The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
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    Bernie Sanders Is Sending A Wake Up Call With A Record Breaking Crowd

    By trkingmomoe on Wed, 07/01/2015 - 11:08pm |

    Tonight in Madison, Wisconsin, 10,000 to 13,000 people turned out to hear Bernie Sanders give his stump speech. So far this is the largest crowd that has turned out for any current presidential candidate. He has been packing them in and his campaign people have been changing venues to largest ones that is available on scheduled stops. They had to broadcast his speech outside of the building to the crowd out side that could not get in. 

    He has electrified every one who has gone to see him. He reads from notes and sounds much like a truck driver from Brooklyn.  His magic is in what he says that resonates with the general population. He hits all the major worries of the population. He hits hard against the uber wealthy and the malfeasance of corporations. 

    He has raised 9 million so far from small donations and insists he will be able to raise enough to run a grass roots campaign, so far, it is working. 

    Today Hillary Clinton announced raising 45 million dollars so far. This election will be about taking back election process by the people.  

    This is a long video but the program starts at about 41:50 minutes with John Nichols. At this time of writing this I have not found a shorter video only this real time video.  Nichols gives a very good warm up speech sighting "Fighting Bob" La Follette and "The Wisconsin Idea."  The rest of the video is Bernie.  He makes it worth while to attend his speeches because it isn't a canned speech he works the crowd to the fullest and reminds them that is all about them. 

     

     

    I see the logo all the time on Face Book "Feel the Bern."  If you listen to this speech he gave tonight you will really "feel the Bern."  It is not just a thought up jingle there is really something to his stump speech and working the crowd. 

     

    Funding Update:

    Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), whose bid for the Democratic nomination for president has drawn the largest crowds on the campaign trail, is raking in major money as well.

    His campaign reported on Thursday that it had raised $15 million over the last two months.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/02/bernie-sanders-fundraising_n_7715180.html

     

     

    Comments

    I threw this together to get this posted tonight for our night owls.  I hope everyone can find the time to watch because Bernie was on fire. 


    by trkingmomoe on Wed, 07/01/2015 - 11:19pm

    Bernie is a hero of mine, he has been a hero for several years.

    And now thousands and tens of thousands wish to hear what he says.

    I like this guy.

    And, if nothing else, he will provide a lot to the debates and conversations with all the dems who have guts enough to enter the fray.

    I would vote for him any time, any place.

    This man hears me and my complaints.

     


    by Richard Day on Wed, 07/01/2015 - 11:49pm

    He hit all of my complaints several times in this speech. I like the way he spreads shame all over the wealthy and corporations for not doing their fair share. 

    Here is his campaign site.  He has swag you can buy to support his campaign.  

    https://berniesanders.com/


    by trkingmomoe on Thu, 07/02/2015 - 12:10am

    Not only Stilli, but you beat me in the numbers today. hahahahah

    That is gooooooooooooood.

    I like Bernie a lot. hahahahah

    Swag.

    We probably need more swag. hahahah

     


    by Richard Day on Thu, 07/02/2015 - 7:24am

    I just noticed the numbers. It is because Bernie is catching on and people are googling for him. It is nice to hear his speech with out sound bites and editing.  


    by trkingmomoe on Thu, 07/02/2015 - 9:46am

    "Grassroots" at its best. 10,000+ people without some huge advertising campaign.  Clinton can have all the wealthy donors. They only get one vote just like everyone else. Might as well say it: Feel the Bern.


    by Elusive Trope on Wed, 07/01/2015 - 11:49pm

    You know Trope, this one of many reasons that I like you.


    by Richard Day on Wed, 07/01/2015 - 11:56pm

    The progressives have not been shackled by Walker in Wisconsin.  They turned out to support him.  I just wonder how much money he received from this crowd  This helps fundraising to go to big cities and stump big crowds.  

    People at Kos ran a blogs for several days  on how to get a ticket. There has been others covering his stump schedule and getting out the word out so if he is close to where you live you can go.  


    by trkingmomoe on Thu, 07/02/2015 - 12:22am

    The big-crowd strategy is a familiar one for liberal insurgents like Sanders. In 2007, Barack Obama was way down in the polls but got tens of thousands of people at rallies in Austin, Oakland, Atlanta and New York City. Howard Dean, the last Vermonter to run for president, also earned attention for his Sleepless Summer tour in 2003 — a 10-city trip that drew huge crowds in liberal hubs such as Portland, Oregon; Seattle; New York City; and Chicago.

    “It’s a strategy that worked,” said Dean’s campaign manager Joe Trippi. “We raised quite a bit of money. The size of the crowds demonstrated that we had a significant following in the party.”

    Trippi noted that the big venues also allow Sanders to establish himself as the clear second-place candidate to Clinton and close out other primary rivals, like former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley or former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee.



    Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/bernies-big-crowd-strategy-119663.html#ixzz3ehfPYc2r

    ​This is an old fashion campaign.  I am glad to see it back. 


    by trkingmomoe on Thu, 07/02/2015 - 12:03am

    I just had a thought.

    Recall when Barry showed up in Germany in 2008?

    250,000 Germans showed up just to see him!

    Germans for chrissakes!

    This one event just got to me at the time.

    Germans loving and cheering and hoping for a Black guy!

    I get so down at times, but there are epiphanies.

    There is hope sometimes despite Citizens United.

    Let us hope for a real instance of our citizens united to change this country.


    by Richard Day on Thu, 07/02/2015 - 12:46am

    Our media has been treating the haters as a worthy point of view and ignorant ideas on the same level as science and compassion.  Because of this we don't know how much our president is admired world wide.  Unless you have friends out side of the country you have no idea how much respect that Hillary Clinton carries internationally. The Brits had trouble keeping a straight face interviewing Walker this spring because he is such a ding a ling. 

    Bernie is playing a big important roll in this election.  He really is trying to wake us up out of this voting against our best interest and not demanding more from our officials. I want him to stay running as long as possible the way he is now.  


    by trkingmomoe on Thu, 07/02/2015 - 7:23am

    One doesn't see much of the other candidates right now. Just Clinton and Sanders. Which is sort of the two ends of Democrat spectrum, Status Quo vs Revolution.


    by Elusive Trope on Sun, 07/05/2015 - 1:23pm

    I saw Bernie in Denver with my daughter and her boyfriend.  They were already planning to attend when I found out about it.  The age range was young to old... the crowd was very energized.  We had to sit in the atrium and watch on the teleprompter and we got there early.

    I am behind Bernie all the way.  If you watch MSM though there is one pundit or another trying to convince us that Bernie 'can't win.  I say hogwash!  #BernieSanders2016

    http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/06/my-prediction-bernie-sanders-will-win-the-white-house.html

     


    by synchronicity on Thu, 07/02/2015 - 6:22pm

    Thanks Sync.   People are starved for an old fashion New Deal campaign. This is what Harry Truman did from the back of a train.  He was written off as the loser.  The media chose to ignore the fact that people lined up and crowded train stations to hear him.  He filled up gyms and halls. 

    As a country we need him to win in order to break the control the oligarchy has over our political system.  I don't think his supporters are even paying attention to the pundits.  30% of the country now exclusively gets their news off the internet.  As long as the village don't think he can win then they won't bother to attack him as bad.  I expect them to really go after Hillary and play the Hillary v. Bush meme later this summer. 

    I thought John Nichols speech was the perfect warm up.  He made some fantastic points. 

    I would like to see Bernie come to some southern cities just to see what kind of turn out he would get.  


    by trkingmomoe on Thu, 07/02/2015 - 7:17pm

    I find this interesting.  Salon had an article on Clair MsCaskill's appearance on Morning Joe's. I know most of us around here could care less what goes on during the Morning Joker.  She compared the crowds that Bernie has been drawing to the crowds that Ron Paul and Pat Buchanan.  With a little humor, the author did have some fun with this.  But the important point is there will be plenty of attacks made by Clinton's surrogates. 

    http://www.salon.com/2015/07/02/the_bernie_sanders_smear_campaign_has_begun_how_his_opponents_will_try_to_take_him_down/

    We have no way of knowing whether or not the Clinton team signed off on this means of attack, if the Sanders-as-extremist line will be something returned to as his success continues. If so, it will be hard for some to hear from the political family most responsible for making Sanders’ fairly standard postwar liberalism an extreme position. Bill Clinton helmed the rightward turn of the party in 1992, and now Hillary can call anyone who didn’t follow Bill’s lead an “extremist.” It compounds the already problematic dynastic dimension of Clinton’s campaign. The Clintons, preparing for the coronation, also get to police what is acceptable in the party, with Hillary the enforcer of the law Bill laid down? Continuing to call Sanders an “extremist” might only convince many Democrats that the Clintons consider the party theirs.

     


    by trkingmomoe on Thu, 07/02/2015 - 7:56pm


    by synchronicity on Thu, 07/02/2015 - 9:09pm

    That young man has a future in politics. 


    by trkingmomoe on Thu, 07/02/2015 - 9:47pm

    Agreed.  The young man is impressive.

    Anyone who is doubting Bernie Sanders needs to spend some time taking a look at his record/history.

    And btw I looked it up and Winston Churchill was prime minister of the UK at Bernie's age.

    It's not the age.  It's the man.  I am convinced.  I am voting for Bernie.

    #FeeltheBern

    http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/06/my-prediction-bernie-sanders-will...

     

     

     


    by synchronicity on Fri, 07/03/2015 - 10:46am

    If that constitutes a smear campaign politics is no longer hardball, it's nerf ball.

    There's two problems I think about when I consider Sanders. I remember what happened the last time the democratic party elected someone from the far left. Look at the vote totals for McGovern in 72. I know times change and each campaign is different. But electability  in a general election is an important issue to me. This election will likely decide the Supreme Court for the next 20 or 30 years. We have to win.

    Second age is a consideration. 70 is like a fuzzy grey line for me. Sanders is way over that line at 74. I watched my grandparents decline and I'm watching my parents now. They're 84 and still relatively healthy but they definitely slowed down the last 10 years. I'm just not sure someone has the energy for such a stress filled office at 75 to 79. And that's just one term. I'm not saying I won't support him in the primary but it is an issue.

    I'll be watching what happens and thinking about these and other things before I make a final decision.


    by ocean-kat on Thu, 07/02/2015 - 9:56pm

    I love the young man's passion, but I agree that Sanders' age is a negative factor. The other problem is that the public can be easily scared by terrorist threats. A candidate has to be perceived as ready to put lights out on any potential serious threat. Sanders seems wanting in the national defense arena.


    by rmrd0000 on Thu, 07/02/2015 - 10:23pm

    This is nothing like the '72 campaign.  After the mess in '68 in Chicago the Democrats made new rules.  They eliminated back room party bosses deals and state favorite son nominations. This was the first year for many states to hold a primary.  There was fights over winner takes all in states and at the convention.  McGovern and Humphrey didn't enter all the states contests but in the states they did, it was a nasty campaign. I was a voter in Ohio and I remember McGovern entered the primary at the last minute which Humphrey had been campaigning for months in Ohio.  Humphrey accused him of voter fraud and not complying with the state rules for entering. 

    George Wallace was running for President as a Democrat and was shot that summer.  That left the Southern Democratic Parties even more unhappy then just civil rights. 

    The convention in Miami had anti war riots just like in Chicago before. The convention ran overtime each night because of rule fights and long speeches.  State caucuses would demonstrate and that took up time. McGovern was able to secure the nomination but he had trouble with his platform wishes being excepted. Humphrey actually had more primary votes then McGovern so he was not that popular with voters.  Southerners were not having any generous welfare in the platform.  The last day of the convention ran almost all night because I stayed up and did my laundry folding and ironing in front of the TV.  There was no backroom party dealing going on like in the past so the process for picking a VP went on for hours.  McGovern finally picked Tom Eagleton.  I watched the acceptance speeches and the balloon drop before the sun came up .

    It was Tom Eagleton's past mental health issues that sunk McGovern.  Eagleton was forced to leave the ticket and then there was several days where McGovern could not find anyone to run with him. Sargent Shriver finally accepted.  People thought McGovern should of done a better job of picking a VP.  McGovern was a anti war Senator and the optics that followed him around with the anti war protestors didn't help.  Nixon courted the segregationists in the south. McGovern was also pro abortion but the majority didn't care one way or another but the religious WWII generation was upset with it.  

    The optics that Bernie has is not the mess that McGovern had. The only thing I see they have in common is the grass roots effort.  Even with a different ticket I don't think any Democrat could have won that year. 

     


    by trkingmomoe on Fri, 07/03/2015 - 12:33am

    True. I knew someone would post this. Still it was a landslide and McGovern's leftism was at least some part of it. Sanders is more left than McGovern. We both love that. But I will get no pleasure in electing a true liberal in the primary if we lose the general. I'll watch the flow of events until I'm convinced we have the best chance of winning the presidency.

    There's always a reason why we lose. McGovern did run a terrible campaign. But if America is really liberal why did Reagan beat Carter and Mondale. Bush defeat Dukakis? I'm not at all convinced that Bill Clinton could have won without Perot. Bush beat Kerry. Are you going to play me the tea party line? They weren't liberal enough, like the right wing always claims their losses are because the candidate wasn't conservative enough.

    Who knows, maybe it's true. Maybe for all these years the people were just waiting for a true liberal. But I'm not convinced. 'll wait and see, because I want to win.


    by ocean-kat on Fri, 07/03/2015 - 2:04am

    My guess is it all comes down to who looks manlier and more confident. Policy issues are just lipstick on the pig.

    Here's a nice rundown on Campaign '72, including a gem worth remembering for who the Democrats are:

    In the midst of the hubbub, Georgia governor Jimmy Carter—who’d promised McGovern he’d do nothing to hurt his campaign—appointed himself spokesman for the “Anybody but McGovern” movement, an aggregation of Southern governors, Humphrey and Scoop Jackson delegates. “A.B.M.” did not keep McGovern from winning the nomination, which became his at 11:09 p.m., June 12, 1972, but the memory of Carter’s betrayal endured. In the 1976 presidential election McGovern voted for Gerald Ford.


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 07/03/2015 - 2:42am

    Yup. Now that you mentioned the Anybody But McGovern, I remember that.  It was quite a convention.  Today they are rather boring and scripted, 

    The Republican Convention in Tampa the last time was no picnic.  They locked down the down town area with the militarized police in armored personnel carriers. The locals were afraid to go down town.  The down town district lost money and the topless bars in the county made a killing. It will be a long time before a political party convention will be asked back. 

    Thanks for the link.


    by trkingmomoe on Fri, 07/03/2015 - 4:34am

    And then post-convention, John Connally formed "Democrats for Nixon". And people called Hillary a traitor for campaigning up to June 3? How quickly they forget. Party Unity Almost Never.


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 07/03/2015 - 5:54am

    Is that your view PP?  Do you think "[p]olicy issues are just lipstick on the pig"?  Or do you base your vote on which candidate has demonstrated through her votes, words, and actions that she shares your values?  If the latter is true, whom do you support and why? 

    Personally, I couldn't be more excited about the Bernie surge and support him without equivocation.  Hillary Clinton's cautious DLC brand of politics has failed the American people time and again.  While Obama has been a big disappointment, HRC would almost surely be a bigger one since she has always been and remains a shade more conservative than he is on the important issues.


    by HSG on Fri, 07/03/2015 - 3:35pm

    I think that was just his weird distorted misinterpretation of my comment. He was probably trying to provoke me

     


    by ocean-kat on Fri, 07/03/2015 - 4:04pm

    Hal, I love Bernie and voted for him in Vermont, where he is an institution. I don't think he can win in a general election. While lack of the "manliness" factor doesn't quite describe my concerns about him, he's too far out of the mold. I don't want to lose this one.

    Sorry about the Trade deal, I know you fought valiantly against it.


    by Oxy Mora on Fri, 07/03/2015 - 9:12pm

    Thanks Oxy - I think we should support the most liberal candidate who has a chance to win.  In the primary season, Bernie Sanders fits this definition.  We differ in this way.  At this time, my current view is that a Hillary Clinton win would be a loss for the American people.  Not as big a loss as a Scott Walker or Ted Cruz or even a Jeb Bush Presidency would be but still a loss.  Yeah too bad about TPA.  But if Bernie wins, maybe he'd pull us out of the TPP.


    by HSG on Fri, 07/03/2015 - 9:20pm

    I'm talking about how presidential elections and how they actually go. E.g. Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail assessed things more directly than media bubble speak designed to create more ink and stretch out viewing time. And HST bet on McGovern - the only time he let his heart dictate his wager and a major mistake. Uncertain was who had the right meds for the trail, who addressed the right stock car race, policy be damned. Kerry lost over a wet suit as much as anything else - French and effeminate vs. Mission Accomplished, game over. dukakis looked like Snoopy in a tank - cartoon history now. And I don't much trust your ability what Hillary might or might not have done, as you don't seem too deeply versed in what she's actually done.

    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 12:07pm

    But how do presidential elections actually go? Nixon, then peanut farmer who came out of nowhere, then the actor for two terms and his second in charge, who served one term when some Arkansas guy played a sax on late night television. Then we got a guy who everyone wanted to have a beer with followed by some guy who was black and made everyone think "yes we can."

    It's different world inside the campaign trail then it is for 99% of the voters. I think what sums it all up when we accidently heard Don Mischer yelling the 2004 Democratic Convention: 

    "Jesus, we need more balloons, I want all balloons to go!. No confetti. No confetti. No confetti. I want more balloons. What's happening to the balloons? All balloons! where the hell! there's nothing falling!. What the fuck are you guys doing up there?"


    by Elusive Trope on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 7:12am

    Nothing to do with the theory I suggested. Lay out the duels and see who seemed manlier and more confident. Carter-Ford's the only recent one I see as questionable, and what with Chevy Chase playing falling Gerald, even that one probably works.

    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 11:30am

    Interesting article I read (somewhere today), rethinking Andrew Jackson---is Dem. P really the party of Jackson, so forth. But my point is that the author used the word "visceral" to describe Jackson and then suggested GWB and Sarah Palin as having such a trait. (jist being Jackson is more like the model for the Republican party.)

    It's a mostly undefinable trait.

    When GWB opened his convention address with the "swagger" remark,  "...in Texas, we call that walking", the election might have been over right then."

    "There, you go, again, ( namby pamby wierd person).

    And 1956. Professor with a hole in his shoe.

     


    by Oxy Mora on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 2:05pm

    There was a moment when Palin gave her intro speech that she could have been someone - she knocked it out of the park. Sadly for her, there's more than 1 event in a campaign.

    Andrew Jackson was a special kind of bastard - certainly represents some of the worst of America - slavery, indian massacres, corruption, endless fights against the government. No American figures these days come close to his class of evil - what's sad (or maybe promising) is how pathetic our budding class of acolyte Antichrists is. Even Georgie Bush starts to look good by comparison - like having a swagger compares to say Joe McCarthy's brutish presence or Nixon's list of enemies or good ol'  Warren G. Harding managing the post-war party, and then there's the 1800's when we were truly whack.

    It is kinda funny that a certain emblem is an issue but Jackson's picture on "Yuppie Food Stamps" (the good ol' $20 bill) hasn't caught much notice, despite I assume everyone being familiar with the Trail of Tears. Ah well, they'll get to Andy sooner or later.


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 2:36pm

    This may have been the article

    http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/06/party-of-jackson-vs-the-par...


    by rmrd0000 on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 2:50pm

    Much obliged.


    by Oxy Mora on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 3:04pm

    Carter manly? I don't care who he was running against, manly and Carter just are not in the same sentence. Obama more manly than Romney? I don't think so. Bush #1 just kicked some ass in the Gulf War and was beat by a guy wearing Dockers.

    Of course, confidence is key in any election or job interview. Who wants to vote for someone, especially the president of the US, who lacks confidence? But look what confidence got Hillary Clinton in 2008.

    People vote, especially in hard times, with their wallet. And that's why Sanders has a chance in 2016, while he would pushed aside in 2000. 


    by Elusive Trope on Tue, 07/07/2015 - 6:48am

    As I said, "Carter-Ford's the only recent one I see as questionable..."

    Re: Hillary, no, she wasn't particularly confident early on. Formidable yes, but a bit leaden. Anyway, 2008 quite bores me.


    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 07/07/2015 - 7:29am

    He doesn't have to win to have a major impact.  He only has to get the message out like Robert M. LaFollette did to push the country into a progressive era. He has been saying these things for years and now he is taking his message on a road show. Yes it is a wake up call to voters.  

    He only has to show others in office that there is a large group of voters worth going after that want this kind of change. Coming a close second to Clinton is a power consolidation that other Senators are going to pay attention to. He is doing it without kissing up to corporations and uber wealthy. He is paving a path away from oligarchy. Even if he loses, he wins. 

    Now is the time to do this while the GOP's coalition of the last 40 years is coming apart. The Democratic Party's New Deal coalition fell apart in the late 60's and 70's.  The GOP formed a coalition from chunks of New Deal with the oligarchy and has used it to hold power.  The GOP is a mess now nationally with 20+ candidates trying to win their shadow primary with the oligarchy. The states that are under full control of the GOP are circling the economical drain. 

    We really don't know how far to the left the new realignment of the Democratic Party will take. Will it be by taking one button off at a time or will it go full monty?   

    Sanders really isn't all that radical. He is an old fashion New Deal politician. A straight talking populist that tells it like it truly is.   It just seems radical after 40 years of Ayn Rand and Regan. economics.  


    by trkingmomoe on Fri, 07/03/2015 - 4:43am

    I 100% agree. I'm so happy he's running. I even hope he scares Hillary a little. I hope he's a contender when there're debates. I'm just not sure I'm going to vote for him. I'm leaning toward Hillary for the reasons I've mentioned. I'll see how it plays out before I make a final decision.

    As for how radical he is. I'm not sure. Satellite internet doesn't allow me to watch many videos. I have to pick and chose carefully. I haven't watched any speeches yet and there hasn't yet been much text detailing his views. But I did see him talk favorably about raising taxes on the wealthy back to the 90% level in some short news program. Can he win with that view? How many other views does he have like that? Enough that he can be effectively painted as a radical?


    by ocean-kat on Fri, 07/03/2015 - 4:43am

    In a way it seems like he is passing out lots of ponies but he is really talking about fixing all the financial abuses, closing the income gap, free college education, increasing SS, Medicare for all, investing in infrastructure, removing the blocks from unionizing, stopping the practice of off shoring money, increasing inheritance tax, taxing stock transactions, enforcing equal pay for women., redoing the judicial system because we have too many people in jail, making the rich pay their fair share in taxes, changing trade agreements that are not in the interest of jobs and workers in the country, and retraining police departments to protect not harm lives. He likes to shame the Walton Family and Koch Bros.  He also will make it clear that he will not appoint any judges to the Supreme Court that will up hold Citizens United. That is just some of the things he talks about. He also wants to break up the banks and bring back a modern Glass Segell Act.   


    by trkingmomoe on Fri, 07/03/2015 - 6:36am

    Sanders is currently 73.  Winston Churchill was the prime minister of the UK at his age.


    by synchronicity on Sun, 07/05/2015 - 1:37am

    Churchill had a stroke at 78 as PM and most of his sickly 2nd reign was as a figurehead. He also had serious health problems in his 1st stint as PM, but like with FDR, desperate times called for different measures.

    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 11:56am

    I think if they do try this line of attack, it only intensifies the meme that Clinton is all for the corporations and won't try to reign them and their power in.


    by Elusive Trope on Sun, 07/05/2015 - 1:25pm

    BERN BABY BERN!

    KICK SOME ASS!


    by Q (not verified) on Fri, 07/03/2015 - 10:37pm

    This is from the Guardian.  If you are curious to what Clinton has been doing since she announced.

    The Democratic frontrunner’s campaign has been heavily focused on raising money. Clinton headlined 58 different fundraisers in 18 states since declaring her candidacy in April. In contrast, she has held relatively few public events – and small ones at that – and has yet to draw crowds of the same magnitude as Sanders. Clinton’s one major rally in Iowa drew fewer attendees than a nearby Sanders rally two days later; even Clinton’s formal campaign launch in New York City was approximately the same size as Sanders’s lakeside announcement in Burlington, Vermont.

    The former secretary of state often communicates her policy positions via Twitter, rather than speaking to reporters or voters. While Sanders held a question and answer session on Thursday with over 100 voters in the gritty industrial city of Fort Dodge, Iowa, Clinton spoke at a private fundraiser in Provincetown, Massachusetts, a resort town on Cape Cod.

    http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/03/bernie-sanders-grassroots-movement-gains-clinton-machine?CMP=fb_us 


    by trkingmomoe on Fri, 07/03/2015 - 11:09pm

    It is as she and her current campaign staff learned nothing from 2008. The Bern is on the Loose. They can't just ignore him and attacking him only increases his supporters intensity. Seems she is hoping the Establishment Democrats endorsements and TV ads will be enough. I think she is wrong. 


    by Elusive Trope on Sun, 07/05/2015 - 1:29pm

    Yes yes yes E.T.!  My only divergence from the view you express here is that "I hope she [Hillary] is wrong". 


    by HSG on Sun, 07/05/2015 - 1:38pm

    I agree that delving into my thought "she is wrong," one finds a foundation built of hope.


    by Elusive Trope on Sun, 07/05/2015 - 1:46pm

    I think she expects to bludgeon any opponent with huge amounts of cash through Super Tuesday, the biggest takeaway lesson from 2008. Running out just after New Hampshire gave Obama his chance when she had to rear back on her spending.Presumably Citizens United made that very clear, since the issue the Supreme Court decided on was unlimited private money to run anti Hillary ads, a notoriety and "honor" that likely doesn't escape her.

    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 12:05pm

    Hillary is supposedly planning on releasing a policy paper every week coming soon. She's been meeting with literally hundreds of policy experts in what was termed a "wonk out" that lasted for hours with each person, often over several days. The reports stated the campaign stopped counting at 250. Some of the experts consulted were surprised at the depth of the discussions. She's scheduled her first full length interview with CNN.

    It appears she has a plan for the roll out of her campaign and is determined not to be swayed from that plan by external events. I'm ok with that methodical roll out as I've long been critical of the ever expanding campaign season. It still feels early to me so I'll just be patient and wait to see what she has to say in these policy papers.


    by ocean-kat on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 7:15pm

    Just got done watching Bernie live in Maine, with 7000+ attendees. They were showing some of the tweets that were going out as he spoke. It would be great if people would read "policy papers," but we don't live in an ideal world. Policy papers don't inspire people, get them all jazzed.  This is a world of tweets and headlines and photographs and YouTube videos. Good luck with a CNN interview compared to a 7000+ rally in Maine.


    by Elusive Trope on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 8:59pm

    Hey Trope!

    Can you believe this? We're gonna maybe get the chance to caucus here in the great state of Washington for a legitimate Democratic candidate. I can't hardly believe it.


    by kyle flynn on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 9:12pm

    That would be awesome. And by then the Pacific Northwest Bernites will be stoked and ready to show their support.


    by Elusive Trope on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 9:38pm

    I listened to Bernie every Friday back in the day on Thom Hartman's show when it was on Air America and Bernie was still in the House. Brunch With Bernie it was called. (Maybe it's still on). He took phone calls and gave straight answers to everyone one of them. I tuned in to listen to someone in Washington speaking to me and my worldview. There aren't many. No filter. No hedge. No between the lines. Straight. I don't harbor illusions he'll be the next President. I do, however, reserve the right to hope.  Whatever, this is a new kinda thing for me and it's kinda awesome.


    by kyle flynn on Tue, 07/07/2015 - 12:39am

    I am watching it now on You tube. 


    by trkingmomoe on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 9:46pm

    The campaign reported that about 7,500 people attended. (Although some arena staff say it was closer to 9,000!) Portland is a city of just over 66,300 people. There were more people in attendance at Bernie's rally tonight than live in many small New England towns. This was incredible.

    (If you're not familiar with Maine, it's a pretty conservative state. The Bush family has a big house there. They have a crazy Tea Party governor. It's not Vermont -- it's actually more conservative, I would argue, than Wisconsin.)

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/07/1399737/-This-is-what-democracy-looks-like-massive-crowds-continue-at-Bernie-s-Portland-Maine-rally 


    by trkingmomoe on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 9:54pm

    I remember when I learned how conservative Maine is. Being on the west coast, I just thought Maine and Vermont and all those other little states were basically moderate to liberal. But I think Maine is more like Alaska.


    by Elusive Trope on Tue, 07/07/2015 - 6:38am

    You misunderstood my post. PP said hillary plans to, "bludgeon any opponent with huge amounts of cash" I simply wrote what her campaign claims her plan is. I don't think anything that happens now has any significance. Do you realize that Biden is polling as well or better than Sanders in national polls? That's as meaningful to the final result as Sanders getting 7,000 people at a rally. It neither excites or worries me. With a population of 350 million it's not very hard to get thousands at a rally. Many candidates have gotten thousands at their rallies. I'm glad Sanders is doing well. I hope he continues to do well. I hope he's a serious contender when there are debates.

    to add:   You seem to want to have a Hillary vs Bernie fight already. I'm not anywhere near that point if I ever will be. I'd be much more content if Sanders beats Hillary than I was when Obama beat Hillary. Obama's constant talk of bipartisan solutions was a complete turn off for me for one of many objections I had to him. I couldn't be happier that Sanders is Hillary's major opponent. What if no one had entered the race? What if Webb was her major opponent? Either of those options would be a disaster for the democratic party in my mind. I'm truly looking forward to Bernie debating Hillary. Best outcome I could possible imagine for the primary.

    But if you're going to force me to say it because you want to pick a fight I'm happy Bernie is getting some crowds and making a good showing but at this point it's meaningless. Most voters aren't even paying any attention to the democratic primary and won't until the kids go back to school.


    by ocean-kat on Tue, 07/07/2015 - 1:20am

    Hillary, or her campaign team, must be going after the younger voters by using that  newfangled, or is it new mangled, math. For 250 policy experts to be interviewed for at least two hours each would take 41 twelve-hour days. If instead they actually got 15 minutes of serious brain pickin' each and eight hour days were used it would still take 8 days with zero down time, but apparently she had more than 250 to rack up quality face time with. But what the hell, who's counting?


    by A Guy Called LULU on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 9:31pm

    Everyone's managed to shit all over her no matter what she does - she's classic coke vs new Pepsi, old DC status quo vs save the world Bernie, etc. As OK notes, it's still very early in the Campaign season. Howard Dean, that other New England populist, had great crowds early on and he practically invented Internet social media organizing that Obama fine-tune 4 years later. What happened? I've seen all these scripts and I must say I'm a bit jaded - I had a good idea where hope and change would end and sadly I was pretty well right. There's usually 1 candidate that's the media + populist darling at this point, and it doesn't much matter unless they're not really a populist. I don't believe a nation hooked on the Kardashians is looking for a revolution. Hillary's not a stupid woman. I don't expect her to lose twice, tho this is politics and a crapshoot, especially for her. Aside from bundling tons of money, she may be preparing for caucuses this time - getting a strong set of committed, informed "pioneers" to put in place the ground game or social media game that was weak last time. I imagine she's thought about the outcomes for her approach this time, but in some eyes she'll always be losing. Hunter Thompson noted Muskie's 2 week whistlestop tour hit fewer people than Wallace's Saturday visit to Talladega speedway. In 2015, 1 good Internet meme like Ice Bucket Challenge will massively crush a traditional campaign pep rally (oh hell, Talladega's still 10x bigger than 7000 and it gets the attractive "clinging to guns and religions" segment). And 2016 is significantly different than 2008, such as no big crisis, everyone has video streaming on mobile, demographics have hugely shifted, polling is hugely precise and differentiated, etc. Bernie has 7 months to make himself known and endeared to a Hispanic audience, as 1 big pragmatic detail. What do all these interest groups mean for an actual platform or image? (I liked Chaves not his successor nor the ranting Greek populists -but what will middle and fringe America like for their optics?) So have at the analysis, but I'll step back for the actual outcomes, not just an early stage pep rally.

    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 07/07/2015 - 1:03am

    Simple question PP, and I'm truly interested in your answer. I respect your input here. We disagree on some shit. So what. I think you're smart. Anyway, do you think Clinton would be a better President than Sanders?

     

     


    by kyle flynn on Tue, 07/07/2015 - 1:12am

    To be honest, I haven't really looked at Sanders at all.

    But yes, I expect Hillary would be much better functioning as an *executive*, and would be better wielding power, for people's better or worse.

    And I expect she'll focus on her more liberal side, with or without Bernie.


    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 07/07/2015 - 3:09am

    I was wondering when my Bernie bumper sticker would arrive. Received this email today from his campaign [emphasis mine]

    DOUGLAS -

    We wanted to write you to let you know that you should receive your free Bernie bumper sticker soon -- probably 3 weeks from now.

    Our campaign has grown so rapidly, and so many people wanted to get stickers to show their support for Bernie's campaign, that we were a little overwhelmed, to be honest. 

    We're in the middle of printing hundreds of thousands of stickers right now, and yours will be in the mail to you as soon as possible. Again, check your mail in about 3 weeks.

    Thank you,

    Team Bernie


    by Elusive Trope on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 6:25pm

    That is a good sign that the support is bigger then anticipated. The enthusiasm is on the Democratic side with the voters. 


    by trkingmomoe on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 6:37pm

    Just finished watching Bernie speak to 7000+ people in Maine. He speaks plainly, sincerely, and with a sense of humor while addressing the issues head on. The crowd was definitely jazzed.


    by Elusive Trope on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 9:01pm

    He works the crowd well.  He was a little horse tonight and must be doing a lot of speeches. 

    We are going to have plenty to follow this summer on the Democratic side. I hope he comes to Tampa. 


    by trkingmomoe on Tue, 07/07/2015 - 1:57am

    I think there's a whole lot of people hoping he'll be "coming to an arena near you soon."

    I didn't feel this way about Obama n 2008, but I'd love to be Bernhead and just follow his campaign around on its tour.


    by Elusive Trope on Tue, 07/07/2015 - 6:33am

    I would like to see him schedule an event here because if the turn out is good then that is an indication we are turning a corner in politics towards the left.   


    by trkingmomoe on Tue, 07/07/2015 - 2:12pm

    He does need to hold campaign events in areas that are not as liberal as those chosen so far. While Maine and Wisconsin, for example, aren't considered necessarily blue, Madison and Portland are. That's akin to choosing Austin for a Texas rally.

    He's successfully proven he has enthusiastic support, now his campaign needs to show just how broad, deep and general election worthy it is.


    by barefooted on Tue, 07/07/2015 - 2:37pm