The Secret History of Sanders's Plot to Primary Obama

[Gothmog]

This is going to be used more and more https://politicalwire.com/2020/02/19/the-secret-history-of-sanderss-plot-to-primary-obama/

“Bernie Sanders got so close to running a primary challenge to President Barack Obama that Senator Harry Reid had to intervene to stop him.”

“It took Reid two conversations over the summer of 2011 to get Sanders to scrap the idea.”

“That summer, Sanders privately discussed a potential primary challenge to Obama with several people, including Patrick Leahy, his fellow Vermont senator. Leahy, alarmed, warned Jim Messina, Obama’s presidential reelection-campaign manager… David Plouffe, another Obama strategist, confirmed Messina’s account, as did another person familiar with what happened.”

[question everything]

1. And Perez still allows him to be on the ballot without a minimum requirement to change affiliation

[Tweedy]

35. DNC chair Perez did not allow anything

The rules allow it.

Remember as Will Rogers said "I'm not a member of an organized political party. I'm a democrat." 😉

Democrats don't anoint dear leaders.

The GOP used to fall in line; now, it bends the knee. What is next for them? Crawling to kiss the feet of the "short" toed vulgarian?

[Moderateguy]

41. You have to admit

Falling in line and bending the knew gets them the election victories they want.... Meanwhile the left stays on the sidelines because their candidate is not “pure” enough— and this is not limited to the US

[Tweedy]

43. Total mind control is easier, 😉

But whose mind is doing the controlling?

I am not willing to cede my reason to anybody. The GOP can keep its stepford voters, all lined up to kiss the feet of their dear leader.

Doubt you want that either.

If you mean we should not make the perfect the enemy of the ever so much better, I could not agree with you more.

[dem4decades]

2. Quite the team player it would seem.

[OKNancy]

3. Link to the Atlantic article

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/02/sanders-obama-primary-challenge/606709/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

[greatauntoftriplets]

9. Thanks for posting this.

Hats off to Harry Reid for his intervention.

[Gothmog]

75. Thank you for posting this

[CalFione]

4. Bernie has been trying to destroy the Democratic party for years

And he's getting closer to his goal.

[OnDoutside]

7. I had the horrible realization that if he gets the nomination, he could

do to the Democratic Party, what Trump is doing to the GOP. Two authoritarians.

Bloomberg appears to be a loose tongued asshole but at least he has a track record of being a moderate.

[emmaverybo]

26. I don't call his NYC record moderate.

[Doremus]

34. Tell me again why we need a moderate?

It's not like we haven't had them for 40 years, right?

Look at where we are and tell me how a moderate will fix it. I'm all ears.

BTW, Bloomie is the authoritarian, not Sanders. Did you know they had term limits in NYC until Mike wanted to stay a few extra years and told them to change the law for him? Yes, it happened.

[Tweedy]

39. True and yet

Agree about Mayor Bloomberg's constitutional amendment to keep power. That move had the outline of, and stop & frisk (mayor Giuliani's brain child) is fully fleshed authoritianism.

Agree labels are meaningless.

Disagree about Bernie somewhat. Obviously, he is not an authoritarian.

Senator Sanders sure does like hurling stones at folks engaged in the political fray and that is a problem.

We need people who will get things done, not stand on the sidelines and judge the people moving the ball imho. In 2009, we almost got NOTHING on health care because of the stone throwers. Thank goodness for Obamacare (& Speaker Pelosi).

President Obama moved the ball forward on healthcare despite the stone throwers. Without him, nothing like Medicare for all would be remotely possible now.

Will Bernie support ALL democratic candidates as the nominee, for example -- or will he continue to trash "the democratic establishment" like some '60's throwback and help the GOP?

[OnDoutside]

57. No, both of them are authoritarian. And neither of them are Democrats.

[ace3csusm]

5. If true why would he do this, what possible good would this produce

We had a democratic in the office only reason to do this is self fulfillment, only outcome this would have produce is split democratic vote, Romney would have easily won 2012...

[HopeAgain]

6. Yeah ya'll are right...

Bernie should run as an independent...

How would THAT work out in the General? Be careful for what you wish for...

[Midnight Writer]

8. Ha! Threatening our Party again. How can I resist supporting such a lovable bunch?

[HopeAgain]

10. Not threatening, which would you prefer?

Seems like he's playing by your rules...

[Midnight Writer]

14. So if he doesn't get his win, he should run Independent and blow the whole thing up?

Split the Party and give Trump and the Republicans an easy election victory?

Is that your non-threatening proposal?

Is that what you prefer?

And flipping the gameboard when I don't win a game is not my rule. If Bernie wins, I will work for him. If he doesn't, I will work for someone else. How about you?

[HopeAgain]

15. That is not what I am saying

I am saying he did not do that and run as an Independent, and yet you keep saying he shouldn't run as a Democrat - Which would you prefer???

[Midnight Writer]

16. I have never said Sanders shouldn't run as a Democrat. I quote you "He should run as an Independent"

And you followed that with "You should be careful what you wish for".

[Blue_Tires]

18. There's the door, big guy

I'll call your bluff all day... Y'all ain't infallible, invincible or indispensable. See how fast St. Bern's money and organizing power dries up without party backing...

If he had a snowball's chance in fucking hell without the Dems, he would have gone it alone, wouldn't he?

[Demsrule86]

29. Another threat? Let him...who cares we lose anyway if he is the nominee and yes I vote blue.

[katmondoo]

30. I have seen Bernie as a Trump light type of person.

[uponit7771]

50. Or Bernie should put the country first? That'd be great

[Baitball Blogger]

11. Well, good thing he didn't because he would have become a Ralph Nader.

[HopeAgain]

13. Exactly my point...

So why all the talk he shouldn't be allowed to run as a Democrat?

[Blue_Tires]

19. Yeah, much better to let him implode the party from within instead

Last edited Wed Feb 19, 2020, 04:36 PM - Edit history (1)

Maybe in 2024 we can just nominate a full-on republican since we don't even pretend to give a shit about party standards anymore and then the two ends of the horseshoe will finally meet.

[Demsrule86]

31. If he costs us the election buy losing the general... he will lower in esteem than Ralph Nader.

[Baitball Blogger]

46. Maybe we should ask ourselves why someone like Bernie is doing so well

in a Democratic primary and why the other Democrats are not.

We have an extremely, almost dysfunctional size tent. If we cater to one end, the other side is not happy. The only seemingly workable way to bring us together is to point out that we don't want a Republican to win. It's surreal.

At least this time around, Trump is going to be so hampered by revelations of his crooked past that the winner of the Democratic primary is going to walk into the Oval Office. We just need to ride this through without shooting ourselves in the foot.

[Demsrule86]

59. He isn't doing well...he would be losing by a landslide without so many candidates...in the end

I don't think he wins the nomination...hope not or we lose a general.

[Baitball Blogger]

60. That is defeatist. We have no other choice but support whoever makes it past the primary.

We have to be optimistic.

What I'm trying to tell you is that Bernie is appealing to people who don't feel the Democratic party is listening to them. No one knows how much impact he's made with minorities until the primary. But if he wins, it's because he's bringing in new voters.

Frankly, if he wins, I will pray that the revelations against Trump become so unacceptable, that it deflates Republican turn-out.

[Demsrule86]

61. I will vote for him in the general...but rather than my usual campaign work...I will be all in to

save the house which his nomination endangers...I believe we lose the General...and we must save the house otherwise Trump wins it all.

[Baitball Blogger]

62. Your work will be important.

I understand how you feel.

[Gothmog]

66. Loot what happened later

Link to tweet

[Mme. Defarge]

12. Russia's ace in the hole?

[Skidmore]

64. Yup. nt

[Blue_Tires]

17. This isn't new...

Sanders has never tried to his his utter hatred for Hillary, Obama and Dems as a whole... This is why he and Trump are kindred spirits and this is why I wonder how in fuck's name would he govern if he sees *both* parties as equal enemies??

[Gothmog]

22. The Hidden History of Sanders's Plot to Primary Obama

The article in the Atlantic had some facts that I had not heard before https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/02/sanders-obama-primary-challenge/606709/

Sanders got so close to running a primary challenge to President Barack Obama that Senator Harry Reid had to intervene to stop him.

It took Reid two conversations over the summer of 2011 to get Sanders to scrap the idea, according to multiple people who remember the incident, which has not been previously reported.

That summer, Sanders privately discussed a potential primary challenge to Obama with several people, including Patrick Leahy, his fellow Vermont senator. Leahy, alarmed, warned Jim Messina, Obama’s presidential reelection-campaign manager. Obama’s campaign team was “absolutely panicked” by Leahy’s report, Messina told me, since “every president who has gotten a real primary has lost a general [election].”

David Plouffe, another Obama strategist, confirmed Messina’s account, as did another person familiar with what happened. (A spokesman for Leahy did not comment when asked several times about his role in the incident.)

Messina called Reid, then the Senate majority leader, who had built a strong relationship with Sanders but was also fiercely defensive of Obama. What could you be thinking? Reid asked Sanders, according to multiple people who remember the conversations. You need to stop.

Sanders didn’t end up running against Obama. But their relationship didn’t improve in the years that followed. In another incident, in 2013, Sanders laid into Obama in a private meeting he held with Democratic senators, saying that the president was selling out to Republicans over Social Security benefits. (More on that incident, which has also not been previously reported, below.)

[Blue_Tires]

23. Reid should have let him run

Obama would have wiped the fucking floor with that MMQB pretender...

And fuck Sanders for all those bullshit reasons why he screeched about a sitting president needing a primary challenge, he of course hasn't said shit about Trump needing a primary challenger, has he?

What St. Bern *SHOULD* have been doing back then was *HELP* Obama, not to heckle from the sidelines, talk down to him like he was a servant and denigrate him behind his back... Yeah, good luck galvanizing the black vote now, fuckwit...

Full disclosure -- I held my nose and voted for Sanders in the 2016 primary (Virginia) because even though he seemed shady and his supporters stark-raving insane, I was willing to overlook all that because his politics on the surface were the most closely aligned to mine. But since then his mask has come off (because it's too small to cover his colossal ego) and he's proven repeatedly to be nothing but Trump in a liberal wrapper. The party *never* should have let him run as a Dem again, but that's a rant for another thread.

[Blue_Tires]

25. +1

Link to tweet

[Cha]

73. I have thought about it..

Thank you for this, Blue Tires..

[HarlanPepper]

20. Exhibit A on why I won't vote for the man.

First black president who inspired millions

Got things done.

Did the job with dignity.

But hey he failed the fucking purity test so let’s toss him out like garbage. Anyone who claimed to be on our side but who wanted him primaried is a POS in my book.

[musette_sf]

33. + 1

[Zolorp]

21. A Sanders nomination will destroy our party worse than Trump is destroying the Republicans

And it's obvious that has been Sanders'goal all along.

[redstatebluegirl]

38. I think it is more like our version of the tea party with all of the purity tests.

[Talitha]

24. There's always hope.... maybe we'll find out the details

of his medical condition when he suddenly drops (out of the race or into a care unit - doesn't matter to me).

[Dream Girl]

76. +1

[tonedevil]

27. Who was this a secret from?

If you weren't paying attention during the 2011 run up to the Presidential election, the Clinton campaign had it on blast all during the 2016 Democratic contest. It's a perfectly legitimate issue since there are lots of people who are offended by any attempts at primarying, but either I am a lot more clued in than the average so-and-so (a very doubtful hypotheses) or the use of the word secret is inaccurate.

[uponit7771]

49. Dem base, we know a primary challenge is a death nail to ANY incumbent. Why would Sanders want to do

... this to Obama?

Sanders suggested Obama be primaried but I didn't know he was going ahead with plans to do so.

[tonedevil]

58. The concern you express...

which I don't share is why I think it is a legitimate topic. I just thought it was pretty out in the open when it was happening and it was rehashed endlessly during the 2016 primary.

[juliuswest]

28. Wanting to particiate in Democracy

That's horrible, glad he decided not to (not that it would've mattered in 2012)

[Demsrule86]

32. He would have likely cost us the presidency...but of course that is fine with his supporters...

[HarlanPepper]

36. Purity of essence.

[Tweedy]

44. Gotta protect those precious bodily fluids

[democrattotheend]

37. I'm as big of an Obama supporter as almost anyone here

But I'm not offended that Bernie thought about challenging him in the primary. Bernie wouldn't have gotten my vote in 2012 in the primaries, but I don't think anyone is entitled to the nomination, not even a sitting president.

[Gothmog]

40. Even if such primary helped to elect Romney?

[Tweedy]

45. You are right

Yet, this is another example of how Senator Sanders has made the perfect (as defined by him) the enemy of the ever so much better.

Should Senator Sanders be our nominee, we do not have time to play that game for two years while nothing gets better for anyone.

Looks like any of our candidates will beat the current office holder. After all, none of our candidates are sadists. What happens after that victory is what is troubling about Senator Sanders.

[uponit7771]

48. A primary challenge has always been a garuntee lost for incumbent. If not for that you'd be right ..

... about Sanders but with a primary challenge that means Obama loses and that's bad.

[democrattotheend]

71. If Sanders had run against Obama in 2012

I would have supported Obama 100%. I don't disagree that it would have made his reelection a little tougher, but I don't like the idea of blackballing someone just for considering running a primary challenge against an incumbent. Primary challenges, or even the threat of one, keep presidents accountable to the base that helped get them the nomination.

[uponit7771]

72. Not just tougher a guaranteed loss that's where we're at

[Cha]

70. That's nice.. I lost all respect for Sanders then

and there.

[Gothmog]

42. In 2011, Bernie explained why he'd never run for POTUS:

Link to tweet

[betsuni]

53. Well that's ironic.

[Cha]

56. That Should Be An OP.. Thanks Goth.

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

63. Sanders knew that he would elect Romney if he primaried President Obama in 2012

sanders primaried Hillary Clinton in 2016 and now we have trump as POTUS. sanders is now helping to re-elect trump. If sanders is the nominee, trump will win 45+ states

[Cha]

68. Exactly!

[Squinch]

80. Huh. Wonder why he isn't worried about that now.

[uponit7771]

47. Just WOW !!!

[Gothmog]

65. This article had information that I was not aware of

[CrawlingChaos]

51. This was when Obama was going to cut Social Security

And Bernie saved the day, thank god.

[underthematrix]

52. This is the main reason African Americans like me have such a deep and abiding hatred of Bernie

Sanders. But again, I'm African American and very much part of the Obama coalition. We're not willing to hurt others because of how we "feel". If Bernie is the nominee, I like many others who hate him will vote for him. We will do everything we can to see that he's elected. We would do it out of our love and respect for President Obama. This is what he would want us to do.

[Dream Girl]

79. I have always hated him too. Can't stand the sight of him or the sound of his voice.

For me it’s visceral. Much like with Trump.

[betsuni]

54. K&R

[lapucelle]

55. Anothe conversation that a BS spokesman denied ever happened.

Reid declined to speak about the episode on the record. Asked specifically about the Sanders campaign's insistence that the 2011 conversations never happened, a Reid spokesperson did not deny that the former majority leader talked Sanders down. Reid “won’t get into private conversations.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/02/sanders-obama-primary-challenge/606709/

[Cha]

69. I'm sure..

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

85. There is video

Link to tweet

?s=20

[NCProgressive]

67. KnR

[Gothmog]

74. sanders "once toyed with running in a primary against Obama in 2012,

Link to tweet

[dalton99a]

78. +1

[Squinch]

77. The old dear.

[NoMoreRepugs]

81. Bernie's my way or the highway attitude and long

history of not being a unifier or team player, in the ultimate team sport politics, scares me for the potential future of our Republic should he be our nominee.

[ecstatic]

82. Did he plot to primary Pres Clinton as well?

What was it about Pres Obama that suddenly made Sanders so interested in the presidency?

[Gothmog]

83. According to sanders , Obama was "weak," "disappointing," "demoralizing," and should've been primari

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

84. Biden campaign is out with a new digital attack ad against Sanders

Link to tweet

[Cha]

86. Good.. well earned.