We spoke w/ over a dozen staffers for @BernieSanders campaign & got a MUCH more in-depth picture of what went wrong.
From Bernie's "magical thinking" to the campaign not really having anywhere near 1 million volunteers, lots of news—and lessons—here.
statuscoup.com/inside-bernie-…
From Bernie's "magical thinking" to the campaign not really having anywhere near 1 million volunteers, lots of news—and lessons—here.
statuscoup.com/inside-bernie-…
“Biden didn’t win this primary, it was given to him," one high-level staffer told us.
Another said 2016 campaign manager Jeff Weaver was the "de facto second campaign manager"—which caused lots of issues early on.
Another said 2016 campaign manager Jeff Weaver was the "de facto second campaign manager"—which caused lots of issues early on.
“Nobody ever wanted to tell Bernie ‘hey, we don’t actually have a million volunteers,” a high-level source told Status Coup, leading to Sanders making the erroneous claim across the campaign trail.
“Sometimes we lacked a solidarity that may have been more successful; if we all thought an idea was a good idea, it would have been better for all of us together to say that to Bernie rather than one or two people trying to throw a Hail Mary pass with Bernie," -@davidsirota
“Bernie created wildly unrealistic expectations for a huge youth surge,” a high-level staffer told Status Coup. Like in other areas, the rhetoric didn’t match the investment; early on, the campaign hired just three staffers to focus on the youth vote and organizing.
“It did not help us for Bernie to be seen as being critical of the Democratic Party,” one high-level staffer on the campaign told Status Coup, equating it with Hillary Clinton calling Trump supporters “deplorables.”
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“Like, don’t insult the voters. There are a lot of people who actually do support Medicare For All but who, they identify with the blue team, and they see the rhetoric about criticizing the establishment as they are being personally attacked.”
Some top staffers think going aggressively agains Dem establishment hurt Sanders, equating it with @HillaryClinton's Trump "deplorables."
“Like, don’t insult the voters. There are a lot of people who actually do support Medicare For All but who, they identify with the blue team"
“Like, don’t insult the voters. There are a lot of people who actually do support Medicare For All but who, they identify with the blue team"
Former speechwriter and senior adviser told us it was a mistake for Sanders to back down from the notion that @JoeBiden had a corruption problem following @ZephyrTeachout's op-ed.
“It was an example of the establishment screamed, and the campaign backed down."
“It was an example of the establishment screamed, and the campaign backed down."
