Thread by @danielmarans

New: Once a front-runner, Bernie Sanders' contempt for the Democratic establishment and traditional campaign tools won him adoring fans, but undermined his path to the White House. An in-depth look at a campaign that rose and fell very quickly: huffpost.com/entry/bernie-s…

Some news in here:
--Jeff Weaver threatened to quit in May if Bernie wouldn't fund new polling.
--Ady Barkan tried to broker talks between Bernie and Warren.
--Bernie aides prepared a line on Biden's "nothing will fundamentally change" for June debate. He didn't use it.

Some aides were frustrated by campaign manager Faiz Shakir's decision to travel with Bernie, arguing it hampered management of big campaign. Shakir's top deputy, Ari Rabin-Havt, was also always on the road with Bernie. Last full-time prez campaign for both was John Kerry.

Mark Longabaugh, a consultant and veteran of the 2016 effort, recommended Sanders affiliate as a Democrat and begin campaign with a big speech on race in Chicago. Sanders would end up doing neither. Longabaugh left the campaign early on due to strategic differences.

I'll be on @HillTVLive to discuss the story with @krystalball and @esaagar later this morning. And I'll have more tweets later.

Some other bits of news here:
--A pro-Sanders activist laments not getting emails answered: "The outward motto of the campaign was ‘Not me. Us,’ but the real motto seemed like ‘Everybody against us’ or ‘Just us.’”

Analilia Mejia concedes that it was hard to get Sanders to call electeds and union leaders. She leveraged his love for speaking to workers to foment rank-and-file and Local union support for him -- and block internationals from endorsing Biden.

Among the calls the campaign did not make: Virginia Del. Marcia "Cia" Price, a young Black woman and the only state lawmaker to endorse Sanders in 2016, never heard from them.

Cutting room floor: Neither did Perriello consigliere and anti-trust activist @brennanmgilmore.

More news: The Sanders campaign planned to split a plane with the Warren campaign back to Washington after the Iowa debate in mid-January. After the CNN story on Sanders' alleged comments on a woman not being able to win, the communication lines went dark.

Sanders' team also believes the Warren tussle inflicted permanent damage on the campaign, claiming it prompted a 10-point drop in support from women nationwide.

As has already been reported, a faction of Bernie allies wanted the candidate to cast himself in a more mainstream light, including by tying himself to FDR and the New Deal.

One sign he didn't: In the N.H. debate, the two candidates to mention FDR were Biden and Klobuchar.

Another sign he didn't: Sanders did not regularly volunteer information or otherwise tout his pragmatic record and bipartisan accomplishments.

Last cycle, he went on TV about VA reform bill; this cycle he promoted it in a YouTube video with 26,000 views.

Believe it or not, the campaign had hoped the now infamous "60 Minutes" interview after the Nevada caucus would make Sanders seem presidential and reach older voters (the show's viewership). It ended up kicking off a multi-day news cycle about Fidel Castro.

I looked at the ad figures in @kantar_media.

The Sanders campaign spent nearly $7 million on ads in Iowa starting in October, and just over $1 million on ads in South Carolina -- starting in February.

“The fundamental challenge for the progressive movement is to build a much deeper alliance and relationship with the African-American community. There is no path to the nomination without African-American voters, nor should there be.” @RoKhanna

Some state lawmakers in South Carolina were annoyed that they didn't have a more prominent role in promoting the campaign in-state.

Again, a play on the motto: "The motto was ‘Not me. Us,’ but sometimes the feeling of ‘us’ became questionable.”

.@ninaturner -- incidentally one of the aides encouraging Sanders to contrast with Biden earlier and more consistently -- responds to SC critics: "There were no roadblocks in their way to work with the campaign team in South Carolina to do what was necessary in their districts."

Another sign of campaign indecision and disarray: Sanders kept his distance from Turner's op-ed in an S.C. newspaper attacking Biden's civil rights record.

But he saw it and approved it before it went to print. (Attached are his comments about it in the N.H. debate.)

There was no plan for a moderate consolidation.

And the professed strategy of expanding the electorate -- in a way that benefited Bernie disproportionately -- never panned out.

“There was a strategy to get to 30% and not to 50%.”

More news: Harry Reid called Faiz Shakir, a former aide, to inform him a day before endorsing Biden.

Sanders' team included several Reid alumni: Shakir, Ari Rabin-Havt and Josh Orton.

An overarching theme in the story: When expert campaign advice made Sanders uncomfortable, his discomfort usually took precedence.

When he let experts do their thing, as in green-lighting polling in May and unlocking funding for TV ads in October, his fortunes generally rose.

One other thing: For a campaign that was deeply frustrated with its depiction in the media, it sure was odd that they did not have a rapid response chief -- or even a team tasked with it.

Final addendum: I reported on AOC not hitting the trail as much as the campaign wanted: huffpost.com/entry/alexandr…

There were actually some Sanders allies who wanted her and other Squad mates out front less, thinking they didn't help broaden coalition...

... I didn't include the latter bit, cus @AOC was damned if she did! Too little, too much.

Her endorsement is what put the campaign in any kind of contention.

“The timing of it was amazing. Literally and figuratively the campaign was on life support," @tulchinresearch

Late breaking update: The Sanders campaign did not really court @jdscholten's endorsement, even as other candidates tried their best.

Scholten spoke to Bernie when he announced the campaign and met with state campaign people in July...

... There was never a pitch though. And when Sanders held his big rally in Sioux City, the campaign didn't even let Scholten know in advance. He showed up as a regular attendee.

He did multiple joint events with other candidates, especially Booker, Warren and Buttigieg...

How MIA was the Bernie campaign vis-a-vis Scholten? Biden, who had a notoriously threadbare Iowa operation, at least notified him about a Sioux City rally and gave him a minute to meet Biden after...

Scholten, who earned statewide -- and even national -- fame for nearly unseating Steve King, credits the campaign for energizing new voters in the 4th, but says he saw less persuasion.

He also felt the campaign lacked the warm touch that he appreciated when he sees Bernie live.

Scholten, who still won't reveal for whom he caucused, owed Bernie quite a bit for the support he received in the 2018 midterms.

Bernie held a series of rallies for Scholten across the 4th district as part of a nine-state midterm swing in October 2018: huffpost.com/entry/bernie-s…