Sanders Kicks Off New Phase of Campaign With Ad Blitz Challenging Biden

This seems like as good a time as any for this article from Commondreams.org.

Sanders Kicks Off New Phase of Campaign With Ad Blitz Challenging Biden in March Primary States.

While Super Tuesday ballots were still being counted Wednesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders launched the next phase of his Democratic presidential campaign with a trio of television advertisements in mid-March primary states directly and indirectly challenging his top competitor, former Vice President Joe Biden.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/03/04/sanders-kicks-new-phase-cam...

I am slightly encouraged by these ads, enough so I am going to make another donation to Bernie.

Share
up
35 users have voted.

Comments

Cassiodorus's picture

Amy would have been the safer bet as regards future prospects for mental health. Pete babbled nonsense a lot. Mike turned people off.

up
20 users have voted.

“When there's no fight over programme, the election becomes a casting exercise. Trump's win is the unstoppable consequence of this situation.” - Jean-Luc Melanchon

establish that Bernie lost, at which point they can parachute in whoever they want. Based on the probability that he would pay ca$h for the privilege, it would be Bloomberg.

@Cassiodorus

up
14 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

@entrepreneur

I don't think there is any way Biden goes up against Trump. He'd eat him alive. But once Bernie's out they can choose Harris if they want with Michelle Obama as VP. And yes this has been floated.

up
11 users have voted.

Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?

@snoopydawg it shows, once again, how little they care for the American people.

up
10 users have voted.

Lurking in the wings is Hillary, like some terrifying bat hanging by her feet in a cavern below the DNC. A bat with theropod instincts. -- Fred Reed https://tinyurl.com/vgvuhcl

snoopydawg's picture

@laurel

But then I already knew that they don't care about us. When Pelosi insists on pay go, but then she keeps voting for increasing military budgets that was my 17,000th clue.

up
11 users have voted.

Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@laurel

I wonder how Kamala's cred with Black people is. That whole "I've Got the Black Vote Locked Up" thing left its mark.

up
4 users have voted.

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

orlbucfan's picture

@laurel We The Peons a good 40 years ago. Rec’d!!

up
4 users have voted.

Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.

Pluto's Republic's picture

@Cassiodorus

...tally sheet when she drops out. Most of her supporters won't follow her to Biden's camp.

up
17 users have voted.
Shahryar's picture

@Pluto's Republic

But we expect her to endorse Biden, don't we? And she has enough of a cult following that they might then vote for Biden as a gesture "for SFP Warren".

up
13 users have voted.
orlbucfan's picture

@Pluto's Republic Sure hope so.

up
2 users have voted.

Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.

orlbucfan's picture

@Pluto's Republic Sure hope so.

up
1 user has voted.

Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.

orlbucfan's picture

@Pluto's Republic Sure hope so.

up
0 users have voted.

Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.

orlbucfan's picture

@Pluto's Republic Sure hope so.

up
0 users have voted.

Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.

orlbucfan's picture

@Pluto's Republic Sure hope so.

up
0 users have voted.

Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.

@Cassiodorus
with a high probability of needing to be replaced before November. Of course the DNC will have to rewrite their rules (again) in order to insert the Evil Queen someone else who is “more electable” in his place. Easy enough, it’s a private club that’s free to transmogrify itself whenever it pleases, no explanations necessary.

It remains inconceivable to me that they actually intend to have him head the ticket. They have to have a back donor exit plan already in place. I can almost hear Hils cackling and rubbing her hands together in the distance.

up
25 users have voted.

“ …and when we destroy nature, we diminish our capacity to sense the divine,and understand who God is, and what our own potential is and duties are as human beings.- RFK jr. 8/26/2024

Pluto's Republic's picture

@ovals49

It would be epic! And it would get everybody off the fence.

But whether it's Biden, or whether Biden is a proxy for Hillary of the Corn, or some other corrupt ghoul — Trump will win a second term. Both sides will see to that.

There is one thing we can all count on: The votes that are cast under a US Democracy will always ensure that the American People shall be governed no better than they deserve. We shall be seated at a banquet of consequence for the lies we believe and the corrupt authoritarians we elect. People thought money was tight during the ten year Bull market, wait until they experience the economic catastrophe waiting up ahead, with the blind greed of their insane leaders at the helm, slashing their earned social benefits to shore up the value of their obscene wealth.

A banquet of consequences, indeed.

 

h/t George Bernard Shaw

up
19 users have voted.
Shahryar's picture

@Cassiodorus @Cassiodorus

If Joe had underperformed again they might have gone with one of the others. But he skunked them so the powers that be used their power to force Mayo and Amy to quit.

They, TPTB, might have preferred Pete or Amy but it had to be some ONE and Joe really couldn't be eliminated after his big win.

I saw this article a couple of days before SC that I think was super important. A "megadonor" contacted Pelosi and Schumer, telling them they had to clear the field and unite behind ONE so-called moderate. And they did. I don't think it was coincidental. I think that person was representative of the big money which is, as we know, what's really running this.

up
20 users have voted.
Cassiodorus's picture

@Shahryar And they couldn't have been bothered to get behind Amy, who is a neoliberal for sure but who doesn't have the obvious defects of Mike (generally hated), Pete (speaks gibberish at times), or Joe (senile).

up
12 users have voted.

“When there's no fight over programme, the election becomes a casting exercise. Trump's win is the unstoppable consequence of this situation.” - Jean-Luc Melanchon

@Cassiodorus
where he came in second with 17.6% (with the help of the NV machine); whereas, Amy dropped from third in NH to sixth in NV with 7.3% and her polling numbers in SC never got above 2% before February and in Feb mostly bounced between 4-6%. Amy simply had too small a support base on which they could quickly build her up.

up
9 users have voted.
Cassiodorus's picture

@Marie Let Mr. Senile go down!

up
7 users have voted.

“When there's no fight over programme, the election becomes a casting exercise. Trump's win is the unstoppable consequence of this situation.” - Jean-Luc Melanchon

Cassiodorus's picture

@Marie Biden Is Showing Signs of Cognitive Decline. This Should Worry Anyone Who Wants to Beat Trump

up
6 users have voted.

“When there's no fight over programme, the election becomes a casting exercise. Trump's win is the unstoppable consequence of this situation.” - Jean-Luc Melanchon

up
4 users have voted.

@Marie @Marie on that, and euphemistically calling it "gaffes" and "occasional goofy comments that Joe is well know for", there is the reluctance of the Bernie campaign to highlight it. This would only be for his surrogates and campaign people to do, as B has clearly indicated he won't be attacking personally. But this is rather fundamental as to whether Joe is fit to serve, which is not personal. Yet don't count on Bernie to touch it.

ETA: And apparently a lot of voters out there are your non=elite, non-political junkies who just tangentially get info about the race from the legacy media, the 2 cables. If they aren't covering Joe's obvious mental decline, it doesn't register with them, maybe they think this is how the guy always has talked.

up
4 users have voted.
Strife Delivery's picture

I think what is truly alarming in my opinion is the complete and utter disregard that voters have in the aspect that they believe Biden is electable. They are so consumed by their own cowardice and fear that they will force a man who has significant and visible cognitive decline and dementia on us.

Voters believe a man with dementia is the most electable to beat Trump.

Democrats would rather lose to Trump with a man who has significant mental issues vs. giving Americans basic social democracy.

It truly shows the level of hatred, contempt, and malice the Democratic party has for general people.

up
30 users have voted.
Shahryar's picture

@Strife Delivery

Which is amusing because I've never had anything to do with them.

The "survey" and accompanying letter makes it clear they think we're suckers. They probably do hate us. They certainly hold us in contempt.

The DNC is like a mediocre company with a bad product.

up
21 users have voted.
thanatokephaloides's picture

@Shahryar

The "survey" and accompanying letter makes it clear they think we're suckers. They probably do hate us. They certainly hold us in contempt.

IMHO, it would prove entertaining if you posted the text of these items here on c99!

Bad

up
8 users have voted.

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Shahryar's picture

@thanatokephaloides

Starts with check boxes for how much money I'd send, with $75 on the low end. Then there's a list of priorities, pick one. In previous "surveys" they at least had issues like "protect the ACA" or something. This was all "defeat Trump" or "sign up more volunteers" or "defeat Mitch McConnell".

The letter, from my good friend Tom Perez, never mentioned anything about issues, never gave a reason to be a Democrat or support Democrats. The 2nd sentence was "Trump", the 4th was "Mitch McConnell", the 6th was "Republicans". There was a brief pause where Tom asked for money and it went back to "Trump", followed by "Obama", then "Republicans".

up
19 users have voted.
mimi's picture

@Shahryar
sick than the illness the product was intended to cure.

up
5 users have voted.

@Shahryar
The DNC sent their letter to my mother yesterday, to my address. She switched to the Green Party in 2016. She died in September. I returned it in the BRE and wrote “Please remove my name from your mailing list and PLEASE GET RID OF YOUR SUPERDELEGATES.”

up
8 users have voted.

Anya

Unabashed Liberal's picture

@Strife Delivery

would very much 'prefer' a centrist like Uncle Joe.

Having said that, (IMO) the DP Establishment will stop at nothing to win, or regain power. So, I feel quite certain that they'll support Bernie, if it comes down to it. (meaning, if they can't rig his defeat)

Just this evening, while being interviewed by Rachel (MSDNC), Bernie said that any and all of the candidates will support the eventual nominee. Including himself. He added that there will be total Party unity. I think he's right (regarding the candidates, if not their supporters).

Today, he's pointed out in more than one interview, that he's a member of the DP Leadership, and, that he's caucused with the DP for 29 years. IOW, he rejects that he's looked at as an outsider (by Party Leadership). He and Schumer both graduated from the same high school, and, are pretty tight. He also points out that he's known and worked with Pelosi for decades.

What worries me is not that they'll allow him to win (if all else fails)--but, what they'll allow him to do, when he does win.

Will they block all his efforts and/or agenda? Don't claim to know the answer, but, that's what most concerns me.

IOW, that we'll see a Dem version of what we've watched for several years now--constant 'leaks' designed to undermine his Administration. And, more psyops--like the Russia Ruse.

Sad

Mollie

“This above all: to thine own self be true
And it must follow, as the night the day
Thou canst not then be false to any man . . ."
~~William Shakespeare

“Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then, I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving.”
~~Author Unknown

“The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.”
~~George Bernard Shaw
Irish Dramatist & Socialist (1856-1950)

up
9 users have voted.

Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

in contempt and who are stabbing him (and the voters) in the back every day. It's a weakness with some good people. I admire good people with long fuses who fight back once a certain line has been crossed. That line was crossed many, many times in 2016 alone.

BERNIE, they are not your friends. Fight them like our lives depend on it, because they do.

@Unabashed Liberal

up
13 users have voted.

@entrepreneur seems to me. I would like to see a bit more of a street fighter who goes all out, and is then graceful and generous in defeat or victory.

up
4 users have voted.
Pluto's Republic's picture

Biden is carrying the torch for health care for those Americans who have the money to pay for it.

This is a new kind of Health Care Plan! Biden explains he can make it work because it is not quality health care. And, that's why it is affordable.

Why didn't Bernie offer a plan like that?

up
23 users have voted.
PriceRip's picture

@Pluto's Republic

          How do we make "affordable" the new "nigger"? Until we do that there is no hope !!

RIP

up
8 users have voted.
Lily O Lady's picture

@Pluto's Republic

shit sandwiches. Bleh!

up
6 users have voted.

"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

snoopydawg's picture

@Pluto's Republic

I have no idea what he's even talking about in this video, but there are plenty more in this thread that Trump will put into an ad and show it everywhere. This is why democrats will not let him go up against Trump. Not a chance.

up
11 users have voted.

Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?

but not a farthing more in 2012!

I gave Bernie a tidy sum in 2016, only to learn that much of that (all of it?) ended up in Hillary’s campaign coffer!!!! I swore I would never repeat that mistake.

I’m about to break that promise to myself, at the risk of having my contributions misappropriated once again, because I can not walk away from even the smallest possibility that Bernie could actually win this primary and the general.

I’m in for a penny..... and in for a pound”. I’m with Bernie until he stops fighting, even if it makes me a fool twice over.

up
21 users have voted.

“ …and when we destroy nature, we diminish our capacity to sense the divine,and understand who God is, and what our own potential is and duties are as human beings.- RFK jr. 8/26/2024

@ovals49
donations to Sanders' campaign ended up in Hillary's bank account? The limit on donations from one candidate's campaign to another candidate is small.

up
7 users have voted.
edg's picture

@Marie

Candidates can transfer an unlimited amount of leftover campaign funds to political parties, so any money Sanders transferred to the Democratic Party would have helped Clinton.

up
5 users have voted.

@edg
did that? That's not what most candidates do with excess campaign cash. They roll it over to their next campaign. That's how Sanders and Warren had cash to seed their 2020 presidential campaigns.

up
2 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

@Marie

from the Dnc into her campaign. You haven't heard about that? There was a lawsuit on it because it was election fraud, but I can't find what has happened to it. Do a search for the lawsuit and see what comes up. But don't use Google.

up
6 users have voted.

Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?

Hawkfish's picture

@ovals49

Is to send any funds I had earmarked for the general to Our Revolution.

Imagine how big their war chest would be for down ballot progressives if Bernie’s monthly fund raising went to them (or the DSA, or...). IIRC, ORs annual amounts are less than one month of Bernie’s.

If the Berniecrats all did that we would at least have people in Congress to hold these people’s feet to the fire and keep them from giving all our money to Wall Street and the war machine.

up
5 users have voted.

We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg

Ad campaign would be enough to sink him. Both his comments before his mental decline and since.

up
15 users have voted.

Orwell: Where's the omelette?

WoodsDweller's picture

In the run up to Iowa, Biden had been leading the polls for nearly a year, but the cross tabs indicated that his support was a mile wide and an inch deep. Many voters were satisfied with Old Joe, but were developing concerns about his ability to function. The donor money dried up. Bloomberg entered the race, having earlier expressed his satisfaction with Biden as the standard bearer.
Biden's support was and is in the older, more risk-adverse voters and the African-American community, and there's a lot of them. That's who came through for him on Super Tuesday.
We don't know for sure who convinced Clyburn to endorse Biden. Maybe it was Biden himself, maybe Obama made the call, we may never know. That was enough to assuage concerns about Biden and allow that mile-wide support to materialize. With the strong victory in SC (no stronger that Sanders' victory in NV, but strong enough) it was that much easier to convince people to go with Joe in the Super Tuesday contests.
It's no surprise that Joe won the South. Sanders has made progress with black voters over the last four years, but he was always polling in second place with them. The "Southern Primary" did him in four years ago, thankfully much of it is now behind us and the delegate count is close to even.
To be honest, this was a fairly masterful bit of politics. I don't think Biden did it. I'm not sure he can still pick two socks that match. Saadar on Rising pointed out multiple times that this was the sort of thing that the Republicans were unable to pull off four years ago to stop Trump.
Was there skullduggery? Of course, there always is. But I don't see anything above the normal background level.
In the end, Sanders needs big turnout to win, particularly among new voters. He needs it to win the nomination and he needs it to win the general. It's possible that the health, economic, and climate effects of Coronavirus will be severe enough that anyone will be able to beat Trump.
If that isn't enough to salvage the general election, then I think I would prefer to see Biden be the one that loses.

EDIT: Let me clarify that last statement. I want Sanders to win the nomination with big turnouts against the best that the Establishment can muster. That gives him the juice to win the general. I don't want Biden to lose the nomination because he pisses himself on national television. Sanders needs to step up his game and get the turnout he needs for both races.

up
18 users have voted.

"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone

Pluto's Republic's picture

@WoodsDweller

It's time for the American People to step up. You've been carrying them on your back for years and years because they are too confused to understand the word of the leaders who are genuinely committed to rescuing them with material real-world solutions. So Bernie needs to step up.

Sometimes you're a passenger on a ship of fools that is about to sink under its own weight. The Captain and crew have robbed you and conspired to escape while the passengers go down with the ship. Yet you stay on the ship when it docks, convinced you can change the outcome by voting. Not as willing to act decisively like the people who risked everything to being you to America for a better future. That future is behind us now. And the People refuse to be rescued.

It's a creepy situation. A rogue government. Unelected authorities terrorizing the world and raiding the Treasury and replacing it with debt that will one day enslave your family. The depopulation is going on right under everyone's nose. You got a Surgeon General telling people not to buy and wear masks during an epidemic. No public healthcare now or in the future. Not enough hospital beds by a factor of 50. No one is even bothering to hide what's going on.

 

This girl in China is telling Americans just what they are facing living under predatory capitalism — with no real public health care, or hospital beds, or masks, or a plan to close down affected cities or states and halt the spread of infection. Here's what she is seeing:

up
14 users have voted.
janis b's picture

@Pluto's Republic

clearly defines the difference between sanity and insanity.

up
5 users have voted.
janis b's picture

@WoodsDweller

Have you seen Sanders' new ads, that entrepeneur posted?

up
5 users have voted.

@WoodsDweller across the board compared to 2016.

It's just that they are turning out for Biden largely, not Bernie. Apparently a lot more suburbanites and people who didn't vote last time.

up
0 users have voted.
janis b's picture

Thank you, thank you, for posting these great ads.

up
3 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

The first thing Biden will do is talk about how he and MyBoss created the ACA.
.

Trump just has to tell people how the ACA left millions without coverage and it did nothing to hold back the rising costs.

up
12 users have voted.

Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?

snoopydawg's picture

The guy nails why Biden will lose to Trump just like Hillary did. And the GOP already have her email scandal 2.0 with the investigation into Biden's firing Shokin. Ukraine has opened an investigation into it too. Of course the centrists are saying it's just a CT and it never happened. But it did and it will hurt Joe.

And let's not forget that he has had two aneurysm repairs. I don't know bout anyone else, but that seems more serious than Bernie's mild heart attack and stents.

up
13 users have voted.

Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?

Situational Lefty's picture

that Hillary Clinton's delegate lead after Super Tuesday in 2016 was far greater than Joe Biden's delegate lead right now in the year 2020.

I've been trying to verify that with some kind of internet link or information, but i'm not very good at computers. I don't remember who it was that said it but it sounded true at the time. Something like 60 delegated today compared to about 200 delegates in 2016.

Don't give up, Bernie's still very much in this thing.

up
9 users have voted.

"The enemy is anybody who is going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on." Yossarian

Wally's picture

@Situational Lefty

Only 271 out of 415 pledged delegates have been awarded.

Bernie's ahead 155 - 93 (the few additional delegates went to Bloomberg and Warren from areas (districts, counties - not sure what they are called in CA) where they accumulated more than 15% of the vote).

Only a bit more than 50% of the vote has actually been counted. Most of us probably recall how Bernie kept on picking up proportionately more and more votes as the count came in during 2016.

So I think there's a very good chance, maybe even a probablility that Bernie's delegate totals will jump enough so that he will have won the delegate count overall throughout all primary states that have thus far voted over Biden.

Right now Biden has the lead 566-501.

Warren has 61. Bernie needs those delegates of hers. Biden will accumulate at least 86 from Bloomberg, Buttigieg and Klobuchar. Even more coz Buttigieeg may still accumulate some delegates in Indiana coz his name will still be on the state ballot there as far as I know. And Tulsi has one from Samoa and might get a few in Hawaii.

See: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/democratic_deleg...

Of course, TPTB will probably make sure that the CA vote count will be delayed and the delegates not be fully apportioned before the March 15th primaries.

I watched Rachel Maddow for the first time since 2016 last night given that she intereviewed Bernie. She kept throwing numbers at him about the Black vote that were purposely skewed (as if the Black vote from the deep south is the same as the Black vote in the North and east and west coasts) and even claimed outright that Biden won the delegate count for Super Tuesday.

I also broke down even before that (mea culpa) because I was thinking maybe Warren would decide around 8pm est what she was doing and watched Chris Hayes. In talking about the election, he had on two guys who were associated with Obama. Fair and balanced, right?

So ended my experiment watching that garbage.

up
11 users have voted.

@Wally to be awarded, which come from the statewide vote total. Maybe they are waiting until 100% of the statewide vote is in? Currently Bernie is being awarded 57% of the delegates (only he and Biden met the 15% mark), so he could gain another 82 delegates if my calculation is right.

As to Msnbc, I made the mistake of watching some Lawr O'Donnell last night. On the 3-4 person panel, only ex-Obama and Clinton people, none from the Bernie wing. That notion of the cables adding some pro-Bernie voices didn't last long.

Btw, Warren just dropped out. No word on an endorsement. Apparently talked to both Bernie and Biden.

up
5 users have voted.
Hawkfish's picture

My wife is a speech therapist and she says that Biden is employing common strategies to avoid stuttering, which causes a lot of his gaffes. So while I am certainly no fan of Biden (and there are other worrying signs) it is dangerous to assume that he is going senile based on his speaking.

That said, his anger management issues, his not knowing where he is, and the sad fact that various physical challenges can disqualify anyone for the presidency (e.g. height) make him a strange choice even for the fearful.

up
4 users have voted.

We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg

@Hawkfish

it's the confusion and muddling of thought that is the problem.

up
4 users have voted.

"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin

and then read any article on Jacobin about Joe Biden's record to know that he cannot be either the nominee or President.

up
5 users have voted.

"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin

@Fishtroller 02 discussed it yesterday. Thinks it is beneficial to TPTB as it would give them more control over Joe.

up
3 users have voted.

@wokkamile
his starry eyed belief in conservatism, but actually totally hit the mark.

Tucker: Democrats pin their hopes on gaffe-prone Joe Biden https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4ytSI4PFm4

up
3 users have voted.

"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin

@wokkamile very well. Although Ronnie was an actor and at least knew how to read off a teleprompter most of the time, I'm not sure Biden has that ability but I guess we will see. And hell, look at Trump, while he doesn't show the same signs of cognitive issues as Biden he is extremely ignorant in many ways that count and that ignorance works for our owners in its own sick way. No wonder the world is terrified of the US.

up
4 users have voted.

Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

@lizzyh7 Reagan had years of professional training in reading scripts and looking right. And back in the 80s, we only saw what the 3 networks chose to show on the nightly news (no internet or YouTube of course), which was mainly about showing the frequent misstated facts that press sec'y Larry Speakes laughably had to correct the next day. This we were told was an innocent byproduct of Reagan being a Big Picture guy, not a detail oriented one, like that loser Jimmy Carter.

And Ronnie was indeed just the frontman for powerful private, selfish interests.

It's much easier to see Biden's condition today, there for anyone to consider. But similar to Reagan selling out to the corporate world long before entering politics while pretending to be for the people, we also have Joe long ago making a deal with the devil while presenting himself as Lunchbucket Joe. It's really up to Bernie now to show what a sham this image is.

up
3 users have voted.