The story is what it is, the editorial comment is a bit much for me.

A traveling circus? Flamebait.

Oh well, I don't expect much more than that.

Things get hard when you start to make a noise.

...think is filling the seats in the halls & stadiums of Bernie appearances if NOT the Grass Roots?
This is someone Whistling Past the Graveyard.

Last edited Thu Jul 9, 2015, 11:09 PM - Edit history (1)

If those crowds don't take the next step and actually start working to get him elected then it means nothing. Dean failed to motivate his big crowds to do that and there is scant evidence Bernie can either.

You can go to Bernie's website and see all that's being done. Much of the work is in getting people to sign up as regular small donors.

It's not like it would make sense to be canvassing door-to-door at this stage. It's too early.

And it wouldn't be cost-effective to open campaign headquarters in every state now...you need to conserve resources for when the primaries are actually happening.

Why should we take the word of one supposed former Dean supporter in an article posted on the site of the right-wing Boston paper? This was the same rag that employed Rochelle Cohen, one of the leading attack blondes during Monicagate.

Since we will all be voting for the Democrat in the general election, it is not that big a deal.

Did not see you much for a while, I was gone maybe you were too. Good to see you again.

Nobody knows how this will turn out. Just because Dean could not mobilize his crowds does not mean Bernie can't. Obama seemed to be able to do that so why all the concern from those who don't support Bernie anyway?

Circumstances have become dire in the world and in this country. People are worried and sick to death of worrying. It seems that nobody worried much during Clinton (a good part of the reason he was able to change things so drastically) but we have all been pounded since Bush** took office. Then Obama who was great for some but most people who have felt relief have not felt enough to make a huge difference. I think in times like these we have the best chance to change direction and that can only be done with someone who is actually willing to change the direction, not just talk about it.

We will see about the crowds. I was able to hold fast with Kucinich but by this point I knew I was not going to see my candidate chosen. I feel much more confident in Bernie. I hope it is well placed, I have no where else to place my confidence.

have in a real campaign?


You do know that we love you.

Evidence? How about the thousands of volunteers and thousands of donors which is growing by the day? Or the crowds lining up to see him speak?

Not everyone can be funded by bankers, so his build up will be much slower, but it is certainly growing. It's a campaign that will rely on people rather than wall street. A challenge, yes. A flameout? Ridiculous.

Just one example:
MSNBC Allows Dem Strategist to Claim DC Shooter Brought 'Assault Weapon' to Navy Yard
By Noel Sheppard | September 24, 2013 | 1:24 PM EDT

It's an immutable fact that Aaron Alexis only brought a shotgun to the massacre at the Washington Navy Yard last week.

Despite this, MSNBC's Chris Jansing on Monday didn't challenge Democratic strategist Steve McMahon when he claimed on the program bearing her name Alexis "walked in with an assault weapon" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
- See more at: http://newsbusters.org/people-organizations/steve-mcmahon#sthash.zcG5Cm0z.dpuf

the daily polling must be looking worse for Hillary every day.
The intensity grows.

Their plan is....Lets throw everything against the wall and see what sticks.

I dunno, the campaign is different than we normaly see and I have yet to decide if it's a flash in the pan or a real movement. Bernie posters here, don't seem to help with the opinion that they won't flame out in a spectacular way. Only time will tell, I suppose.

and work.

Sanders already raised 15 million. It is way too early to to clam he won't be able to organize to compete. Let's check back in in November, shall we?

Bernie is way behind.

The Occupy moment didn't exist n 1007, nor was there a well developed draft movement for another candidate (Warren) to tap into. Sanders is strongly identified with the defining political issue in today's Democratic Party, economic justice. It is a very different ball game being played on Bernie's field.

Because by every historical precedence he has no chance. I will point out that every election there is some candidate who is "different" and to whom the rules don't apply. Until they flame out and fall to the wayside.

Obama 180,000
Bernie 250,000

It is the amount of money that matters. Unless you can show a magic link between the number of donars and number of votes in the general election.

175,000 campaign volunteers means nothing? Are you in favor of an Oligarchy.

Maybe we should elect our next President on ebay.

Why do you think so many of us oppose Citizen United? There is too much money in American politics.

Without context I can't address the number of volunteers. Is it more than would be expected? Is it more than HRC?

and not necessarily our future reality. Supporting candidates that subscribe to our present reality will never fix it.

he would have loads of money by now.

By the way I love Obama.

can you provide some?

The unions of the working class are a pretty good example, or are they considered insignificant?

as the negative campaigning steps up. Note, not much about issues there from this guy, whoever he is.

2.5 Billion $$ can buy a lot of negative campaigning, as we will see the more successful Bernie is.

I'm committed and I know a bunch more are too so we'll see who flames out.

your personal level of commitment is irrelevant.

You might want to remember who else lost a primary.

Funny how Sanders' fate has to be tied to some previous losing campaign, and the Clinton campaign is considered immune from that.

It's very telling.

By this point in 2007, Obama had raised $58 million and had a large multi-state organization staffed with seasoned professionals. And Bernie?

It's nonsense.

in 2007, on July 12, we were already at the fourth Democratic debate.

Hillary's DNC allies haven't even set up the 1st debate....it is rumored to be Aug/Sept

in 2007, people had seen Barack and Hillary side by side.

The very expensive "large multi-state organization staffed with seasoned professionals" is 1990's ox and cart thinking.


He is of course, building a nationwide organization, but
Bernie's supporters are also self-organizing and will be there for him when he needs them, in every state.

When you say "Obama didn't win any debates in the primary"

what point are you trying to make exactly, that Obama lost the debates and won the nomination?

I felt that he won every debate.

I loved it that he could attack without seeming to attack.

All Obama did was follow the Red Carpet, and give motivating speeches containing stuff like:

*I will "immediately make EFCA the Law of the Land".

*I will immediately renegotiate NAFTA to protect American Workers.

*I will put on comfortable shoes, and walk the line with strikers.

*I will force labeling our food with Country of Origin and GMO contents.

*I will Raise the Cap on FICA deductions to protect Social Security for future generations.


Lets see what Bernie can do.
He has my full support.

They're really pushing it to make it 0-2.

But in both cases they did not have much appeal outside of higher income whites.

that is why the donations averaged only $34 per donation

God only knows what the average dollar amount per donation was for Hillary.

I'm talking about actual voters.

not the people who are donating to him and signing up to volunteer for him, whoever they are.

It will be totally bogus (like the Dean scream), but they will extinguish the socialist surge and be able to place one of their stooges in the White House.

hoping to take the wind out of the sails of Bernie's supporters to slow or stymie his momentum.

From what I've seen of Bernie's supporters - these are people that would go out of their way to support Bernie and work for him.

We have a lot of time between now and Super Tuesday to develop a grass-roots on the ground campaign for Bernie.

Don't let this Boston Herald piece or the comments by Bernie's other opponents get to you.

and they are trying to undo Bernie's also. I worked in Iowa for the caucus for Howard and the day of the caucus I realized what the problem was with the numbers. When they did the first run through to find Howard's supporters...they asked if the Democrat supported Howard Dean in the Caucus...and they counted that individual as someone who would be at the caucus. What they didn't ask "will you attend the caucus?" So I spent the morning calling people who said "I never go to the caucus." They had every reason in the world most valid, i.e. itty bitty chairs, I don't drive at night, I will be out of town, I work evenings. So the numbers of support for Howard Dean were terribly skewed. Then of course they played the scream over and over and over. The media pick the candidate they like or like to pick on and run with it. Remember how many times someone repeated the "Al Gore says he invented the internet." They just didn't like Al and so we were stuck with the Shrub.

such is the reality of modern presidential primary campaigns.

Don't think so, especially when his message is resonating across all of social media. That's something no amount of billionaire money can buy.

so yes, $15 million is a lack of money.

End of Q2 was June 30th, 2007, no? Keep in mind Obama entered the race in February, Sanders in May.

http://www.opensecrets.org/Pres08/summary.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00009638

Doesn't seem like his fundraising numbers will slow. If you read that Wiki, John McCain and Edwards and Romney raised ~15 million in Q2 2007.

Bernie is in Bill Richardson and Christopher Dodd territory.

Again, Edwards, Romney and McCain all raised around $15 million and all ran formidable campaigns. The good thing about Bernie's support is it comes from many donors, not just a select few wealthy. Which means he will be able to continue fundraising, and of course as his name ID increases his fundraising numbers will go up as well. He has a large pool of donors that can keep giving.

Dodd and Richardson also never polled above ~6 percent nationally in the primary.

all losers. All had a lot more at this point than Bernie does.

Stop being intellectually dishonest. Edwards announced in December of 2006, McCain in February. Romney is the only one who announced later, but its not surprising he raised that amount considering his corporate backing.

Bernie raised $15 million in less than two months. That is a good haul, and more than most Repubs have raised this entire cycle as well. Bottom line, it's enough to mount a nationwide campaign and challenge Clinton.

No kidding.

His crowds are getting larger, his volunteers are getting more plentiful, his fundraising is increasing and his poll numbers are going up. It's not my fault you don't know anything about politics. If we're going by fundraising numbers then you might as well concede and let Jeb Bush be your next president as he just raised $114 million dollars, double that of Hillary.

and beat her with the brutal uppercut of truth.

And money is being spent efficiently to get the message out to Bernie, and he's succeeding, I might add. *looks at poll and trends on the upswing with no ceiling*

As an aside, Clinton's already hit her ceiling last year, and is slowly losing her soft support, and will drop even further after the first debate - under the "exclusivity" rule that the DNC made up just for her protection (which will fail, because it will only turn on Clinton when she NEEDS more debates to articulate her issues)

the last three days, and it's always good to see enthusiasm at DU.

But someone needs to tell you this: imagery of men beating women, no matter how metaphorically you mean it, does not go over well here.

Meantime, please proceed.

DAILY ready to go and kick butt and take names?

HRC will have both volunteers and money.

which is what Bernie is the master of.

He knew another way to reach out without having to deal with the hostile M$M. And even when he does, he just Berns them - just tell it like it is.

I've seen this too many times. Huge crowds for a candidate who end up losing. The last time it was Romney. He'd look at the crowds with a face that said "I've got this in the bag". He never came close

Romney crowds:

From Daily Kos

snip-

"Every time the Democratic consultant Steve McMahon comes up, I always mention that he's the biggest asshole I've ever met in politics (and I've actually met Joe Lieberman). I met the asshole during my brief stint consulting for the Dean presidential campaign, and it was clear from the first second I interacted with him that he was a sleazy fuck."

People inevitably ask, "what makes him an asshole?" I've generally avoided an answer. Yeah, there's a backstory, but it's not that exciting. Yeah, there are rumors about his whorishness, but I don't have the wherewithal to investigate them. I don't need confirmation of his assholishmess, because his very essence oozes shit.

And while that may not be strong evidence backing my disgust for the guy, this is:

BP declined to say how much it is spending on the [advertising] effort. It has suspended all of its regular corporate advertising, and is using its ad budget to address the oil spill and the resulting environmental crisis. Last year, BP shelled out almost $100 million on ad time and space in the U.S., according to an ad-tracking unit of WPP PLC.

BP bypassed its longtime ad agency, WPP's Ogilvy & Mather, to create the new television ads, enlisting Purple Strategies, a Washington public-affairs firm that is owned by Republican strategist Alex Castellanos and Democratic consultant Steve McMahon, according to a person familiar with the matter."

-snip

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/06/12/875186/-Steve-McMahon-ass#

Purple Strategies.

A search of FEC records shows that Squier’s new firm has been hard at work helping to elect a GOP Congress and defeat Barack Obama. A search of Federal Elections Commission records provides a snapshot:

•?Just in the last week, Purple Strategies’ media buying firm helped the National Republican Campaign Committee purchase $103,054 worth of attack ads in key Congressional races, including against Mike McIntyre, one of the most endangered House Democrats in North Carolina.

•?Purple Strategies’ subsidiary is providing media production, creative services and focus group services for the Republican National Committee. In the last month, the firm collected $7,698,514 from the party.

•?Purple Strategies is the consulting firm for the YG Action Fund, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s Super PAC.

In total, the company has received at least $43 million in contracts working for Republican candidates this cycle.


http://www.thenation.com/article/former-democratic-strategists-now-boost-gop/

Discourage, Disengage, Depress!

Nice try but this Thinly Veiled BS Won't Work With Sanders Supporters.....
Period.
But, "Experts/MSM/Third Way Dems" give it More, baby. Give "it" all ya got.
You Assume We're Listening to MSM and Dem Leadership and The Experts...lol

Many, many volunteers at every event, people all over the country have started groups that are on the ground, working the campaign.

Before you ask for proof, since you are the one saying it doesn't exist, I suggest you research it before you post an op-ed saying differently.

#Bernie2016#

Predicting a bunch of

nt

John Kerry, who had been trailing at the back of the pack of declared candidates. The corporate dems, formerly known as the DLC will do the same to Bernie to push forward their corporate friendly candidate Hillary Clinton. They are waiting for their Dean scream moment so that it will be played on an endless loop on every news station and program to discredit him. However, before they get too cozy with their strategy, those of us who supported Howard Dean have long memories. Trust me, the Bernistas are organizing in every community across the nation. I'm sure there is a planned "flameout". This time it won't work on Bernie. There is too much political savvy in that man. However, Hillary is vulnerable and it will come from the Republican camp this time. They want Bernie to win because they think their candidate, Jeb, can beat him.

I keep hearing this mantra...nobody explains how "they" kept him from doing well in the Iowa caucus, after which it was all down hill.

I also remember coming on DU and seeing endless posts on Howard going crazy and screaming at the podium from other candidate camps in the campaign. Of course Fucked Up News, and the rest picked up the scream moment and not the context and played it endlessly with no explanation or rebuttal from the media darling Democratic pundits all of them corporate dems like James Carville, Donna Brazzile and company. Next week Kerry was the leading candidate. I actually asked a political science professor, I know from the local university, what happened. He said it was a classic take down of a candidate by his own party to push their favorite candidate to the forefront. But trust me it won't happen again. Howard was a bit naive about his own eating him. Bernie knows the score. He has been in Washington for almost twenty five years and he knows who have the knives to stick in his back.

How did they get Dean to go along with this deviousness?

Also there's the inconvenient fact that Dean wasn't polling well in other states even before the night of the Iowa caucus.

And given that Kerry had just won the Iowa caucus by a significant margin, I'm not sure that Kerry being the front runner was driven by the desire of some vague Democratic oligarchy.

There were other candidates below him. It's always been suspicious to me why Kerry suddenly surged forward when he was in the rear. He even called himself the comeback kid after Iowa. Peculiar no?

Since Kerry is not running I can say this. I did stump for him and yet every door I knocked on the people I talked to said they really wanted Dean. Now isn't that weird?

remember that?

Bernie is not. He's not beholden to the Democratic Party, except as a candidate to the President.

That's why people are looking at him and liking what they are seeing.