you for your post, krissy.

[helpisontheway]

72. What poll showed Biden winning in Iowa? Every poll

I saw always had the others leading in Iowa.

[emmaverybo]

80. How come he looks so glum?

[questionseverything]

87. he already has won the popular vote just not the delegates for sure

[ehrnst]

88. Did you read the OP?

You think he's "pretty happy?"



"I mean, he beat your choice."

Is that where you've landed in trying to make someone else shut up about your candidate not living up to their own and their supporters' hype?

It shows more fear of failure than confidence in the hype. You may want to get that fear under control....

[LanternWaste]

90. Bernie failed miserably in taking the commanding and suRgIng victory as projected

And let's not pretend that anyone argued Biden would take the blue ribbon. That would be disingenuous of you at best.

IA was Bernie's to win. He didn't.

[NYMinute]

81. They had planned it by packing caucuses with college students

enticed with free tuition

In some places, 75% of the attendees were college students

[krissey]

83. Right. This was Sanders day. Until it wasn't.

[ehrnst]

89. Also energetic enough to wear down other delegates. Flexible schedules,

No kids to find childcare for...no full timehourly job that they would need to get off...

As we've seen, primaries tell a very different story about candidates than caucuses.

And this one is a new story about a candidate who historically does best in caucuses for the reasons above...

[Gothmog]

9. For this thread

Link to tweet

[Cha]

11. Mahalo!

[Gothmog]

37. Hey Cha

[Cha]

42. lol.. looks like you've upset

someone.

Thank you again!

[Cha]

52. & Retweeted!

[Cha]

10. KICK!

[totodeinhere]

12. If the Bernie camp is dispirited then think of what Biden must be feeling.

A two-term vice president under President Obama can place no better than fourth?

[ehrnst]

14. This has just got to be a complete disappointment, I know.

But Biden can smile knowing that he's earning endorsements from his Senate colleagues, who like and respect him.

And Buttigieg can certainly smile knowing that he's pulling ahead of someone with a whole lot more name recognition and a far, far bigger email list than the candidate, and for whom an aura of inevitability is being desperately pushed all over the internets.

[ChubbyStar]

17. Fuck YES!

But stop, everyone hated Iowa, she was awful, she isn't a 10, we never wanted Iowa......said the candidate that finished fourth. Corn pop!

[LV487]

18. Biden's fourth place finish

is embarrassing. This is the guy who took on CornPop, should've been good for at least second place.

[Cha]

24. Not to me.. it's non diverse Iowa with caucuses

that had a low turnout.

Good on Pete, though!

[Cha]

23. Of course Biden didn't win non diverse caucus Iowa..

He's resilient.. so no worries.

And, I'm actually happy for Pete!

[Cuthbert Allgood]

40. I'm happy for Pete, too, but I remember

oh, long way back, like last week, when all the talk was about how Biden was going to buy Sanders in Iowa. I don't remember "Iowa isn't important and it will be ok when Biden shits the bed." But, hey, link me to where you said that, or anything like that, and I'll admit I'm wrong.

[Cha]

67. You should know Iowa is Not Biden's Demographic.. So

he wasn't expected to win.

Your insults are not helping BS.

[emmaverybo]

31. Not expected to do well in small, white, homogeneous progressive-friendly state, but predicted to

get some big wins in swing a and Southern states. Still predicted that Biden will take many more states than Sanders and triumph in delegate numbers. Biden has wider appeal across the nation, AA support Sanders will never have (has not earned it), and his polling in swing and Southern states still shows him way ahead.

Biden also still leads nationally. We have had one state vote so far. No one has yet lost the nomination or sealed it. Bernie needed the win more than Biden. Should have been a natural at winning Iowa, especially at pulling ahead of a mayor who until recently did not have a national profile

[NYMinute]

82. Biden doesn't need IA or NH - tiny non-diverse irrelevant states

[totodeinhere]

93. And that's why he has spent so much time and money campaigning in those

two states that he doesn't need, right?

[ehrnst]

13. A picture is worth 1000 words, isn't it?

[Cha]

25. omg

[Gothmog]

19. This makes me smile

Link to tweet

[Cha]

104. Excellent point.

[NurseJackie]

22. So... Is he angry? Is Jane angry? (Hard to tell.)

[ehrnst]

26. Remembering that story about him and those restaurant staff

and I am glad not to be on that plane.

[Me.]

29. Tell Me This

Why is Jane always in the picture or on stage next to him?

[radical noodle]

56. He looks like he always does to me n/t

[helpisontheway]

74. No that is not the angry face that he has 95% of the time. He looks disappointed.nt

[calguy]

27. I'm waiting for South Carolina

And then super Tuesday. We'll know a lot more then. I don't think Bernie will be smiling then either.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

41. South Carolina. That state that Dems will NEVER win in the general.

It's really important who they want for President.

[calguy]

50. Are you saying that Democrats in South Carolina should have no say in who our nominee should be?

Perhaps I misunderstood your comment.

[Cha]

69. Turns out it is Important who POC Want for our

Nominee.

They are the Democratic Party's most Loyal Base.. they always get out and VOTE in High NUMBERS!

[TexasTowelie]

73. I recall comments about the South not being important in other elections.

It's discouraging to see DUers be so dismissive of voters. I'm in Texas so I can only surmise that you believe that my vote doesn't matter either.

[Cha]

79. Gracias, TexasT.. Well said!

[Gothmog]

85. Same here

[Gothmog]

84. From what I have seen, the Democrat May be able to defeat Graham

[Cha]

47. Yes, South Carolina where they are Much more Diverse

and will be indicative of Biden's POC support throughout the Nation.

[emmaverybo]

33. Defeat writ large. He needed to win. Only going to get more challenging after NH.

[katmondoo]

68. Why is Sanders always so mean and angry looking?

[helpisontheway]

75. Always...Grumpy old man. Nt

[ehrnst]

91. Well, he recently told the NYT staff "he doesn't do pleasantries"

because that's the way someone who focused on saving the world is - they "don't tolerate bullshit," like saying "happy birthday" to someone.

[Cha]

94. smh

[democratisphere]

78. CART before HORSE is typical HERE.

I'll be glad when the HORSE is put out to pasture.

[betsuni]

86. K&R

[cwydro]

92. Well, this didn't age well.

[TexasTowelie]

96. I doubt that Bernie is holding a victory party based on these results.

A relative unknown managed to come to what is essentially a tie in a race that Bernie was supposed to win overwhelmingly. Looking at all of the money that Bernie spent in Iowa and the lackluster results, I would say that there is no joy in Mudville.

[murielm99]

95. K&R

[MontanaMama]

102. Isn't that Bernie's normal facial expression?

Not trying to be sassy or anything...but that’s what the guy looks like.

[Tarheel_Dem]

105. Tee-hee!

[Gothmog]

106. SNL had fun with sanders and his nasty supporters

Link to tweet

[Cha]

107. Yeah they did..