Campaign signals Sanders may be open to exit

[RandySF]

Bernie Sanders signaled Wednesday that he was open to ending his presidential run after another round of landslide losses to Joe Biden, and new signs emerged of communication between the two camps as some Democrats hoped for a swift end to a bruising primary.

Sanders campaign officials said the senator from Vermont planned to leave Washington and return home, where he and his wife, Jane, would talk to supporters and determine the future of his presidential run. The campaign also suspended its Facebook ads and, uncharacteristically, made no request for donations in an email to backers updating them on the situation.

Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said that aides to the two candidates have been in touch regularly to discuss the public health crisis that has gripped the country, disclosing talks that could form the basis of a broader agreement on policies and might make Sanders more comfortable leaving the race.

The two campaigns “have been in regular contact at a senior level” since last week to discuss how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the campaigns, Bedingfield said in a statement to The Washington Post, “as well as to discuss both Vice President Biden’s and Senator Sanders’ ideas on policy responses to the virus.”




https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/campaign-signals-sanders-may-be-open-to-exit/2020/03/18/9cd71a1a-692f-11ea-b313-df458622c2cc_story.html

[Hoyt]

1. I'm betting Biden will handle the healing for all but most ardent Sanders' supporters.

[Cha]

2. I'll believe it when it happens.. we were

already through it this morning when there was something that indicated he was dropping out.

He's on record for this, though..

Donald Trump must be defeated,” Bernie Sanders insists, “and I will do everything in my power to make that happen.”

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/1287673175

[Hortensis]

4. He may want to hold onto as much campaign donations as possible

for use in the future. He did that in 2016, and it would explain halting expenditures.

[yaesu]

3. I think its going to happen soon as both campaigns work together on covid policy

and the fact that bernies messages no longer end with a campaign contribution link but a link to his covid response.

[relayerbob]

9. YEs, and thank you

[Hortensis]

10. Interesting about the no contributions, thanks. As for

a joint COVID policy, though, although working together sounds positive, neither are president and could do absolutely nothing with any policy they might come up with. Sanders may claim that he's busy handling a global crisis, but Biden won't be doing that.

Sanders is named to 6 committees in the senate; but with the Republicans in control, senate Democrats do not make policy.

What you say suggests the possibility of a joint statement, and that would be nice to see. I read that the two campaigns have been communicating about the developing crisis as related to the campaigns themselves.

[yaesu]

13. I'm looking forward to hopefully a smooth transition from primary campaigning

to party unity with one mission, to make sure tRump gets the boot.

[Hortensis]

20. Trump AND all Republican majorities, YES!!!

The Republican leadership has become lawless and a huge danger to our nation.

As you say, united with one mission.

[peggysue2]

31. That's the only thing that matters

Defeating Trump and ousting his toady enablers. We all need to be on the same page to make that a definite outcome. A smooth transition from primary to general will help in that regard.

Eyes on the prize: kicking Trump and his criminal enterprise to the curb, saving the country, picking up the pieces, and then getting on to the urgent needs of our fellow citizens.

[PatSeg]

18. I think so too

Today, I realized that the pandemic has really dominated the news and perhaps it wasn't quite the right time to make a public announcement. Hopefully, he can do so soon and help bring everyone together at a time when we really need it.

[Rizen]

5. That's good to hear.

We need to focus on working together in this pandemic.

[relayerbob]

8. Yes, it isn't theoretical any more

Trump is destroying our country, and we all need to be on the same team! Thank you

[PatSeg]

6. Someone on a Facebook group

said: "Dems dominate my state. I am content in writing in Sanders and Demexiting."

When someone said, he was what was wrong with this country, he replied:"Expletive, expletive. I am going to write in Sanders in your honor, too. And I am not the only one..."

Pretty much Biden has dementia and will lose to Trump.

Hopefully, he only represents a small percentage of Bernie supporters. I really don't think he can be persuaded to vote for Joe, even if Bernie gets behind him.

[relayerbob]

11. Well, someone has dementia, and it isn't the candidates

I suspect only a small percentage will do that, no matter the bluster of some noisy ones.

[PatSeg]

19. I think so too

This guy was one of the more persistent and noisy voices, apparently very emotionally involved with the campaign. I don't think he reflects a large percentage of Sanders' voters.

I know some are very disappointed. I think we've all had that experience at one time or another, but once we nurse our wounds, we get back up and support the nominee.

[relayerbob]

23. Yes, I've lost more than I've won over the years

It's the nature of politics. Many of us in the Biden camp now, came from other candidates' camps as well.

[PatSeg]

26. And the first time is usually the worst

Feels like someone died! That's why I'm inclined to let Bernie supporters have some space for awhile. The adjustment takes time. Most will recover I'm sure, but I'm not going to make things worse, unless they get crude and hostile like that guy on Facebook. Even with him, I tried to handle it gently, but he was having none of it.

[relayerbob]

28. While I was pissed that Jimmy lost to Raygun

The 2004 election actually made me furious for days. But getting too emotionally bound to candidates/politicians, or really any public figure, is an unhealthy thing to do, IMO. But yes, many of the ones I'm seeing losing it are people who are basically neophytes, some in the 50s and up, but simply haven't paid any attention in the past. Guess being a lifelong political junkie makes me cynical, haha

[PatSeg]

41. Yes, that is probably true

Being a political neophyte would probably make people a little more vulnerable. That is the impression I've gotten from some I've encountered - new to political warfare, not battle hardened.

[Tom Rinaldo]

38. I am NOT defending that individual

but even that person made a point of noting that, in their view at least, Biden would win comfortably without their vote in their very blue state. I only note that because in 2016 the most extreme Bernie or Busters were claiming that it didn't matter whether Clinton or Trump won, and urged voting against both of them even in swing states.

I'm not a big fan of third party protest votes, but there is a difference between voting third party in a safely Blue State and voting third party in a Swing State. I would view it as progress if it became widely accepted that everyone who opposes Trump must vote Democratic in any State in which the outcome is in any way in doubt. That is the absolute bare minimum, but hopefully we can blow right past even that degree of resistance.

[PatSeg]

42. Yes

I did notice that mention of being in a solidly Democratic state, so the guy was not a complete nihilist and on some level still cares if Trump is defeated.

[The Magistrate]

12. The 'Demexit' Usage, Ma'am, Suggests Pure Trolling

That is swill which bot accounts have been pumping for some time.

[PatSeg]

21. I thought at first

he was a troll. There were so many on Facebook the last couple of weeks. Most of them disappeared magically (as I predicted they would) after Tuesday's primaries. This one hung in there and kept whining and lashing out at people.

I hadn't heard "Demexit" before, didn't realize it was a troll term.

[Celerity]

29. #DemExit has been around since July, 2016

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/demexit

About

#DemExit is a social media campaign and political movement encouraging Bernie Sanders supporters to leave the Democratic Party in protest of Hillary Clinton's nomination in the 2016 United States presidential election.

Origin

On July 12th, 2016, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders formally endorsed rival Hillary Clinton for president against Republican candidate Donald Trump in the upcoming general election. That day, political news blogger Harlan Hill published an article titled "The Death of a Revolution and #DemExit," noting that millions of Democrats would be considering leaving the political party to protest Clinton's candidacy.

Spread

The same day, the /r/DemExit subreddit was launched for discussions about the political movement. On July 22nd, 2016, Wikileaks published a collection of nearly 20,000 e-mails exchanged among key staff members within the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the governing body of the United States Democratic Party, as well as unofficial correspondences with members of the press, between January 2015 and May 2016. In the emails, high ranking members of the DNC discuss various tactics to undermine the campaign of Bernie Sanders in order to secure Hillary Clinton’s victory in the primaries. On July 24th, Redditor staomeel submitted a post titled "If the DNC nominates Hillary Clinton for President. I can no longer support Democrats #DemExit," to /r/SandersForPresident. The following day, Sanders was booed by supporters after calling for them to support Hillary Clinton in the upcoming general election (shown below).

Also on July 25th, Fox News broadcast a news segment about the the DNC protests, featuring an interview with an anti-Hillary protester who announced that 13 million people would be leaving the Democratic Party on Thursday in light of the DNC email leak (shown below). Later that day, a post about the planned #DemExit event was submitted to the /rSandersForPresident subreddit, where it accumulated upwards of 4,600 votes (91% upvoted) and 620 comments over then next four days. On July 26th, Redditor LuddieStreak submitted a post encouraging viewers to leave the Democratic Party titled "#DemExit" to the /r/SandersForPresident subreddit, where it received more than 2,500 votes (93% upvoted) and 400 comments in 72 hours. The same day, 2016 Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein posted a tweet encouraging people to leave the "neoliberal Democratic Party" with the "#DemExit" hashtag (shown below).

Meanwhile, hundreds of Sanders delegates staged a walkout en masse following the roll call vote to nominate Hillary Clinton for president at the Democratic National Convention (shown below). On July 29th, Salon published a listicle titled "10 Reasons Why #DemExit Is Serious," which subsequently reached the front page of /r/politics.

snip


my thoughts

It was all a VERY coordinated operation

I think it was aided by Russian and the Trump/Rethugs campaign

Jill Stein and Wikileaks were huge players

and here is a smoking gun

Harlan Hill, the Bernie Bro blogger who kicked it all off (see above, unfortunately the original article is gone and even the Internet Archive is scrubbed)

well, lol

look who he went to work for

https://harlanhill.com/



AND

lol

Real News Insights with Harlan Hill and Lara Trump

Donald J Trump
298K subscribers

Since the first day I took office, Democrats have been trying to impeach. This is a COUP!

here is a Fox interview RIGHT before Hill started the #DemExit meme

The entire thing was a giant psy-op

[The Magistrate]

32. Thank You, Ma'am

I bow to the professional.

May I suggest you present this as an OP? On occasion, perhaps several times. It should be widely known, and could be of real assistance.

If you have done so already, Ma'am, I apologize for my presumption. I have not been about the place for some time.

[Celerity]

34. done, good Sir

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287677336

[BidenBacker]

49. The Russians need a new playbook

https://russiatweets.com/tweet-search?terms=demexit&language=

Then again, they probably don't play too much football over there.

This is fun...let's do another one, shall we?

https://russiatweets.com/tweet-search?terms=feelthebern&language=

Hey, Vlad! Better draw up some new plays, pal. We've beefed up our defense a little since the last time we met.

[Mr.Bill]

15. If Biden has dementia, doesn't that mean

Sanders lost a debate with someone with dementia?

[PatSeg]

22. Oh my

That would seem to be true!

[Turin_C3PO]

35. I think it is only

a small minority of his supporters that are like that. In my admittedly anecdotal experience, all seven Sanders supporters I know are about ready to get on the Biden train. I’d estimate, when all is said and done, that 90% of Sanders voters will vote Biden in the general.

[PatSeg]

39. Oh yes, I agree

It is a small, but often very vocal minority. Many that I encountered in the past two or three weeks seemed to be more trolls than genuine supporters. The small handful who are obsessive supporters like possibly this guy, seem a bit unhinged. I think we see people like that in every primary, though somehow this year it feels worse.

Perhaps it has to do with the madness of having Trump as president for over four years. He has brought out the worst in people regardless of political affiliation. It just manifests differently in people. So many of us are grasping desperately for some hope and sanity, and some will find that in a political leader.

[showblue22]

7. Not likely

They're talking about how covid-19 has affected their campaigns. Sanders is likely asking Biden to agree to nullify the last results.

[yaesu]

17. that would never happen but may make a good sci-fi book some day. nt

[showblue22]

24. Well.. the negative things posted by Bernie's campaign constantly

does not suggest any good talks are happening. This was just a few minutes ago...

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[betsuni]

14. I don't want to get my hopes up.

Just when I think he's out of the race, he pulls himself back in.

[stonecutter357]

16. K&R

[Gothmog]

25. I hope that sanders drops out

Link to tweet

Bernie Sanders signaled Wednesday that he was open to ending his presidential run after another round of landslide losses to Joe Biden, and new signs emerged of communication between the two camps as some Democrats hoped for a swift end to a bruising primary.

Sanders campaign officials said the senator from Vermont planned to leave Washington and return home, where he and his wife, Jane, would talk to supporters and determine the future of his presidential run. The campaign also suspended its Facebook ads and, uncharacteristically, made no request for donations in an email to backers updating them on the situation.

Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield revealed that aides to the two candidates have been in touch regularly to discuss the public health crisis that has gripped the country, disclosing talks that could form the basis of a broader agreement on policies and might make Sanders more comfortable leaving the race.

[More_Cowbell]

27. He needs to be made a hero

Sanders needs to be treated as a hero if he drops out, because he'd be keeping people from risking themselves to go out and vote. His ego would be all over that.

Then, like Warren, he needs to get his ideas onto the agenda.

[BGBD]

30. There are two types of Bernie supporters.

Those who will support Biden and those who were never going to support the nominee unless it was Bernie (maybe not even then). There is a lot on Twitter of "I'm leaving the Democratic Party and never voting for them again." Ok, just I'm willing to bet anyone saying that wasn't a reliable democratic voter before. They probably didn't vote for Hillary either.

[Tarheel_Dem]

33. The campaign left standing usually absorbs staff from those who exit. I hope the Biden team will...

be very judicious about any hires from the BS camp. I know it's usually just a gesture of goodwill on the part of the presumptive nominee, but I would be very careful who I chose from over there. If they do decide to go that route, I would check their social media history to make sure they'd make the campaign proud.

[Turin_C3PO]

36. Yeah,

Sanders has some terrible surrogates. Biden will have to vet thoroughly.

[Tarheel_Dem]

37. There are tons of qualified Dem strategists out there who can head up Biden's Youth Outreach, but...

like Jim Clyburn said "Joe Biden's a nice guy", and I fear that niceness could be our undoing. I know that Symone Sanders worked for the BS campaign last cycle, but I don't see any potential Symone Sanders's among the 2020 crop.

[OnDoutside]

46. At least Symone should be far more attuned in who to watch out for.

[Tarheel_Dem]

47. Let's hope so.

[OnDoutside]

50. +1

[Happy Hoosier]

40. I think Joe and Bernie should....

Form a joint expert round table on Coronavirus and economic rescue. Use their findings as a basis of the platform.

This is a graceful way for Bernie to bow out.

[MineralMan]

43. Open to an Exit? Dude! You Have Already Been Shown the Door.

Just announce already! And endorse Joe Biden. That will be enough. Thanks.

[Politicub]

44. I haven't seen a Sanders ad on local TV here in Atlanta

They were running in heavy rotation for the past week or so. I haven't seen a TV ad since Monday. His chance to gain any electoral votes in Georgia was slim, so it was a wise decision to invest his dollars somewhere else.

But now I think it may mean that he's curtailing his advertising both on TV and online.

[OnDoutside]

45. Can someone explain, please. Am I right in saying that Sanders has only suspended spending money on

Facebook ads, but continues to accept campaign donations ?

[SidDithers]

48. How can we miss him if he won't go away?...nt

Sid

[Doreen]

51. The only thing that will make his dropping out from the campaign worth anything

will be if he enthusiastically encourages his followers and specifically his base to follow Biden. If not it will not mean a damn thing.