Bernie Sanders Is Quietly Building a Digital Media Empire

[The Polack MSgt]

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/04/bernie-sanders-is-quietly-building-a-digital-media-empire.html

With this, his on going travels fund raising and O.R. organizing it seems obvious that he is setting up for a run in 2020.

As of December 2016, he is no longer a Democrat.

That means he is an opponent to the eventual Democratic candidate.

So - What am I missing?

[ismnotwasm]

1. Bernie Being Bernie.

As Per Usual.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

2. Yup, Bernie's kickin' azz and takin' names!!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!

[George II]

57. He'll have a difficult time getting on some primary ballots without releasing his tax returns.

[peggysue2]

64. Yes!

An inconvenient detail for Bernie. Something that will not go away with pouting outrage or claims of unfairness.

[elocs]

3. All I can say that as a life long Democrat I hope to be voting for an actual Democrat in 2020,

someone who is not a senior citizen like me. Because if there is no new generation to take the torch in the Democratic Party, what is its future anyways?

[The Polack MSgt]

5. Agreed. I so so agree with you. NT

[comradebillyboy]

60. As a fellow senior, I must agree.

[Me.]

4. Don't Know Whether To Laugh Or Cry

More talk, talk, talk

[Cha]

13. He can talk about this on his big "media empire" bullhorn.. lollol

Things that Democrats would not be doing if they had the power:

Escalating towards nuclear war with NK.
Pulling out of Paris Climate Agreement.
Reducing National Monuments.
Defunding renewable energy.
Defunding CHIP.
Not helping Puerto Rico sufficiently.
Threatening and deporting DACA.
Building a wall on the southern border.
Attacking our allies and praising Russia.
Ignoring the Russia's cyber attack on our democracy.
Trying to revive the war on cannabis.
Backing expansion of private prisons.
Sabotaging the ACA.
Pushing an obscene tax bill which trigger cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
Preparing to decimate the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau.
A State Department in shambles.
Privatization schemes against public education.
Expanding the private prison system.
Attacking the BLM movement.
Praising White Supremacists.
Renewing attacks on our LGBT brothers and sisters.
Destroying Net Neutrality.
Decimating clean water and clean air standards.
Banning certain words from useage at the Center for Disease Control.
Oil drilling off our coasts.
Packing the Federal bench with pro-corporate rightwing extremist judges.
Cutting funding to Meals on Wheels.

To name a few

SHRED https://upload.democraticunderground.com/100210148833
As if.

[Me.]

55. WoweeZowee Cha

[Hassin Bin Sober]

6. One thing you are apparently missing: Sanders is part of The Senate Democratic Leadership.

From The Senate Democratic Leadership official page:

[TexasTowelie]

11. One thing you are apparently missing:

The money that is being raised at the rallies goes to Our Revolution instead of the Democratic Party. That makes it very difficult to consider Bernie as a Democrat.

[KitSileya]

14. That is a serious problem.

We had a problem with money not getting to the local and state races last time too, because only the (presumptive) nominee could release it, someone which unfortunately we didn't have until after the convention due to the rules on conceding. Now we have people raising money and gathering email addresses which people might think goes to support the Democratic party, which is the only real opposition to the GOP in this election cycle, and instead it's being siphoned off to people who attack the Democratic party more readily than they attack Trump. Not good.

Not good at all.

[Blue_true]

47. I think.

That real democrats will figure out that they are being suckered after two or three emails from Our Revolution. OR can help itself, it rips democrats at every opportunity. Democrats are being well funded in special elections and I expect this to carry through November. Some may have their heads in the sand and follow OR, but most people are wise to them.

[George II]

59. Every Democratic candidate raises money for the Democratic Party....

A few weeks ago Elizabeth Warren made contributions to the Democratic National Committee AND each of the fifty state Democratic Parties.

As far as I've seen, she doesn't go to rallies and criticize the Democratic Party. SHE is a Democrat!

[sheshe2]

62. Yes. nt

[George II]

58. Hmm, where have I seen that? But as you've admitted in the past, you don't know what that entails.

[cbreezen]

7. Conquer and Divide! nt

[msongs]

8. he has never been a democrat nt

[Me.]

9. Kick

[Gothmog]

10. I saw that sanders thinks that he can rival the trump media machine

Last edited Tue Apr 24, 2018, 08:49 AM - Edit history (1)

I found that claim to be amusing. Trump has Fox and the RWNJ media machine. No one but ssnders supporters will be paying an attention to this so called media machine in the real world

[Kentonio]

16. Good thing there's a vast number of Sanders supporters then.

[Cha]

17. Oh yes haven't you heard.. BS "has a lot of

fans."

[betsuni]

21. VAST!

[Cha]

22. Oh yes..

I do believe the word was "VAST"!

[Gothmog]

45. LOL

[Blue_true]

48. Stop being an oligarch.

[Cha]

54. lol

[OilemFirchen]

66. Well...

He is the most popular politician in the known universe.

Troof!

[ehrnst]

71. He quickly changed it to "we" but not before

he said what he was really thinking.

[Cha]

78. I caught that slip.

[shanny]

12. Good.

[Cha]

15. this doesn't sound "good" to me. i want a Democratic

President.. and this better not mess with that.

[RandiFan1290]

18. Love seeing the right wingers lose their mind every time Bernie is mentioned

Last edited Tue Apr 24, 2018, 01:12 PM - Edit history (2)

ETA: Love the personal attacks. The alerts must not have gone their way.

[betsuni]

20. What right wingers? Where? What do they say?

I don't visit right winger sites, could you tell us?

[Cha]

24. He's either talking about a right wing site he lurks on or

he doesn't have anything worthwhile to say so he's trying to slur DUers with insulting personal attacks.

[betsuni]

27. We both know the answer to that.

A cheap shot, boring!

[Cha]

29. Yeah, cheapest.. he must be so proud of his little "rwinger" slurs at DU members.. lol

[betsuni]

33. At least he didn't call us establishment neoliberal centrists.

Right winger is kind of a novel, bold insult.

[Cha]

34. Rofl.. or

"authoritarians" "rwingers "

[Blue_true]

49. Or dreadful DINOs or Third Wayers. If those had been used on me, I would have cried into my oatmeal

Being hit with some insult is too much for a person to bear.

[Cha]

23. Who are you trying to slur with your "..right wingers.."..

you better have some proof to back up your personal attacks and insults.. unless you're talking about some stupid right wing site that you lurk on.

[Cha]

25. Yeah, Edit in your Rofl.. you have nothing to

contribute but personal attacks.. you LOSE.

[ehrnst]

36. Sort of like the "progressives" dismissing justice issues specific to POC, women and LGBTQs

Last edited Tue Apr 24, 2018, 09:20 AM - Edit history (1)

but not white men, as mere "identity politics?"

I have a hard time telling them from right wingers.

[Cha]

44. +1

[The Polack MSgt]

61. I consider being called a right winger a slur...

you call me a fucking Republican stooge and post that twitchy GIF to drive the point home.

At least I'm not being slandered by a fellow Democrat.

I suppose I have to tolerate that kinda shit on this forum as it is currently populated

[sheshe2]

63. Who exactly are you calling a right winger?

Not anyone here I hope.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

67. Yep.

[VOX]

19. People are saying he can walk on water and even levitate.

But he’s apparently unable to transform himself into a genuine Democrat.

[ehrnst]

37. +1000 (nt)

[Mike Nelson]

26. You got it...

...he's preparing to run as independent... he has been since Clinton won but Trump was elected.

[4139]

28. Hes building an army so he and his army ARE the New Democratic Party and he the nominee

Adding on: not unlike Trump rallying to the Tea Party army to win the nomination

[Cha]

30. No he's not the "new Democratic Party".. he's an

Independent.

[4139]

31. He is not the New Democratic Party right now, but that is what he is trying to achieve

[Cha]

32. Well too bad. It's not going to happen if

that is what he's thinking. All he has are insults for our Democratic Party.. it's too divisive.. he can keep his Independent status.

[betsuni]

35. When I think about this, that there are people who consider the Democratic Party

as bad as or worse than Republicans and need to be infiltrated and eliminated, I get offended. Like the Tea Party.

[4139]

50. Im just pointing out what he is doing, I am not advocating/endorsing it

[betsuni]

51. I know.

[sheshe2]

65. Conquered even.

Like a stake planted for the win.

[LexVegas]

38. "a Digital Media Empire"

[betsuni]

39. I thought empires were bad, like oligarchs.

[Docreed2003]

40. Who's funding this so called "media empire"??

Are those small donations to Bernie going to fund this?

Is it an "empire" only because these videos are sent out to the millions of people who supported Bernie in '16?

Is any of the money acquired from this venture going back to fund Democrats? (Just kidding, we know the answer to that one...)

[Cha]

42. That's a good question, Docreed.

I wonder if it's set up so they reveal their funding sources.. or not?

[Docreed2003]

43. If I'd had to guess...I'd say it's probably not public knowledge

But that's purely an, admittedly, uneducated guess.

I'd like to know the answer to that question!

[ehrnst]

74. Our Revolution is a 501(c)(4) and does not have to disclose donor names.

That's why eight of the founding staffers quit.

“We're organizers who believed in Bernie's call for a political revolution, so we weren't interested in working for an organization that's going to raise money from billionaires to spend it all on TV,” former digital organizing director Claire Sandberg told NBC News.

http://prospect.org/article/nonprofit-structure-backfires-our-revolution

[Docreed2003]

75. Wow...that's interesting. Thanks for sharing!

I am surprised and yet totally not surprised that they would keep their donor lists secret. Also, I hadn't heard about staffers quitting.

[ehrnst]

70. Yes, that's a very good question. (nt)

[still_one]

41. After the 2016 election Sanders couldn't disassociate himself quick enough with the Democratic party

identification.

Whether he has presidential aspirations or not in 2020, the fact is that his actions to NOT being identified as a Democrat are not lost to the millions of registered Democrats who don't appreciate someone using the convenience of the Democratic party just to further his political ambitions.

The actions of those self-identified progressives who refused to vote for the Democratic nominee in 2016 are not forgotten. What comes around, goes around.

[SidDithers]

46. HA Goodman, The Sane Progressive, and Cenk?...

That's a hell of an empire.

Sid

[OilemFirchen]

68. Don't forget comedians Jimmy Dore and Ted Rall. Gonna be a laugh riot!

Then, in the wee hours of the morning, a little spiritual guidance from Brother Cornel West.

Survival Seeds and Goldline will rule the fucking planet!!!!

[ehrnst]

72. Not to mention Greenwald, RT and Lee Camp. (nt)

[Paladin]

52. Just what we need: Bernie assuring trump of a second term. (nt)

[NewJeffCT]

53. I did not support Bernie in 2016

nor did I support Hillary until she had the nomination basically sewn up. Same with 2008 - I did not support anybody in the primaries, either.

However, I think Sanders is the heavy favorite for 2020 if he runs.

1) He will consistently get 40-45% of the vote in the primaries
2) The remaining Democrats will split the 55-60% of the remaining vote - Harris, Booker, Merkley, Murphy, Cuomo, Gillebrand, Klobucher, etc. That will leave Sanders with 40-45% of the proportional delegates - if a state has 100 delegates, Sanders gets 40 and the runners up get 10-15 delegates apiece.
3) Unless Warren runs, there is nobody that will peel away votes from Sanders. Maybe Merkley can do that, but he doesn't have the name recognition of Warren.

[ehrnst]

73. Whoever wins the Dem nomination is always the one who wins the support of

POC, LGBTQs and women.

Particularly black women.

[hueymahl]

56. Thanks for the laugh

Not the OP, which was interesting, but from all the emoji masters clutching their pearls about how evil Bernie is.

Or put in a way you can understand better:

[ehrnst]

69. Imagine if that headline had been about HRC.

Heads would have exploded all over DU and the far left, even more than they did over "Correct the Record."

[betsuni]

76. OMG, a conspiracy explosion including the Knights Templar, space aliens, zombies ...

NOTHING would be too ridiculous in that case.

[ehrnst]

77. I would be "proof" that she was secretive, lying oligharch trying to hide where the money

for this empire was coming from!!!!!!

Likely more than a few "Deathstar" comparisons would have been proffered.