'Audience Full of Rich People'? $1,750+ Ticket Prices for Democratic Debate Spark Disgust

[Uncle Joe]

Unusually loud booing and jeering directed disproportionately at Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren during Tuesday night's Democratic presidential debate—particularly when the senators criticized billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg—sparked probing questions about the class composition of the audience packed inside the Gaillard Center in Charleston, South Carolina.

Journalists and other observers pointed to local reporting from Feb. 6 on the Charleston County Democratic Party's offer of a $1,750 to $3,200 sponsorship package that included tickets to the Charleston debate and other events.

(snip)

Sanders was booed for highlighting Bloomberg's "strong and enthusiastic base of support" among fellow billionaires:

Warren was booed and jeered for pointing to inappropriate comments Bloomberg allegedly made to women employees:

Asked about the crowd's behavior in an interview following the debate, Sanders said "to get a ticket to the debate, you had to be fairly wealthy."

"Most working people that I know don't spend $1,700 to get a ticket to a debate," Sanders said.

(snip)

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/26/audience-full-rich-people-1750-ticket-prices-democratic-debate-sparks-disgust

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Most of the tickets were free.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287587060

[DemocracyMouse]

3. So those rich, billionaire-friendly Democrats (oxymoron?) got free tickets AND tax breaks?

Grrrrrrrrr.

Sanders and Warren, please. With roses 🌹.

[brooklynite]

7. What tax breaks did they get?

I supported the Democratic Party. I got debate tickets. I didn't get a tax break.

[Hoyt]

18. Would like to hear the answer to that too.

[George II]

34. It wasn't all billionaires who were at the debate. There were a number of college students....

....community leaders, local activists, etc.

[octoberlib]

25. All debates are done this way but nobody

heard a peep of complaint until Sanders got booed.

[George II]

35. Precisely.

[ehrnst]

40. That's one way to express one's approval of a false rumor that benefits a particular candidate,

isn't it?

[awesomerwb1]

2. If they all got the same amount of tickets

then this is complete BS if they're using this as an excuse. Oh commondreams....nevermind.

[DemocracyMouse]

8. So you don't have a heart for the majority of Americans whose common dreams are

to have a share of the American dream?

Where is your meanness coming from? I'd really like to know.

[awesomerwb1]

27. LOL

"Common dreams" as in the website.

[JudyM]

22. The report from the state is vague about how the tickets were divided up.

Ok, each of the candidates got the same number of seats. Saying the rest of the tickets were divided up doesn’t mean they were divided equally, and most of the groups they were given to seem to be party loyalists. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but they would tend to oppose the kind of systemic change that is emblematic of Liz and Bernie’s platforms.

[ehrnst]

33. You're making too much sense.

[mia]

5. Excuses, excuses.

Some people may not like Bernie. Really.

[DemocracyMouse]

11. With no reasons? You just want to keep the status quo?

You must be benefitting from it.

[mia]

23. Sanders is working against the Democratic party.

You must want Trump to win again.

[ehrnst]

29. I watched it on my "status quo" television. I didn't pay anything...

[ehrnst]

31. That can't POSSIBLY be true....

what about the SURGE? There have been all kinds of surges!

[Hoyt]

6. Sanders and Warren strike me as the type who will blame someone when things go badly.

[Hoyt]

16. I checked some facts before posting. Maybe you should have too.

https://www.salon.com/2020/02/26/did-bloomberg-buy-the-debate-crowd-1750-ticket-prices-for-south-carolina-debate-spark-outrage_partner/

https://www.vox.com/2020/2/25/21153769/south-carolina-democratic-debate-tickets

[ehrnst]

36. I think Sanders more than Warren.

She respects data, and has the ability to look at it with an open mind, and actually acknowledge that she may have been mistaken about something.

Sanders? Wel...

[Raine]

9. DISGUSTING

if true.

[left-of-center2012]

10. Just more mud throwing by Bloomberg haters

[DemocracyMouse]

17. Bloomberg pushed many of the poor and middle class out of New York.

He eliminated city jobs for thousands of struggling New Yorkers after 9/11. Where was his solidarity and patriotism?

My family was undermined by that man.

You know zip about what he and other billionaires represent in this country.

[ehrnst]

37. What does this have to do with the OP or the topic of the debate?

No disrespect to anyone who was harmed, but that's a different issue.

[LanternWaste]

41. Creative little paint-by-numbers you colored for yourself. Again.

(hey... just thought I climb on board with you and simply throw out stuff, real or imagined. I get the appeal now, and understand why you do it so often)

[FiveGoodMen]

12. Disgust is right!

[George II]

14. All of the tickets were FREE. Some were resold for high prices, many were not. Does anyone know...

....the REAL story or just false generalizations?

Why is there so much zeal in bashing the Democratic Party?

[msongs]

15. fans of 3 home owning multi millionaire raking in tens of millions are easily disgusted lol nt

[rzemanfl]

20. Bookmarking. n/t

[frazzled]

21. This is becoming a "Truther"-level scam

Give it up, because everyone knows this allegation is utterly unfounded.

“Let me give you the facts: The tickets were divided up between the DNC, campaigns (with equal allocation), SC Dem Party, CBCI (Congressional Black Caucus Institute), CBS and Twitter. We invited local and community leaders, and DNC supporters. This is the most diverse audience,” the party’s communications director, Xochitl Hinojosa, said on Twitter.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/25/us/politics/south-carolina-debate-audience.html

[octoberlib]

26. All because Bernie got booed.

[progressoid]

24. Twitter had tickets?

[YOHABLO]

28. S.C.is a conservative state and Charleston is a tony city.

So it is of no surprise that the audience might come from a higher tax bracket and would support a candidate tied to Wall Street and Corporate America. This is Lyndsey Graham country.

[mcar]

30. ...

[mgcgulfcoast]

32. It was obvious the halled was packed against warren/sanders

[lapucelle]

38. I wonder how/where protestors and hecklers got tickets for the IA, NH, and NV debates.

The same "sponsorship" system for tickets was also used in the previous debates.

Sponsorship ranges from $1,750 to $3,200 each for attendance to multiple “First in the South” events.

Charleston County Democratic Party Chair Colleen Condon said neither the state nor local party knows how many tickets will be available to the general public. She said tickets are first handed out to organizers. Then, campaigns may get some tickets to disperse among supporters.

"This is something that the average person doesn’t usually get to go to," Condon said. "The Gaillard is only so big and this is something that is just a hot ticket from across the country. These kind of events really are set up for sponsors and things like that."

Condon also added that the ticket system is not unique to the Charleston debate.

“It’s completely usual,” Condon said. "This is exactly what’s happening in New Hampshire for their debate, Nevada’s debate and Iowa’s debate and so on.

https://www.live5news.com/2020/02/06/charleston-voters-express-confusion-frustration-over-presidential-debate-accessibility/

[ehrnst]

39. Debunked:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287587959

You're welcome.