Let Me Tell You About the Debate "Audience" In Milwaukee

[cali]

I LIVE in the Milwaukee area, so you’d think I could manage to wrangle a ticket to tonight’s debate, right? Wrong! The closest I could come was the chance of “winning” a ticket via the Wisconsin Democratic Party’s donation request email. I entered for my change of winning the ONE ticket they offered. Never heard from them. I guess I lost. Maybe I should have donated a pile of money to boost my odds.

The debate was held at my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. You think UWM students could get a ticket? Wrong! They had to register for a lottery and then only 25 tickets were handed out to the lucky “winners”.

So….who WAS in the audience? Beats me. Certainly not activists or ordinary citizens. I suspect they were State Party loyalists and hangers-on. Martha Lanning, chair of the Wis Dems, like other members of the establishment, has already endorsed HRC. Otherwise, it was 25 lucky UWM students and 1 lucky winner of the Wisconsin Democratic Party’s email donation contest.

The game was rigged, my friends. Just like the rest of our Democracy has been.

<snip>

It isn’t even a “Milwaukee audience” since all the faces I see are white and Milwaukee is majority non-white.

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/2/11/1483904/-Let-Me-Tell-You-About-the-Debate-Audience-In-Milwaukee

[hoosierlib]

1. Yep...but most voters see through it...

[Enthusiast]

107. I wish I could believe that.

[Cheese Sandwich]

2. All the debate audiences have seen very slanted to me,

much more applause for Hillary even for the most banal repeated talking points.

[Renew Deal]

6. Last night seemed worse than usual.

[Stevepol]

29. I totally agree!

The first applause for each candidate to me startled me it was so obvious. I thought it was rigged from the very beginning. But I thought it was PBS. I shd have known it was the DNC or some off-shoot thereof. HRC got a big roar of applause from something entirely banal and Bernie got a considerably less enthusiastic burst. The difference was obvious thru-out.

[Enthusiast]

108. Yes it did. I think it speaks to the sense of desperation. They have fine tuned their game plan.

It has become more blatant.

[Renew Deal]

3. The audience was clearly stacked last night

It more resembled a republican audience than a Democratic one.

[UglyGreed]

4. DNC invite only

imagine that.

[MrMickeysMom]

99. It's not hard to imagine...

What would I expect from a rigged campaign finance DLC scheme but a RIGGED CAMPAIGN SCHEME?

Here! Here's a shiny object and a bunch of support... Now sit down and DO AS WE TELL YOU TO!

[PeaceNikki]

5. I know seven people who were there.

All from Milwaukee and Madison.

This CT is nonsense.

[cyberswede]

9. Cool - how did they get their tickets?

When Obama came to my university town (during the primary), the county parties in the surrounding area had limited tickets to provide. I got one because I was on the central committee of my county. Most people there were party activists, some Union folks, and some "walk ins" who lined the open walkway above the atrium where he spoke. I had a nice cushy seat down front next to our state's Attorney General.

I wish more college students could have been there, as well as at the debate in the OP.

[PeaceNikki]

15. One is a county chair for Dem party, one is an elected official of the Ho-Chunk Nation,

another is a state legislator, and I didn't ask the others.

[cali]

24. Bwahaha. Thanks for proving the diarist right

[PeaceNikki]

27. What's so funny? More than half are racial minorities. One also a union leader.

I don't know what you think was proven or why it's so hilarious.

[LisaM]

88. You admitted that the Democratic party invited Democrats to a Democratic debate.

Apparently the tickets should have been given out free to a subreddit group with no party affiliation. Or something like that.

[PeaceNikki]

89. natch.

[bettyellen]

111. " the tickets should have been given out free to a subreddit group with no party affiliation" LOL.

otherwise it is a conspiracy!

[MrMickeysMom]

101. Oh, so because a PoC is part of the invited guest list...

... then somehow they should behave any differently than other party hacks?

Is THAT it?

Really?

[PeaceNikki]

102. There wasn't an "invited guest list". Nobody was even asked which candidate they support.

The people who were there are active in the local Democratic party. That's it. No conspiracy.

Two other WI Dems in the thread said they could have gone and I could have as well. And I know several who went... because they wanted to go - not because they are special snowflakes hand-picked by Debbie "The boogylady" Wasserman Schultz.

And nobody was 'vetted' to see who they supported. The idea is preposterous.

[AllyCat]

31. My union was trying to get people to go (SEIU of course).

I suppose a couple of them might have gotten in, but there was no confirmation we would have tickets to get in if we went.

[jham123]

32. bwhahaha X2!!!

Sadly, Peace has no clue what just happened!! lol

[PeaceNikki]

53. All three I mentioned are activists by any and all definition.

Soo....

whatever.

[Armstead]

35. Uh yah...Prove the posters point

Only long time party loyalists need apply?

[PeaceNikki]

52. People who are actively involved. You interpret that as "long time party loyalists"?

lolok

No, they are all Democratic activists.

[Armstead]

55. THere is nothing wrong with being a long time loyalist

But if indeed it were determined by that -- rather than equally given to candidates for their supporters -- it does have a built in bias to Clinton at this point.

If there were indeed an equal distributions of tickets for candidates to , the OP was a CT.

[LisaM]

90. In the new world we're in, apparently being a long-time party loyalist is simply terrible.

I still don't regret supporting people like Tom Harkin and working on his presidential campaign, but I guess that makes me the enemy now. Because you know.

[Armstead]

93. It's not terrible, but its not an excuse

Tom Harkin has long been one of my heroes in the Senate. I felt especially bad for him when he weas valiently putting himself oin the line to save the public option during the ACA debates.

I disagree with him on his choice in the current primary. But he will continue to be one of my heroes, as long as he just focuses on promoting Clinton -- and not bashing and misrepresenting Sanders or insulting his supporters.

If he steps over that line, I'll be pissed and his image will be tarnished with me.

[PeaceNikki]

104. Excuse for what, exactly?

[MrMickeysMom]

100. !!!

[PeaceNikki]

103. What's so ROFL funny? My Ho-Chunk friend? The local Dem chairman/union rep?

What. The Fuck?

[sybylla]

47. You're right. It would be hard for it to be otherwise.

Since it was held in Milwaukee on a weeknight, it's unlikely that more than a quarter of the audience came from outside Milwaukee and Madison areas.

I know a few who carpooled from Ashland, but that required a full day of travel and an overnight stay. Milwaukeans seem to think their city is some kind of magnet for the rest of the state - something we cannot resist going to. Truth is, it's excessively expensive and time-consuming.

[PeaceNikki]

57. Yeah, super shocking that the audience was full of local Democratic activists.

[LisaM]

109. Now it's bad that they came from Milwaukee?

I hope no one from Flint tries to get tickets to the debate in Flint.

[PeaceNikki]

110. They were obviously all cloned versions of Debbie Wasserman Schultz put there by illuminati

[mopinko]

70. add a half dozen progressive activists from ashland.

nonsense indeed.

[mhatrw]

113. Of course you do. You are all in the same club! nt

[PeaceNikki]

114. Yes, it's called the "Democratic Party of Wisconsin".

There are several of us on DU, in fact. A couple in this thread. One I've met at the state convention. And dozens of others who are close friends.

[itsrobert]

7. Donald?

Is that you? Cant win the debate, blame the audience. Cant win a caucus, blame the process.

[jham123]

34. Who won the debate

is not the one you think it is....

Bernie spanked her on so many issues last night, Clinton stumbled all over herself trying to say "Me TOO!" after every response from Bernie.

[itsrobert]

39. Hillary won

Thanks

[rhett o rick]

115. Yep, she won the Biggest Smirk award.

Amassing huge personal wealth and power is her goal, in my opinion. Maybe she really feels for us peons but not to the extent to ruin her chances of gaining wealth and power. Not to the extent that she will ask her billionaire friends to pay their fair share.

I think brioche is the best we can hope for.

[bigtree]

8. OMG, Democrats were in the audience!

...

[Stallion]

13. A Lot of Bernie Fans Aren't Democrats

based on New Hampshire, 41% of the Democratic primary electorate were Independents and he won them with something like 72%. Across the country registered Democrats support Clinton by a large margin although you'd never know it by Democratic Underground

[LisaM]

91. I know. Very peculiar.

Can you imagine the nerve - inviting Democrats to a Democratic debate?

[Fuddnik]

38. Hand-Picked "Democrats".

[bigtree]

56. so what?

...the applause was there for Sanders, as well.

Who are you to say from your distance just who was attending? Moreover, what makes your opinion of who's a 'Democrat' or what kind of Democrat better than anyone elses, especially knowing NOTHING at all about those present?

Besides, the real audience was the viewing public outside of the debate.

[LisaM]

87. I know, right?

How dare the Democrats invite Democrats to their debate?

[Xipe Totec]

10. The audience and moderator bias could not have been more obvious.

Especially from Gwen Ifill.

That last one, where she let Hillary run on and on and on about Bernie attacking Barrack and then tried to put a cork on Bernie before he could respond was infuriating.

It was great to see Bernie rebut the attack in just a few short words.

[daleanime]

25. +1

[jham123]

36. +2

[Fuddnik]

64. And, they had to stick in a right-wing dog whistle question.

Mr. Sanders, how much bigger will government be under a Sanders Presidency?

Not a direct quote, but my recollection of the question.

Big Gov't, bad, bad, bad.

[d_legendary1]

96. I saw that too!

Its like the government shouldn't help people! I'm surprised they didn't follow up with a "boot straps" follow up question. But I did see HRC pile on with a 40% figure under a Sanders presidency. Baloney!

[Octafish]

11. The applause gave them away.

Like a sign went off...

[UglyGreed]

77. Sometimes the applause

started before she finished her point. Must of been some faulty wiring in the sign....

[Octafish]

94. LOL!

''Clap, please.''

[JTFrog]

12. Lol. n/t

[oldandhappy]

14. no democracy!

Our local Dem structure gets more and more controlling. DNC the same.

[MineralMan]

17. Are you part of your local Democratic organization?

If not, why not? Be part of the organization if you want to change it. It's easy, although you may be asked to actually do some work.

[oldandhappy]

20. am and do, smile

[MineralMan]

21. That's wonderful. Thanks!

So am I.

[Fuddnik]

48. I was several years ago.

And I watched so much underhanded, back-stabbing bullshit going on, I said "Fuck 'em". I personally gathered over 3,000 petitions to get a progressive candidate on the ballot for Congress. I watched one Republican for a Statehouse seat (he used to be a Democrat, before they ran him off) gather more petitions for us than 8 County DEC's combined.

After we beat their chosen candidate by over 10 pts in the primary, with little money, and no Party support, they set about sabotaging our campaign.

Any new energetic blood that came into the organization, never lasted more than a couple of months, after watching the corruption and incompetence of this bunch. After losing EVERY county and almost all local elections, the County Chair was promoted to a State Party Vice-Chair. I'd rather eat glass and wash it down with Drano, than ever attempt working with those fools again.

[MineralMan]

54. I'm sorry you had that experience.

I don't know what state that was in, so I can't really comment intelligently on your experience. It's certainly not that way here in Minnesota. When I moved here in 2004 and began to get involved in the party organization, I was welcomed by everyone I met. By 2008, I was a delegate to the first two levels of conventions and a precinct chair.

I was part of a process that got rid of a weak-on-labor state Senator and helped a Hmong immigrant who is very progressive replace him.

Perhaps your state is different, but without knowing what state you're in, I can't comment any further than that.

[Fuddnik]

66. For the record, this is Florida.

I had a better experience when I lived in Ohio. Not much, but better.

[Gregorian]

16. It's a spectacle: royalty versus the drones. We don't count.

With a little help from the people, that's going to change. Hillary is the impediment to civil and human rights. If we can get around her, we can finally make this country great.

[litlbilly]

18. Here was my post last night after the debate, of course it got alerted:)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511207547

I don't think the DNC gets it yet, or, if they do, they just can't accept what's going on

[Avalux]

19. I thought the optics were interesting as well.

It wasn't lost on me that Hillary was wearing a lot more make-up than usual and had her hair colored since losing New Hampshire. She also wore a jacket that seemed to glow. They were trying to make her look brighter, younger. I remember thinking it literally looked as if she was glowing, although strangely artificial. Then this morning - "Hillary shone in debate" "Hillary shines" - it wasn't an accident she was quite literally, shining.

That, with the rigged audience, didn't prevent Bernie from winning anyway. His mention of Kissinger was genius IMHO, because now people who are too young to remember Kissinger, or maybe have forgotten, will be looking him up.

No worries. Her campaign's superficial attempts to overcome Hillary's lack of a cohesive message failed.

[jalan48]

28. I thought she was rocking the Trekkie look.

[Fawke Em]

41. LOL. Just saw your post.

GMTA - I said only Capt. Kirk could pull that color off below.

[Fawke Em]

40. That shirt was awful.

NO ONE should wear that color other than Capt. Kirk.

It washes out the face and makes anyone who wears it look sallow.

Normally, I couldn't care less what she or any other politician wears, but that shirt could not be missed.

[LittleGirl]

49. On my set

that color did her nothing but make her look washed out. I didn't see all of the makeup but they should never put her in yellow again. Ever.
She looks better in blue or black.

P.S. I really appreciate the hearts.

[in_cog_ni_to]

22. That was pretty obvious. She NEVER gets that kind of response during debates.

They think we're stupid.

NEWSFLASH...we're not!

PEACE
LOVE
BERNIE

[amborin]

23. plus----hilary's fundraised with Franklin Templeton, one of the sponosors nt

[kstewart33]

26. Come on.

Hillary did well in this debate. Not gangbusters, but she did well. That's it. Not worth making a mountain out of a moehill.

[Blue_Adept]

30. Is this today's conspiracy/talking point? I'm losing track.

[itsrobert]

45. Yup

Democrats at a Democratic Party debate is now a conspiracy. Wait until those primaries where only Democratic registered voters are allowed to vote.

[Blue_Adept]

65. It's hilarious, isn't it?

GDP is just a weird comedy zone these days.

[840high]

106. Not hilarious to me.

[Maedhros]

69. Do you do anything but post snark?

Anything at all?

No, you don't.

/ignore list.

[Blue_Adept]

73. Like there's any serious discussion here anyway?

For all the complaints about twitter being a sewer, GDP is a step under it the last few months.

It's hard to take any of this seriously. I save my non-snark for the other sections of the site.

[EdwardBernays]

33. all part of "operation inevitability"

they're still not learning that they can't simply stack the decks in 2016...

[jhart3333]

37. Bernie needs to demand tickets if he is going to participate in these "debates"

Otherwise it's a setup.

[Mbrow]

42. Thanks Cali, K&R

[Eric J in MN]

43. When quoting a post, please use the 'excerpt' tag

...or do this:

====
Quoted Content
====

[FailureToCommunicate]

44. True. It was fairly easy to hear when Bernie got applause, it was yelps and fast applause. Only at the

end when they panned the whole room was it clear that "the youth" were crammed in the back of the room. THEY were the ones giving a standing ovation at the end, while the party regulars sat stoically in their seats.
Very odd moment, IMO.

[erlewyne]

46. Great thread!!!

I just loved reading it. I am not the sharpest tool in
the shed so some remarks went over my head? Maybe
no, but it seemed the remarks were pro and con.

Yes, the game is rigged, but Hillary is still my back-up.

No more wars!!!

[jham123]

68. Did you watch the debate?

Hillary spent her whole response time at one point talking about building a coalition to go and attack different factions, then she patted herself on the back for building the current war coalition..

I'm not wanting to debate the coalition issue, but if you want "no more wars", Hillary ain't your candidate

[left-of-center2012]

50. "The game was rigged, my friends"

Explains why Bernie beats Hillary in honesty a zillion to one.

[jham123]

71. and

And why there was a 22 point spread when the 'actual' voters had their chance to speak.

[gregcrawford]

51. Let there be light...

... Wouldn't it be grand if this presidential campaign marked the beginning of the end of party politics? I have no illusions that such a tectonic transformation, would occur overnight, or even in the years I have left to harangue unwary passersby, but the soulless, bone-deep corruption of party politics as it is practiced now is simply not sustainable.

I would welcome candidates running solely on their own merits, accomplishments, experience, and character, in publicly funded campaigns of SHORT duration in which lies proven to be intentional are prosecutable. And everyone gets a pet unicorn... I know.

But I can dream, can't I?

[jwirr]

97. When you list the items you want candidates to run on you

left out issues. Why? To me the issues are the most important part of any campaign. Jefferson talked about a well informed electorate - I am assuming he to was talking about issues.

[Iggy Knorr]

58. they were trying to hide posts that pointed that out last night

Cowards for Hillary

[NurseJackie]

59. Oh, please!

[postulater]

60. We saw a friend of our daughter in the third row.

She got a ticket because she volunteered to help with the organizing of the event.

[NorthCarolina]

61. The "game" is completely obvious to anyone paying attention, and Bernie's

campaign donations post debate tells me millions ARE paying attention.

Regardless, Hillary camp already sealed their fate with the latest "That's not Bernie in that photo" line of attack now that the photographer has come forward and condemned their act as slanderous. http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511211677#post27



I think it makes a YOOJ difference.

[leftcoastmountains]

62. Thanks that's what I thought. The audience was stacked

in Hillary's favor. This morning listening to NPR when talking
about the debates they played long segments of Clinton's answers
and very little of Bernie's. Just incredible.

[Eatacig]

63. Bernie

I used to use this site as my news source but it has become nothing but a Bernie Site.
Its always stacked to you people if anyone likes Hillary. If Bernie gets more claps then its
a fair example of the people. Even though all of your articles are Clinton is a whore, corporate
slut, some of us actually like her. Bernie has had many years to push an Democratic agenda
but he hasn't. He says people will stand up and scream for his new agenda. Where has
the screaming been for the last 7 years? Just 2 years after Obama was elected, these same
youth couldn't be bothered to vote. If the youth were so dissatisfied with the state of the
country, why didn't they fight then? The Bernie Phenomena is all bull, just the cool thing to do.

[jham123]

72. sure

that's it.....

How does your Job at the DNC pay? Minimum wage?

[Carolina]

83. Well, if OUR DU

news no longer suits you, you can always GO AWAY... buh bye

[sybylla]

67. I'm sorry to say that much of what you say is wrong, cali.

Not that I don't understand how you feel. Or the inclination to feel excluded. The process and the hoops that we have to jump sometimes make it easy to feel that way.

That said, it's good to have a sense of how these things come together and to have a discussion about them.

First, the debate was held in Milwaukee, so by default it had to be more representative of those who could make it to Milwaukee on a weeknight. I don't buy that it wasn't largely local. It had to be just by it's location. In another post I acknowledged knowing of a carload of debate-goers who came from Ashland, but that required two days off of work, a day-long drive and an overnight stay. I can vouch that these people are on-the-ground organizers and I'm glad they could find a way to represent the northwoods.

The unfortunate thing is, since these candidates have Secret Service protection, there would be few tickets available for the average Joe or Jane off the street. When you want to attend these kinds of things, you often have to submit your ID info in advance and they do a bit of a background check on EVERYONE.

From here on out, there are no public events that just anyone can attend without doing some legwork, or knowing someone, or jumping through a few hoops. It's just not likely to happen.

And since this was a Democratic debate, the logical way for these Democratic candidates to ensure a Democratic audience is to funnel the process through the state Democratic party - the DPW. My bet is that tickets were offered through the campaigns as well to campaign workers and select volunteers on the ground working for both sides. That's the way it's always been done.

To claim most who attended aren't on-the-ground activists is total BS. I'm a member of the party. I was given an opportunity to get a ticket (but couldn't go - btw no one asked me who I supported or cared). And I've been an on the ground activist for 15 yrs. It's all I've done since George Bush got elected. That doesn't mean I agree with everything the party says. I don't like Martha Lanning. I didn't like Mike Tate either. But if you want to get something done on the ground, if you want to have the best resources to fight for your candidates, membership in the party and participation in the county party organization is how you get it. For the record, a lot of things get done in this state by people just like me who aren't acting under some party directive. In fact, most of the time, the DPW doesn't give a rip what the county party and it's local activists do. It's too busy working on the federal and top ticket statewide races. We're all as Progressive as progressive can be.

Certainly, I would have liked to see more minorities in the audience. There are a host of possible reasons that it didn't come about beyond Lanning somehow making it happen.

I too found the one-sided applause disturbing. Primarily because I know the DPW membership in WI is pretty evenly split between these candidates. Again, there could be a host of possible reasons that this didn't come about beyond Lanning somehow making it happen.

What I find most disturbing about your post and the debate last night is that there are people in this state who will always see the DPW as the enemy and that the DPW always finds itself in circumstances that feed that philosophy - sometimes of its own making, but mostly not.

[Blue_Adept]

74. Thank you for providing additional context

Longtime political watchers should already understand that this is how it works and has worked for a long time.

[renate]

75. thank you for your clear and detailed information!

I wish the people setting up the debate had tried a little harder to make the audience more even, but it's interesting to hear the reasons for why it was the way it was.

Thanks!

[PeaceNikki]

76. Like she said,

"I was given an opportunity to get a ticket (but couldn't go - btw no one asked me who I supported or cared)."

That's how it goes and how it should go. They can't and shouldn't vet the audience in such a matter.

[bkkyosemite]

78. It was obvious the audience was loaded with HRC supporters and that moderator whoa

[Half-Century Man]

79. If the audience was selected by the WDP

Then they have a list of who had tickets and their voter data.
Request a demographic breakdown. Use the demographic model used in the NH primary.

[PeaceNikki]

80. DPW. Also, it wasn't. Tickets were distributed through them without asking the attendees who they

supported.

It's a damn audience, people, not a conspiracy.

[Madmiddle]

81. The audience at this last Senator Sanders winning debate,

was hand picked by the ever unpopular Debbie Wasserman-Shultz. Everybody is watching Clinton try to talk people into believe she doesn't suck as bad as they are saying!!!

[Carolina]

82. Loving your threads, Cali!

First, thank you for providing irrefutable documentation of Bernie's civil rights activism despite HRC surrogates' swiftboating attempts. My, how John Lewis has fallen...

And now second, this expose about the debate. I couldn't tolerate the clear bias of the debate audience last night and smelled HRC and DWS dirty machinations all over it. Hmmm, so this is why they suddenly wanted more debates... to stack the audience and attempt to drown out Bernie with bogus applause for HRC.

My loathing of HRC grows daily. But we, the people, are not fooled. Thank goodness for the internet and social media.

And keep up the GREAT work, Cali.

I am spreading your posts far and wide, working hard to make sure people here in SC will feel the Bern on primary day here (2/27)!

[Beacool]

84. Of course, if the audience had been roaring with applause for Sanders, you would be OK with that.

Right?

[valerief]

85. We could tell it was a stacked audience in HRC's favor. It was soooooooo obvious. I imagine

the remaining debates will be like that, too.

[nyabingi]

86. I thought the crowd seemed a bit

too eager to loudly applaud each and every word Hillary uttered last night.

Was very suspicious to say the least.

[firebrand80]

92. In fairness

I would imagine that they go through great lengths to ensure that no Republicans get in with the intent in creating mischief, like booing at every answer or something.

I would agree that the crowd sounded 60-65% favorable to Hillary. I'm not sure what the big deal was, there have been other crowds that were clearly Pro-Bernie. In fact, I think the reason that yesterday's crowd stood out was because we haven't had an obviously pro-Hillary crowd yet.

[PatrynXX]

95. and there is a Racial problem why it's mostly non white too

so your accurate there. one of the most violent cities in America.. and Bernie wanted to fix that in 1991 smh not punish

[Flying Squirrel]

98. I had a feeling about that...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511206691

They were just too obviously noisy for Hillary no matter what she said. I knew it couldn't be real.

[quickesst]

105. All anyone needs to know

"So….who WAS in the audience? Beats me. Certainly not activists or ordinary citizens. I suspect they were State Party loyalists and hangers-on."

.... to call bullshit bulshit.

[TBF]

112. Martha Lanning is another "new" democrat - MBA

and worked in management at the Target store. Would love to know her stance on unions. Another "third way" Hillary groupie.