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. @BernieSanders actually had a chance of winning the Democratic nomination. There were a few weeks in February that I thought this actually might happen. But he made a number of fatal mistakes.
This is what future candidates ought to learn from the former Sanders campaign:
This is what future candidates ought to learn from the former Sanders campaign:
1. The whole time, it seemed like the @BernieSanders campaign was basing its 2020 campaign on the assumption that their 43.1% of the 2016 vote could be taken for granted - and that they didn't have to reach out to Democratic voters beyond their base.
2. As soon as 2017, when political journalism was focused on the white working class voters who bolted for Trump, @BernieSanders was already campaigning for such Rust Belt candidates like Heath Mello
They learned all the wrong lessons from 2016.
They learned all the wrong lessons from 2016.
3. Realists among the Bernie camp seemed to acknowledge that their candidate had a big weakness with black voters. But @BernieSanders' black outreach seemed to consist of reaching out to black figures like Ilhan Omar and Cornel West - entirely unrepresentative of black opinion.
4. As early as 2018, the Bernie Sanders campaign was already trial-ballooning black-oriented attacks on Joe Biden ("THE 1994 CRIME BILL!!! BUSING!!! HE WAS FRIENDLY WITH JOHN STENNIS!!!!")
This was a poor substitute for genuine black outreach. It didn't work. At all.
This was a poor substitute for genuine black outreach. It didn't work. At all.
5. Going back to 2017>2018, Bernie invested heavily in Our Revolution, creating a parallel party with one foot in the Party and one foot outside, sponsoring primary challengers to Dem incumbents, constantly attacking the "Establishment".
It alienated so many Democratic voters.
It alienated so many Democratic voters.
6. Sanders & Co. also tried the unorthodox strategy of cultivating an entire ecosystem of Bernie-centric media: The Intercept, The Young Turks, Jacobin, Chapo Trap House, etc.
A whole generation of millenials, Gen Z people can spend 24/7 in a Bernie-centric alternative universe.
A whole generation of millenials, Gen Z people can spend 24/7 in a Bernie-centric alternative universe.
6a. ...but this seems to have hurt Bernie more than it helped. It created a faction of hardcore, obsessive supporters - a small faction. It completely deluded them as to public opinion in the Democratic Party.
Very few people older than 40 consumed Bernie-centric Alt Left media.
Very few people older than 40 consumed Bernie-centric Alt Left media.
7. As soon as @BernieSanders officially announced his 2020 candidacy, he staffed his campaign with sycophants like @ninaturner and @briebriejoy - representing the outer extremes of Democratic politics. They were at their heart Green Party people - not mainstream Democrats.
8. Let's dwell on how horrible a hire Press Secretary @briebriejoy was. She spent all day starting fights on Twitter, spewing vitriol at peripheral Democrats, screaming at journalists, and doxxing random nobodies.
Briahna Gray Joy was unhinged. She hurt the Sanders campaign.
Briahna Gray Joy was unhinged. She hurt the Sanders campaign.
9. The Sanders campaign's other horrible, no good, very bad hire was @Davidsirota - the hatchet man who published hit pieces on Beto, Kamala, Warren, Biden, etc.
His ugly hit pieces backfired. EVERYONE knew they were coming from the Bernie campaign. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/a-bernie-sanders-supporter-and-journalist-had-a-secret-he-kept-from-his-readers/2019/03/20/063aabee-4b26-11e9-b79a-961983b7e0cd_story.html
His ugly hit pieces backfired. EVERYONE knew they were coming from the Bernie campaign. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/a-bernie-sanders-supporter-and-journalist-had-a-secret-he-kept-from-his-readers/2019/03/20/063aabee-4b26-11e9-b79a-961983b7e0cd_story.html
10. Once Bernie officially announced his campaign in Feb. 2019, he nominally took the high road - but let @briebriejoy , @DavidSirota, and surrogates wage scorched earth warfare vs. all Democratic rivals via Twitter and the Unofficial Bernie Campaign.
It alienated everyone.
It alienated everyone.
The @BernieSanders campaign's toxic hires spawned the very real "Bernie Bros" of social media.
For 5 years, if you dared as much post on Facebook "I like Joe Biden", within 5 minutes your feed would be littered with scathing replies. Lots of Democrats took it personally.
For 5 years, if you dared as much post on Facebook "I like Joe Biden", within 5 minutes your feed would be littered with scathing replies. Lots of Democrats took it personally.
Over the past few years, I've had to digitally divorce 5 or 6 friends from high school because they became vitriolic, vulgar Bernie Bros. They turned Facebook and other social media into forums for insults and invective.
I blame the @BernieSanders campaign's toxic hires.
I blame the @BernieSanders campaign's toxic hires.
11. Back to the campaign, when Bernie effectively tied Pete Buttigieg in the Iowa caucuses with 26.5%, he could have graciously accepted the 12 delegates and moved on.
Instead, inexplicably, @BernieSanders sued the Iowa Democratic Party. https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/28/politics/bernie-sanders-challenge-iowa-recount/index.html
Instead, inexplicably, @BernieSanders sued the Iowa Democratic Party. https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/28/politics/bernie-sanders-challenge-iowa-recount/index.html
12. After New Hampshire, @BernieSanders was the frontrunner. He could have taken the opportunity to reach out to Democrats outside his base.
Instead, he got cocky and declared that he was owed the nomination with a slight plurality of 20%-to-35% of delegates/votes.
Instead, he got cocky and declared that he was owed the nomination with a slight plurality of 20%-to-35% of delegates/votes.
13. Then after the Nevada caucuses, it became real. There were polls showing Bernie winning 100% of delegates in California and Texas.
Democrats were looking down the barrel of facing Donald Trump with the Socialist from Vermont as our standard bearer. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/22/us/politics/bernie-sanders-nevada-caucus.html
Democrats were looking down the barrel of facing Donald Trump with the Socialist from Vermont as our standard bearer. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/22/us/politics/bernie-sanders-nevada-caucus.html
14. In late February, @BernieSanders could have been the nominee - but he was indulgent. He went on 60 Minutes and gave a rousing defense of Fidel Castro's literacy programs.
On subsequent televised debates, he doubled and tripled down on this point. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bernie-sanders-democratic-presidential-front-runner-anderson-cooper-60-minutes/
On subsequent televised debates, he doubled and tripled down on this point. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bernie-sanders-democratic-presidential-front-runner-anderson-cooper-60-minutes/
15. @BernieSanders' love letters to Fidel Castro were the point where he committed electoral suicide and sealed his fate.
The Florida Democratic Party, Democratic Congressmen in swing districts in the suburbs panicked. It was a break-the-glass moment. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/24/florida-dems-uproar-sanders-cuba-comments-117213
The Florida Democratic Party, Democratic Congressmen in swing districts in the suburbs panicked. It was a break-the-glass moment. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/24/florida-dems-uproar-sanders-cuba-comments-117213
16. The @BernieSanders campaign tried desperately to dampen Biden's strength among black voters in South Carolina with another round of "THE 1994 CRIME BILL!" but it still didn't work.
Joe Biden quickly tied up the primary, erased Bernie's modest wins. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2020/feb/29/joe-biden-south-carolina-primary-victory-video
Joe Biden quickly tied up the primary, erased Bernie's modest wins. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2020/feb/29/joe-biden-south-carolina-primary-victory-video
17. When the remaining Democratic candidates consolidated behind Joe Biden the eve of Super Tuesday, the Sanders campaign was caught flat footed. They actually thought they could have won the nomination with a plurality of 30%.
... the rest is history. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/us/politics/pete-buttigieg-joe-biden-endorsement.html
... the rest is history. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/us/politics/pete-buttigieg-joe-biden-endorsement.html
A. The biggest takeaway from the fall of the @BernieSanders campaign 2.0 is that the Democratic Party is a big tent. We have liberal Democrats, moderate Democrats, left-wingers, even conservatives.
You can't win the Democratic Party nomination with a narrow ideological faction.
You can't win the Democratic Party nomination with a narrow ideological faction.
B. The second takeaway from the fall of the @BernieSanders campaign is that most Democratic voters actually really like the Democratic Party. The bulk of us love Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Andrew Cuomo, and Barack Obama.
Wage war against the Establishment at your own risk.
Wage war against the Establishment at your own risk.
C. The third big takeaway is that you have to meet voters where they are.
The @BernieSanders campaign spent 5 years trying to "Shift the Overton Window", they changed some minds. But most Democrats still really like the Affordable Care Act and moderate liberal policies.
The @BernieSanders campaign spent 5 years trying to "Shift the Overton Window", they changed some minds. But most Democrats still really like the Affordable Care Act and moderate liberal policies.
D. The fourth big takeaway of the fall of the @BernieSanders campaign is that in order to win the Democratic nomination, you. have. to. win. black. voters.
You can't fake this point with token hires, celebrities, and pandering. You have to actually listen to black voters.
You can't fake this point with token hires, celebrities, and pandering. You have to actually listen to black voters.
E. My last big takeaway from the @BernieSanders campaign 2.0 is that you can't win the Democratic Party nomination without trying to build the largest majority possible - more than 51%.
Democratic politics is about addition and multiplication - not division and subtraction.
Democratic politics is about addition and multiplication - not division and subtraction.
