Thread by @aseitzwald

ICYMI: High anxiety: Jittery Democrats fear their candidate won't beat Trump. nbcnews.com/politics/2020-…

The offer: A $1 million check to a major Dem group.

The condition: Guarantee Elizabeth Warren not become the party's nominee — or the money gets refunded.

The offer was rejected, but indicative: “90 to 95% of our donor base is terrified about Warren.”
nbcnews.com/politics/2020-…

Some Dems, especially some donors, have been having a good old fashioned bed wetting in recent weeks (as @davidplouffe famously once put it), concerned none of their candidates are up to the task of beating Trump. And after 2016, it’s harder to reassure them.

"With stakes this high in the election, Democrats from coast to coast are in search of the perfect candidate,” said Rufus Gifford, the former national finance director for Obama's 2012 campaign and ambassador to Denmark.

"That person doesn't exist. He or she never has."

Dem VOTERS have expressed little interest in expanding the field, with 85% sayings they’re satisfied with their options.

But concern among INSIDERS helped push Deval Patrick and Michael Bloomberg into the race under the wire of the NH filing deadline. nbcnews.com/politics/2020-…

David Brock: “Donors are casting around for someone who can fill those (Obama) shoes because they feel that Joe Biden hasn't closed the deal yet.” nbcnews.com/politics/2020-…

Some on the left question if they’re worried about Warren/Sanders losing to Trump — or winning:

"Makes you wonder if they're trying to save us from Trump or are they really just trying to save themselves from Bernie and Warren,” said @RebeccaKKatz nbcnews.com/politics/2020-…

Monmouth‘s @PollsterPatrick says the fractured Dem field — with multiple “frontrunners” bunched up around 20% — is not actually all that uncommon historically or troubling. “It's not a sign of weakness," he said. nbcnews.com/politics/2020-…

Still, many Dems look at the four leading frontrunners and see glaring flaws with each. And they look at the rest of the field and assume if they haven’t broken out yet, they won’t now.

So despite having the biggest field of all time, many are left feeling...

All this helps explain why Barack Obama felt the need to tell major Dem donors Friday (and then allow his comments to be made public) to CHILL OUT.

“We will have a candidate who has been tested and will be able to proudly carry the Democratic banner." nbcnews.com/politics/2020-…