Bloomberg ad hits back at Sanders & his supporters: This kind of "energy" won't help Dems unite

[highplainsdem]

Effective ad that highlights Sanders supporters' attacks on other Democratic candidates as well.

I'm not sure where this ad will show up. But there's a pretty good chance it will be the first time some voters learn of just how badly behaved some Sanders supporters have been.

And they'll see the MSM headlines about this as well as sample tweets.

Link to tweet

[Zolorp]

1. Mike just took the gloves off!

[Prue]

56. Now this is MESSAGING

Bloomberg has not skimped on hiring a very skilled PR team. This is messaging at it's best. If nothing else I hope the DNC and other democratic candidates learn from him going forward.

[radius777]

162. Why he's rising, showing no fear of Bernie or Trump,

and many voters seem to want someone who can show strength and restore order.

The other centrist Dem candidates have played it too safe - Bloomberg doesn't seem to be making that mistake.

[Mike 03]

2. Look at the responses too.

I don't think Bernie's extreme supporters understand the damage they are doing to their own candidate. I know not all of his supporters are like this.

[KSNY]

60. No we are not, but the media likes this narrative

This Bloomberg ad will not help him beat Trump if that is his goal....

[we can do it]

71. Blame the media, blame the real democrats....

Whatever you do don’t blame the divisive idiots who are doing this...and that includes you BS.

[LongtimeAZDem]

78. Either Bernie condemns these actions, or he is endorsing them. There is no middle ground.

[MontanaMama]

82. This.

They can’t have it both ways.

[KSNY]

85. In Bloomberg's ad Bernie condemns incivility

This ad does not help Bloomberg (or any Democrat) beat Trump

[UniteFightBack]

118. It's empty words without action backing it up. nt

[redqueen]

93. He already has. No one cares. The narrative is too popular. nt

[dware]

3. I guess Mike has had enough of Bernie and his supporters shit,

and is calling him out on it.
I expect to see Bernie's supporters now going after Mike and his staff, like doxing and showing up at his rallies and causing a disturbance.

[redstatebluegirl]

156. A lot of us have had enough too.

[dware]

4. Expect the "Bernie can do no wrong" crowd to show up in

3...2...1...

[Amimnoch]

6. I was thinking "see, Mike's a meanie" is coming.

That is one powerful and concise way he framed that.

Personally, I hope he sticks to going after Trump, and this defense is just a short sideline.

I'm for him because he isn't getting bogged down in these Democratic candidate vs Democratic candidate shitstorm.

Stay on message Mike! It's what's winning for you!

[dware]

14. If Biden fades,

then Mike is my second choice, I do love the way he's taking it to the Mango Menace and pulling no punches.

[showblue22]

5. Bloomberg is spot on.

That kind of energy is very divisive and won't help us unite to beat Trump.

[kabelle]

7. The ad mentions the #WarrenIsASnake smear

As well as attacks on Buttigieg.
Very well done and.

[Amimnoch]

8. I like it, but I hope it's not a shift in approach.

I'm with him specifically because he is going directly after trump and not stopping to feed the Democrat vs Democrat machine.

Stay focused Mike. Eye on the prize.

[Mike 03]

9. A short extract from the NYT article cited in the Bloomberg ad:

Barbara Boxer minces no words when it comes to describing the people usually known as the Bernie Bros — a subset of Bernie Sanders supporters who hope to take over the Democratic Party and remake it in their image.

“There is so much negative energy; it’s so angry,” says the former four-term Democratic senator from California. “You can be angry about the unfairness in the world. But this becomes a personal, deep-seated anger at anyone who doesn’t say exactly what you want to hear.”

This too:

Boxer’s story is one of the milder ones The Times tells about the Internet trolls whose goals seem to have less to do with building Sanders up than with hounding and humiliating anyone who stands in their man’s way.

“When Mr. Sanders’s supporters swarm someone online, they often find multiple access points to that person’s life, compiling what can amount to investigative dossiers,” The Times reported. “More commonly, there is a barrage of jabs and threats sometimes framed as jokes. If the target is a woman, and it often is, these insults can veer toward her physical appearance.”

Does this mean Sanders himself supports this kind of behavior? No, and occasionally he tries to disavow it. But not very hard: Last year, he hired as a top aide and speechwriter David Sirota, accurately described by The Atlantic as “his Twitter attack dog.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/31/opinion/sanders-bernie-bros.html

[Zolorp]

16. Some of the Sanders supporters remind me of the MAGAts

The anger is so palpable.

[Cha]

134. Well said by Barbara Boxer!

[TheCowsCameHome]

24. That really helps.

...or were you describing Trump?

[betsuni]

25. No, Sanders doesn't help.

[Pachamama]

49. This....

Exactly what Bloomberg is talking about....

[DanTex]

11. So much for the idea that Mike isn't going negative!

[highplainsdem]

13. It isn't "going negative" to point out Sanders supporters going negative.

[sheshe2]

154. They want a hostile take over.

No thanks.

[dware]

15. As opposed to Bernie and his bros?

[showblue22]

17. It looks like he was responding to negativity.

[DanTex]

19. LOL. It's an attack ad. Period.

And it’s even worse that he’s attacking supporters of a candidate. If he wins the nomination, that’s some 30% of the Democratic electorate that he has insulted and he’s going to have to try and convince to vote for him. I can’t think of anything more counterproductive.

[showblue22]

29. That is exactly what I have been saying about Bernie all this time.

Bernie is going to need a large swath of democrats to win. Democrats that he and his supporters have insulted.

[DanTex]

40. Bernie has never attacked a big portion of the Democratic

electorate like this. He hasn’t even attacked the other candidates much, certainly less attacks than in other primaries like 2008.

But Bloomberg is now going directly at Bernie’s supporters. And that’s currently about 25 to 30 percent.

[boston bean]

42. Really? Insinuating the whole party is corrupt doesn't rise to the level of an attack?

[DanTex]

43. No idea what you are referring to.

But Bernie has not attacked the rank and file supporters of another candidate like Bloomberg did in this ad.

[boston bean]

44. I like and support the party and most of its members.

so Attacking them is an attack on me. Not so hard to understand.

[showblue22]

45. I think he has and does

actually, it's his BRAND to attack democrats. I mean, Jane Sanders just trashed Hickenlooper in CO and he is out best bet to take back the Senate.

[BusyBeingBest]

65. That was bad form. I like Bernie, and I know he doesn't like Hickenlooper,

but Bernie might be the nominee and he and his family have to show some grace now to rivals who are out of the race and running for other Dem offices.

[Fontaines D.C.]

89. I'm in suburban Colorado...

Hickenlooper and Bennet are worthless. It would be nice if Corporate Dems like them found the door. Gardner is very unpopular, and we don't need another Bennet for a senator. It would be nice if the party machinery didn't force him on us. Bennet was a disaster for Denver Public Schools. Hickenlooper is part of the same corporate machinery. The DPS superintendent role is a stepping stone for Education Secretary - See Boasberg, who was ready to jump ship under the assumption HRC would win the presidency. She didn't, and what did that clown do? Took a 6 month sabbatical to Argentina (knowing that a teacher strike was on the horizon). Instead of dealing with the strike, he bailed out. I presume he's working for some thinktank on Ed Reform (which has been a joke). Hickenlooper, of course watched all of this from the Governor's mansion, and these are the "Dems" we need?

I'm a Bernie supporter, and in turn know many more, and the whole notion that it would hurt down-ticket is insane. There's no way I (and those I know) wouldn't vote for that corporate clown Hickenlooper over Gardner. However, in the time of primaries, the democratic party better start to realize that the electorate has changed, and is changing, and DLC style candidates are not going to connect with the number of voters that will drag them past the finish line.

[Doremus]

104. Agree.

No doubt there's a lot of anger from "Bernie Bros" and other young people. Look at what we older generations have given them. They earn less, their money buys less, they pay more taxes, and we expect them to live in a world we've literally ruined. I'm actually incredulous they aren't protesting en masse 24/7.

Hell, even I'm angry when I think of the incrementalism that's strangled this country for 40 years. I got a subtle reminder of its caustic far-reaching results when I read "Classmate shines light on Bill Barr in HS: LOTS of fun facts about the Attorney Criminal" which is currently on the General Discussion forum.

It's time for a changing of the guard, definitely.

[LanternWaste]

97. Good lord... the righteousness and inerrant of Sanders is becoming a thing of myth.

"Bernie has never attacked a big portion of the Democratic"

And the thing is... a week's pay says you even believe this inaccuracy to be real and absolute.

And you're now pretending that candidates criticizing other candidates are attacking them on the cross.




My goodness. This jump-the-shark moment writ small is all too indicative of the obvious.

[DanTex]

98. Umm, I can see why you left off the next word when you quoted my post.

Because what I wrote was "Bernie has never attacked a big portion of the Democratic electorate."

Context makes all the difference. Bernie has challenged policies and he has challenged politicians over the policies they support. All politicians do that.

But this ad where Bloomberg takes direct aim at voters and supporters of Bernie Sanders is not challenging anyone over policies. It's attacking the part of the Democratic electorate that supports Bernie.

[Beakybird]

126. Really? Hiring Jill Stein supporters to the highest level of his campaign?

[justie18]

32. But

I thought Bernie has been emphasizing the importance of uniting behind who ever becomes the party nominee.

[delisen]

100. Large % won't vote for non- Bernie Dem anyway.

Best to accept that reality now and not waste resources on voters who have stated that will not back any Dem candidate but Sanders.

[DanTex]

102. More Bernie supporters in 2016 voted for HRC than HRC supporters in 2008 voted for Obama.

But, if Bloomberg wants to change that, and try to reduce Dem turnout in the 2020 election, I can't think of a more effective way than running attack ads against the supporters of another primary candidate.

I want as many people as possible to vote for whoever is the Dem nominee against Trump. So how about just focusing on issues and policies, and not going after the supporters.

[delisen]

107. This is 2020. Large % Bernie supporters refuse to vote blue

If Bernie not candidate.
Nothing I can do about that except not waste resources trying to coax them to commit to vote blue.

[DanTex]

108. Uhh, we don't know what will happen in 2020. But ads like this, attacking supporters of candidates,

will certainly that your prediction actually happen.

And, yes, we do need party unity going into November. Writing off any group of Dem voters is a bad idea.

[treestar]

137. That's hard to believe

Hillary campaigned for Obama and stood up for Obama from the convention on. If the numbers are lesser, the overall numbers voting might have been lesser.

[DanTex]

138. It's true. Also Bernie did more rallies for HRC than HRC did for Obama.

The numbers are percentages. Perhaps it's hard to believe because of the pervasively dishonest media campaign against "Bernie Bros." Or maybe people just forget how truly bitter the 2008 campaign was.

[treestar]

140. Where are these numbers to be found?

[R B Garr]

121. But the actual attacks are shown in the ad.

So we see where the attacks come from and all the Democrats who are being attacked. It’s a brilliant ad to show the many online attacks from Bernie’s camp. Viewers see where they came from.

[DanTex]

122. The attacks aren't from "Bernie's camp". They are from random people on twitter.

You could very easily make the same ad using supporters of any of the leading candidates. In fact, at least one of the groups featured in this ad doesn't even support Bernie, and their leader is a Warren supporter.

[R B Garr]

123. They are Bernie supporters, so his camp. This isn't the

first time we’ve seen it. Denying it is not remotely believable.

Not to mention, we’ve seen here that people can pick a candidate in name but actually support another, so your example is not believable, either.

[DanTex]

124. All candidates have rude supporters on twitter. What makes this such a farce

is that none of the people who complain about "Bernie Bros" ever want to hold any other candidate to the same standard that whatever any random person on twitter says is the candidate's fault.

I mean, you're even holding Bernie responsible for things that a Warren supporter said, under the theory that the Warren supporter is secretly a Bernie supporter.

[R B Garr]

127. Rude is a cute term for what they are doing.

They are doxxing fellow Democrats who don’t support Bernie. They are targeting Bloomberg staffers with vows of retribution. Rudeness would be cute in comparison to those hostile acts.

You are just acknowledging the history of this behavior by using one example of a “Warren” supporter. She didn’t run last cycle, so we know the behavior didn’t originate with her. We know where it originated, as we’ve seen it before.

Great ad by Bloomberg. There is no doubt that Bernie can’t unite Democrats if he can’t even address this.

[DanTex]

129. It's rudeness. That "blacklist" thing actually originated with the DCCC.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dccc-promises-to-blacklist-firms-that-work-with-candidates-challenging-incumbents_n_5c95126ae4b01ebeef0ec3ae
The random people on twitter posting about a "blacklist" was a response to that. But, unlike the DCCC, random people on twitter have no ability to actually "blacklist" anyone.

[R B Garr]

130. Rudeness is a cute term for what they are doing. The Bloomberg

ad shows dozens of attacks, so we know what they are saying. That’s the great thing about the ad—it shows who is attacking and what they are saying.

[DanTex]

131. Rudeness is the accurate term for what they are doing.

The Bloomberg ad shows a bunch of rude posts on twitter. Some of which are not even from Bernie supporters lol. Anyone who has ever used twitter has seen tons of other rude posts. From supporters of Bernie and Bloomberg and everyone else.

I have no idea who is supposed to be shocked by this. Maybe people who have never been on the internet?

[R B Garr]

132. No, it's harassment and hostility as in organized

responses meant to intimidate people. Sure, they went by fast on the screen, which was done for effect to show there are many more (which we know from experience). Rudeness is cute compared to harassment.

[DanTex]

133. It's not organized, it's random people on twitter. It's rudeness.

You're right that harassment is a whole different thing. Speaking of harassment...
https://www.gq.com/story/bloomberg-sexism

[R B Garr]

135. It's organized. The most recent attack was on the culinary union in Nevada where current

voting is taking place. This organized harassment is all over the news, current news.
https://abc6onyourside.com/news/nation-world/bernie-bros-could-become-liability-as-sanders-seeks-to-expand-base

Rudeness is when someone is lacking manners. Doxxing people is a threat to someone's safety, so rudeness is cute in comparison.

Looks like the organized Whatabout Bloomberg campaign is well underway, lol.

[DanTex]

136. That's a joke. The media loves attacking Bernie for what random people on the internet do.

Your "whatabout" comment is amusing. I guess you really think people are going to care more about random internet posters than about 40 allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination.

Good luck with that.

[R B Garr]

139. Doxxing people isn't a "joke". It's an act of intimidation. Speaking of harassment, Bernie

is still cleaning up some problems from his previous campaign. The harassment was fairly widespread within his campaign, not just "random" people. (this article is from Jan 2019)
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/02/us/politics/bernie-sanders-campaign-sexism.html

[DanTex]

142. No, it's not, but it had utterly nothing to do with Bernie and his campaign.

And if you really want to compare the history of sexual harassment, discrimination, and sexist comments between Bernie and Bloomberg, I assure you that's not going to come out well for Bloomberg.

[R B Garr]

143. Of course doxxing people is an act of intimidation. Rudeness is when you are impolite. Revealing

someone's name and address is an act of hostility and an invitation to harass and control someone. You know that's true even from the site rules here, as one small example. If I were to post your name and address, that is not allowed, and for good reason.

The thing about Bernie is that the campaign harassment reveals the double standards and hypocrisy within his own organization. I don't think Bloomberg tries to cloak himself in a savior patina.

[DanTex]

144. Yes, it is, but, for the 50th time, it had nothing to do with Bernie or his campaign.

And please do look up some of the things Bloomberg has said and done. It makes all the Bernie Bro stuff look mild. I have no reason why people are more angered by what random people post on the internet than by what a presidential candidate has said, but that's how it is.

[R B Garr]

145. They were Bernie supporters, which are the subject of this ad

and why it’s so good. It provides graphic examples of the “energy” that comes from his campaign. I do recall Sanders using attacks on Democrats to promote himself, so we’ve seen where all this comes from.

Anyway, it’s a great ad.

[DanTex]

146. Actually nobody knows who they were or whether it even happened.

The ad certainly featured at least some people who weren't Bernie supporters, in an attempt to falsely smear Bernie by association. That "energy" stuff, maybe you're mistaking Bernie for Marianne Williamson. But other than new-age woo, none of this has anything to do with the Bernie campaign. He doesn't promote it, or condone it, or anything of the sort.

Like I said, the person who has the most actual allegations of harassment against them in this campaign is Bloomberg, by a long shot.

[R B Garr]

147. Actually, everyone "knows" where this originates.

It’s been five (5) years, so everyone knows. It’s the same behavior, but it’s even escalating. Warren has no such history. Of course it has nothing to do with Williamson, either. Obviously.

Not so fast with writing off the harassment complaints within Bernie’s campaign, but I understand your desire to deflect.

[DanTex]

148. Not true. These are unproven allegations about anonymous internet users.

There is no evidence that it had anything to do with Bernie. Because it didn't. Bernie doesn't have any history of doing things like this, at all. Like I said, again, the only person with an extensive history of allegations of harassment in this campaign is Mike Bloomberg. I'm aware of the complaints about the Bernie campaign, but let's be serious, there is no comparison whatsoever to Bloomberg. And everyone knows that too.

[R B Garr]

149. It's been 5 years, so we do know what Sanders promotes

and we know that he doesn’t condemn these behaviors. We know Warren has no such history, no one else does. Relying on everyone getting amnesia about Bernie’s campaigns and suddenly forgetting the hostility seems futile.

In fact, the harassment claims against his campaign are further proof of these behaviors. The accusations were widespread and recent, not some “random” people, since you like to disregard people as “random”.

[DanTex]

150. He has no such history whatsoever.

There are literally zero examples of Bernie ever "promoting" doxxing or harassment or anything of the short.

That entire argument is pure fiction. There's not much more to say.

[R B Garr]

152. The ad is about Bernie's supporters. I realize you are

trying to move the goalposts and pretend that he has to order these actions or the actions never occurred. In fact, the ad talks about “energy”, and we know how much Democrats have been the subject of his smears. That’s where this comes from, something we’ve all known for years.

[DanTex]

153. LOL. The ad talks about "energy". Well, that seems solid to me! Please...

[R B Garr]

157. It shows the actual attacks in a rapid fashion, indicating

there are many more. We’ve seen the attacks for years, so we know it’s a solid ad.

[sheshe2]

158. Hmmm

DanTex
19. LOL. It's an attack ad. Period.

And it’s even worse that he’s attacking supporters of a candidate.

While Bernie and friends attacks the Democratic party and our supporters.

If he wins the nomination, that’s some 30% of the Democratic electorate that he has insulted and he’s going to have to try and convince to vote for him. I can’t think of anything more counterproductive.

I agree 100 %. If BS wins the nomination that’s some 70% of the Democratic electorate that he has insulted and he’s going to have to try and convince to vote for him. I can’t think of anything more counterproductive.

A B C
It's easy as, 1 2 3
As simple as, do re mi

[lapucelle]

20. How is this negative? Wasn't there a BS statement last week condemning

the predatory culture of toxic factions?

[DanTex]

21. You really can't figure out how this is negative?

Uh OK.

[lapucelle]

59. Calling out toxic factions interfering in campaigns isn't negative.

BS himself called out the toxic factions last week and denied that that recent swarms were really comprised of his supporters.

Bloomberg is doing both the party and BS a service by calling out a toxic faction of predatory poseurs. I'm sure Bloomberg will continue to do so if toxic factions posing as supporters of other candidates emerge.

[calguy]

23. I wondered when Bernie's apologists would show up

[George II]

48. That isn't negative. He's pointing out dangerously negative SUPPORTERS of another campaign....

Did he say anything negative about Sanders?

[DanTex]

53. Uhh, yes, it's negative. The fact that he's attacking Bernie's supporters and not the candidate

makes it worse, not better.

[George II]

58. He's not attacking ALL of his supporters, just those who are acting vilely toward anyone....

...who doesn't support Sanders.

Did you see the examples given? Are you okay with them?

[sweetloukillbot]

62. I feel that "deplorable" dynamic

Where someone says "SOME of X's followers are doing Y"
And EVERY one of X's followers chime in "HOW DARE YOU say I'm doing Y!"

[Pachamama]

55. This isn't negative - this is pointing out how the negative energy will destroy

Bloomberg is winning my respect more and more daily. He is focused on Trump and isn’t attacking other candidates in the Democratic race. He is however speaking the truth which is calling out those that are doing negative attacking against other candidates and the destructive energy it is to the greater cause.

Sadly, if the Sanders supporters don’t see that and continue, they not only hurt their candidate in the long run, but the Democratic Party and ultimately our Nation.

[c-rational]

106. I do not see how this is funny or a laughing matter in any way.

[Codeine]

12. A taste of the "energy" the Sanderistas are bringing

to the primaries can be seen with a quick glance at the #bendtheknee hashtag on Twitter and Insta. They’ve pretty much universally taken to using a snake emoji to replace Elizabeth Warren’s name.

Too many of them are ugly authoritarian little shits.

[highplainsdem]

18. I'd never checked that hashtag before. Just did. Enlightening, and depressing.

Here's one example, from another Sanders supporter showing authoritarian tendencies with a demand that Warren supporters "fall in line and support Bernie" -- and the snake emoji is used, too:

Link to tweet

Dear 🐍 supporters, the time has come for you to fall in line and support Bernie. #bendtheknee

[safeinOhio]

36. Is that smell of some Bernie Bros

coming from Russia. As Nancy said, All roads lead to....

[Evergreen Emerald]

50. Agreed.That is why Trump supports Bernie

The goal is to disrupt the democratic vote.

[ramen]

37. That behavior is bullshit and it needs to stop, and there is no defense for it, but:

Sanders' pointing out that stop-and-frisk was objectively racist really shouldn't be considered an attack. It was racist and indefensible.

[LongtimeAZDem]

83. There is no "but". Either Sanders condemns such behavior, or he has no moral leg to stand on.

[ramen]

113. Oh, I totally agree, he should definitely condemn it. nt

[ramen]

22. Is the idea here that we praise one Democrat

for attacking a Democrat about attacking a Democrat? It seems sort of like fucking for chastity, to me. I don't want internal attacks from any one of us towards any one of us, Sanders and Bloomberg included.

[honest.abe]

28. The "idea" is to focus our attacks on Trump.

Attacking Bloomberg will not help our cause.

[Zolorp]

31. Then tell it to the asshats screaming about " bend the knee"

[George II]

51. It's pointing out the behavior of a candidate's supporters. How did it attack Sanders?

[Codeine]

88. All the negativity stems

from your preferred non-Democratic Party candidate. Even Blooomberg’s attacks are a reaction to the shit the Bros have started. Your candidate owns this mess.

[ramen]

116. Primary infighting started with Sanders?

I disagree. I've only been posting a little while but I started reading in 2002 or 2003, and negativity and circular firing squad stuff predates Sanders' presidential bids by quite a while.

[johnthewoodworker]

26. I will support Bernie, or Bloomberg. How some supporters act has

little value on the need to get the nazi, cat grabber out of office.

[BusyBeingBest]

30. Agreed.

[ancianita]

27. He uses ad hype to excite people. I don't trust any of it.

[TheCowsCameHome]

35. Tormenting Trump relentlessly really excites me.

I wish the other candidates would do it more often.

[ancianita]

41. I get it. It's just what comes after that I'm more concerned about. Bottom line for me are

candidates' records, stances and accomplishments while in elected office.

[TheCowsCameHome]

91. Objective #1. Beat Trump

Objective #2. Beat him soundly.

Nothing else matters if that is not accomplished.

[yaesu]

33. My main concern with Biden is that he helped strip bankruptcy protection from millions just

before the last recession. He pushed for & voter for the 2005 Bankruptcy Bill. Warren was very unhappy with him doing so & has bought it up during debates. I'm just not sure he has we the peoples best interests in mind.

[LongtimeAZDem]

39. Do you remember the rampant bankruptcy abuses?

[George II]

57. You should read the bill or summaries of the bill.

[Aviation Pro]

34. Funny

I've never been a target of a 'Bernie Bro'. Not that it concerns me in the least.

[Zolorp]

47. Go on Twitter and express how you feel about Sanders on any given tweet from a media person.

Your feed will fill up with the hatred from the Bros.

[Aviation Pro]

70. I have no social media accounts

FaceFuck, Twitty and their ilk are foreign to me.

#deleteyoursocialmedia
#getrealfriends

[Zolorp]

90. That's why you'd never experienced the Bros hatred.

[highplainsdem]

38. Mediaite: Bloomberg Ad Lays Smackdown On Bernie Bros: Not The 'Energy' Needed To Beat Trump

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/bloomberg-ad-lays-smackdown-on-bernie-bros-not-the-energy-needed-to-beat-trump/

[DemocratSinceBirth]

46. What the world needs now

[c-rational]

110. Thank you. Just perfect.

[wyldwolf]

52. the problem with Bernie's message

He doesn't think there's energy and excitement at the prospect of defeating the most vile POTUS in history. No, Bernie and his bros think we need a messianic figure.

[LongtimeAZDem]

79. +1

[paulk]

161. +2

[ananda]

54. I never liked Bloomberg.

Still don't.

Actually, I don't want the country run by
billionaires or corporations.

Sanders is great!

[Sympthsical]

61. Attacking Sanders supporters guarantees a repeat of 2016.

You do not attack a bloc of voters you need and come out well in a general election. These aren’t sports teams where you hate the other team’s fans. These are voters.

Some are loud and obnoxious, yes. Some. Just this morning, I saw a Biden supporter on Twitter explaining that if Sanders is our nominee, we have to work to suppress the black vote so he will lose.

Is that getting posted here? No, it is not. And that’s one example. I could find dozens.

The problem is, the Clinton campaign found the Bernie Bro narrative useful. How’d that work out for them? Even though Clinton supporters gave as good as they got. The PUMAs never went away. Some people have rosied up theirs memories of 2016 and convinced themselves only Bernie supporters were bad actors in all of it. As someone not much given to partisanship, let me disabuse some people - it was both sides.

Look at the antipathy here by anti-Sanders people. It’s often an ugly, hateful read. And it isn’t focused solely on Bernie. Now it’s his supporters. Apparently all of them, to hear some posts tell.

This is divisive. This alienates people who aren’t the fabled Bros. When you constantly go after supporters - not the politician - you drive away supporters who haven’t behaved poorly (which is 99.9% of them). You’re signaling they don’t belong. I see people here call Sanders supporters not “real” Democrats.

Do we want another 2016? Keep it up.

Attack Sanders? Go for it. It’s a primary, he’s the candidate. Paint all his supporters as some breed of political savages? Well, good luck to us all in November. I hope doing this feels good now, because it’s going to come with one fuck of a hang over.

[sweetloukillbot]

63. So bad behavior shouldn't be called out...

Because people who aren't engaged in bad behavior might THINK it's about them.
If you want to #NotAllBros, maybe you shouldn't make statements like that.

[Sympthsical]

112. Call out individuals.

Don’t run around going, “Sanders supporters are this. Sanders supporters are that.”

I see it all the time. It’s divisive, unhelpful, and dangerous to our November prospects. And maybe once in awhile take note of other candidate’s supporters behaving badly. Because it ain’t all Bernie. Not by a long shot. The Bernie Bro is an easy story. Social media “journalists” are lazy. They go for easy narratives.

[sweetloukillbot]

115. Jeez - here's your #NotAll hashtag

People shouldn't need a hashtag to understand that if they aren't doing something, they're not being accused of doing it.
If someone say "ALL SANDERS SUPPORTERS ARE MISOGYNIST TROLLS" then by all means call them out for saying it. But if several Sanders supporters are engaging in bad behavior, saying "Sanders supporters" is appropriate, and you just have to think, "I didn't do that, so they must not be talking about me."

[highplainsdem]

67. Link, please, to the tweet from the

"Biden supporter on Twitter explaining that if Sanders is our nominee, we have to work to suppress the black vote so he will lose"?

[Sympthsical]

114. I have a screen cap

The person deleted their twitter account. John Bielski. I’m at work, so it’ll have to keep til I get home.

[Sympthsical]

141. Here. John Bielski. Attorney working with the AFL-CIO

edit: this link isn’t working great.

Here’s the text though. You can google who he is.

“If Sanders is the nominee, I intend to support the movement to encourage black voters to stay home. It’s time for the far left to learn their lesson.”

Charming, no? And a bit racist to boot.

He deleted his entire twitter account. Must’ve gotten into some shit for that one.

[highplainsdem]

151. Thanks. I was able to find Google's search result for that tweet of his by googling

john bielski twitter "encourage black voters"


That was a horrible thing to post. Good thing he deleted his Twitter account. He should stay off Twitter.

I'd never seen anything remotely like that from a Biden supporter, and I was very sorry to find out about this.

This is the link for that particular tweet:

Link to tweet

I'm guessing that matches the link you saved.

However, that guy posting something stupid and disgusting -- and then getting off Twitter completely -- doesn't excuse Sanders supporters who are behaving badly.

ALL of that garbage needs to stop.

[Sympthsical]

155. I appreciate your honesty and the time you took

So thank you for that.

I agree. I’m tired of nastiness. I’m not a Sanders supporter, but the antipathy against them is starting to highly irk.

But in general, everyone needs to knock it off. It hurts our chances. I was appalled by that coffin stunt the other day and said so elsewhere. There’s just no place for that in our party.

[highplainsdem]

159. You're welcome. I don't see any point in NOT being honest.

And I can tell you honestly that I don't feel any antipathy toward the vast majority of Sanders supporters. I have a close relative who was a Sanders supporter in 2016 and again for a while last year, before switching. And HE doesn't like the badly-behaved Sanders supporters.

Re the coffin stunt -- I think I was the first person here to post about it, and I did point out that the group who did that said their members included Sanders, Warren, and even Biden supporters (though I couldn't see any Biden supporters putting up with that sort of behavior).

And thanks again for the info about that tweet. It hurts to think any Biden supporter would tweet anything like that. I have to admit I wonder what he was responding to, but no matter how bad it was, there wasn't any excuse for what he posted.

[LongtimeAZDem]

74. We don't need them; they won't vote anyway, which is why we are appealing to moderates

No more being held hostage by extremists. Enough.

[Sympthsical]

117. And there it is.

That attitude. “We don’t need them!”

I didn’t realize we could afford to throw away votes. Did 2016 really hold no lessons?

[LongtimeAZDem]

120. Yes; it taught us that Sanders supporters cannot be counted on to stop Trump; so,

we'll go elsewhere.

[Codeine]

92. Warren supporters have never suggested

that I must #bendtheknee. Hell, not even Gabbard’s little coterie of Putinistas have behaved that way. You can claim “both sides” until you’re blue in the face but it’s all quite disingenuous when one examines the facts.

[Gothmog]

103. So booing of John Lewis, Elijah Cummings, Stacy Abrams and others i acceptable conduct?

If sanders is the nominee, Russia and trump will use the planned stunt at the National Convention of sanders delegates booing John Lewis and others to suppress African American vote in the general election. Russia did its best to suppress the vote of African Americans in the last cycle and here Russia will have a real issue that caused a great deal of anger to use

[Renew Deal]

109. I am not afraid of your threats

We know that this crowd is unreliable. We're not counting on them.

[Sympthsical]

111. I'm not threatening. Just letting you know what will happen.

I’m about to cast my early California ballot for Buttigieg. I want to wait a week to see how it pans out.

But this is basic human psychology. Attack people enough, and they won’t help you.

I always vote Democratic. I’m a reliable voter. Others aren’t me. I remember a lot of, “We don’t need them anyway,” crap in 2016. Again, how’d that go?

[PoliticAverse]

64. Nominating a Bush supporting Republican won't help Democrats unite. n/t

[LongtimeAZDem]

76. Any real Democrat will vote to stop Trump

[helpisontheway]

66. It is true. Many of his bros/bots are exactly like Trump supporters..just opposite extreme. It is

all cult like. It is not like the ground support that President Obama had. His was more about hope, change and togetherness. I was always so happy to support Obama. I got to see him several times because he was trying to flip Virginia. Bernie is an angry screaming man with a cult like following. I try to watch him and understand but I just don’t get the appeal. It is scary. I will vote for him if he is the nominee but that is it. It is more about my absolute hatred of Trump than support for Bernie. It makes me sad that I likely will not have someone that I enthusiastically support (like Obama). However, like my husband said we are getting older (48 this year) and now the younger people get to have their say. I have three young adults. They have not made up their mind about a candidate. One was for Yang. I will be interested to see how they end up voting. Two things are for sure..they would never vote for Trump and they will vote. Even if I have to drag them there.. 😂 Seriously, two are excited to have the opportunity to finally get Trump out..One was absolutely devastated for months after Trump won. He could not even turn on the tv. Other frequently tells me he is so tired of seeing and hearing about Trump. Other one (Yang supporter) is cynical of the entire process and thinks it is all rigged. Regardless of candidate I just hope we can win. I don’t think Sanders can beat Trump but I hope I will be proven wrong if he is the nominee.

[Fresh_Start]

68. If mike wanted to twist the knife...he'd compare bernie supporters and magats

to highlight the similarities.

[Mike 03]

73. Exactly. I imagine what he released today is a warning shot. nt

[dalton99a]

69. About damn time.

Bernie needs to hire better people who are decent human beings

[BusyBeingBest]

81. I don't think Bernie hires these people. I just think

he doesn't have control of what goes on outside of his campaign team.

[Vivienne235729]

72. Good for him!! I am kind of in shock that BS people are calling for a blacklisting of other's staffe

That's just heinous and indefensible.

[squirecam]

75. It's an effective ad

His campaign has that part down.

Let’s see him at a debate or CNN town hall.

[highplainsdem]

80. He needs one more poll to qualify. The debate is Wednesday. Only certain polls count.

These are the poll requirements:

https://democrats.org/news/dnc-announces-qualification-criteria-for-nevada-democratic-presidential-primary-debate/

Each poll must be sponsored by one of the following 14 entities or pairs of entities (“Qualifying Poll Sponsors”): Associated Press; ABC News/Washington Post; CBS News/YouGov; CNN; Fox News; Monmouth University; National Public Radio; NBC News/Wall Street Journal; NBC News/Marist; New York Times; Nevada Independent/Mellman Group; Quinnipiac University; USA Today/Suffolk University; Winthrop University. For individual entities that are included only in Qualifying Poll Sponsor pairs but are not listed individually, independent polling by such individual entities or polling conducted in new partnerships with such individual entities shall not meet the Qualifying Poll Criteria. The DNC reserves the right to add a Nevada-specific or South Carolina-specific poll sponsor to this list in the near future.

Each poll must be publicly released between January 15, 2020 and 11:59 P.M. on February 18, 2020.

I have no idea if we're going to get a poll from one of those poll sponsors in the next 36 hours.

[BluNoMatterHu]

84. They refuse to learn from 2016

And they’ll be our downfall again. Fall in love during the primary. Fall in line during the General Election. Blue no matter who!!

[R B Garr]

87. Excellent ad. It's obvious one campaign has a hostile

strategy. It’s not “everybody does it.”

[H2O Man]

95. Please stop.

[KPN]

96. That is a fucking stupid move on his part. Attacking people who support a candidate is a sure

way to Democratic Party defeat.

BTW, can anyone prove to me that a significant percent of those purportedly "Bernie Bro" tweets/posts were not actually trolls?!!

Just fucking stupid.

[Gothmog]

101. I have seen the conduct of sanders supporters up close and I agree with Bloomberg

Normally going to a national convention is a once in a life time experience. I have worked really hard inside the party on campaigns and voter protection issues for a very long time to earn this trip. Too bad that sanders and his vetted delegates ruined that experience and did their best to help trump. A candidate has absolute approval rights over their pledged delegates because these delegates can change their votes and these delegates represent the candidate and campaign. I helped vet Clinton delegates and I know that I was vetted. The Clinton campaign told us that we represent her and that our actions would reflect on her and her campaign.

In contrast, sanders sent one very weak text the Sunday night before the convention and then did little or nothing to control his delegates. It was nasty I was there when the sanders delegates booed Congressman John Lewis. I was warned about this stunt 30 minutes before it happened by the Clinton campaign whip. According to my whip, sanders was asked to stop this event and declined. That incident will be used against sanders by Russia to suppress the African American vote just as was done in 2016

Link to tweet

Russia will just run material showing sanders delegates booing John Lewis, Elijah Cummings and others to suppress the vote of African American voters and I feel that this tactic would be very effective

I was at the Texas delegation breakfast when a group of sanders delegates marched in and demanded that we condemn Clinton and change our votes to sanders.

sanders spoke to the Texas delegation the next morning and his speech was again solely about himself. There was a mini-riot due to his delegates the prior morning and the only thing that sanders talked about was himself. sanders did nothing to deal with the fact that his delegates were out of control and did nothing to try to help Hillary Clinton win the general election.

Finally a group of sanders delegates yelled at my daughter and called her the c-Word because she would not try to get me to change my vote. Again sanders was asked to tell his delegates to behave during the convention and sanders refused

Bloomberg's ad reminds me of the conduct that I saw from vetted sanders delegates at the National Convention

[dalton99a]

105. +1. Same here

The most unpleasant, inflexible, dogmatic bunch I've ever encountered

[Zolorp]

119. Until Sanders condemns that #bendtheknee crap, I'll have no choice but to believe he endorses it.

It only drives people away.

This isn't the fucking Game of Thrones and there is no Winter King. He needs to call out that shit ASAP.

[redqueen]

125. This is shaping up to be one doozie of a primary season.

Link to tweet

[LakeArenal]

128. He's buying the election.....

I can’t believe Democrats would allow him to change rules. I can’t believe Bernie’s “people” get to attack real Democrats and that’s okay with the party.

If either is the nominee... I think we have really lost our way.

This seems so counter to what I thought we stood for.

[Gothmog]

160. This is a very mild attack on sanders compared to what trump would use

sanders is a very weak general election candidate who trump would destroy

Link to tweet

?s=20