From... The Fix Is In... Files...

[WillyT]

The Democrats Have Now Changed the Rules, And Forced Larry Lessig Out
Steve Jarding - HuffPo
Posted: 11/02/2015 12:12 pm EST Updated: 11/02/2015 12:59 pm EST

For the past six weeks, I've been the general consultant in Larry Lessig's presidential campaign, working with him and a team of senior and extraordinary campaigners to get him into the Democratic Party debates and to help Americans see why I believe we need him as our next president.

I did this in no small part because I believe, as does Lessig, that big money is destroying our democracy. And like Lessig, I believe that until we control big money in politics, our democracy will continue to be severely compromised if not abdicated. So for the past six weeks, we have worked hard to show the Democratic National Committee as well as Democrats and all voters nationally that we were a serious campaign with a serious candidate whose voice needed to be heard both to help bolster our party and to save our democracy.

Toward that end, Larry's campaign raised over $1 million in a matter of weeks and it even qualified for federal matching funds over this same period of time - a very impressive feat. We then fleshed out the campaign team with a wonderful mix of campaign veterans and strategists with next generation experts on social media and digital platforms. We also ran an unprecedented digital campaign reaching tens of millions of voters while at the same time running significant television advertising buys in both Iowa and New Hampshire.

All of this was designed in part to show the DNC that Larry deserved to be included in their pivotal national presidential debates so that all Democrats nationally could hear his critical arguments for taking back our democracy from the big money interests.

The DNC's rules for candidate participation in their debates were pretty straightforward--or so we thought...

And...

So, we believed we had our guidelines. And as such, we worked hard--and spent our campaign's resources--to meet this clarified goal. It wasn't easy, as most of the national polls didn't even include Lessig's name. But then a week ago, a Monmouth poll of Democrats nationally found him at the qualifying percentage. Then an NBC poll found the same. HuffPost Pollster now lists three polls at 1%. Since the Monmouth poll, no poll that included Lessig's name found him with anything less than 1%.

But apparently it did not matter. Late last week, the DNC again changed the rules for participation in the debates. Just at the point that it seemed Lessig was about to get in, the DNC has shut the door.

We were informed of this change in a phone call late last week...

And...

I have been a Democrat my entire life. I have proudly helped elect many of the leaders of our party including Tom Daschle, Bob Kerrey, Mark Warner, Jim Webb, and Tim Johnson to high office and I have served nearly four years at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee as Communications Director and Senior Advisor. But I am sad to say that I have never experienced this kind of game playing and deception from party leaders in nearly 38 years of political activism.

As I said at the outset, big money is destroying our democracy...

The Rest: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-jarding/the-democrats-have-now-ch_b_8445202.html

[Agnosticsherbet]

1. I agree that Lesson should be up there.

[MineralMan]

2. Not everyone has a chance of being

POTUS. Larry Lessig is one of those. He is a good man, with good ideas, but that's simply not enough, and never has been.

[elehhhhna]

3. Good. So you,HRc and Debbie agree?

[MineralMan]

4. Agree on what?

Lessig is in no way any sort of viable candidate. He knows that, too. It's not about agreeing with anyone. It is simply a fact.

[WillyT]

6. Yet He Met The Rquirements For Entering The Democratic Debates... What Are You Guys Afraid Of ???

Let the man make his case.

[MineralMan]

7. He has withdrawn.

He is no longer a candidate. I meet the qualifications, too. Should I run? He never had a chance of any kind. No more than I would have. It was not a serious run, and he knew it. There are many declared candidates none of us have heard of.

[jeff47]

9. Because they changed the rules to exclude him from the debates.

I meet the qualifications, too.

Please link to the national poll where you got at least 1%.

[MineralMan]

11. I did not declare my candidacy.

Why would I do such a futile thing?

[jeff47]

12. Then you did not meet the requirements.

It's not like you'd suddenly start talking about the requirements to be a candidate in a thread talking about the requirements to enter the debates. That would be rather dishonest.

[Alittleliberal]

55. Woosh!

The criteria was set, the criteria was met, the criteria was changed. That is wrong.

[WillyT]

10. You Heard It Here First Folks... MM Has Raised $1,000,000 And Is Polling At 1%... Congratulations !

Didn't know ya had it in ya.

[DianeK]

8. absolutely!

I see very clearly that the fix is in for Hillary...anybody who dares challenge the Clinton machine will be brought down very quickly! for Lessig it may not be that noticeable as his campaign has been relatively low profile..but for how they are handling Bernie Sanders it it seems quite apparent

[Hortensis]

41. Right. I'm unhappy that Lessig will not be at the next debate,

but I also don't know all the calculations that went into this. Critical as campaign finance reform is, we won't have the power to change anything if we don't take the White House.

The next president will put up to 4 new justices on the Supreme Court -- who could serve for most or all of the rest of our lifetimes.

[WillyT]

5. Yep... Talking About Moving The Goal Posts...

I guess Lessig was a greater threat than we presumed.

[sheshe2]

13. Who is Lessig?

I have no clue who they are.

Seriously, I am a political junkie that has been way to busy at work. And never heard their name. Who are they? Please fill me in.

[JonLeibowitz]

19. Lessig is a Harvard Professor who got interested in congressional politics

A young man named Aaron Swartz (R.I.P.) introduced him to the corruption present in Congress due to moneyed interests and convinced him to shift focus from technology to congress. Aaron Swartz is himself a fascinating person who unfortunately committed suicide after being hounded by federal prosecutors for a supposed crime that none of the supposed victims wanted to be pursued (those victims: JSTOR and MIT), but I digress..

The problem only got worse after Citizens United, of course.

He formed a PAC named "Mayday PAC" intended to fund congressional campaigns to fix campaign finance; that had fairly little success. He decided to run for president and got many of his friends to donate the required funds for a $1MM campaign. He qualified for matching federal funds. His goal was to say that nothing any candidate promises to do with congress is remotely possible whilst corporate donors control congress in a powerful way.

And now the DNC doesn't want that message to be heard, retroactively excluding him from the debates by changing the rules. It's sad really, even though I wasn't planning to vote for him. His voice absolutely should have been heard. I don't see quite what else he could have done to run a better campaign and get included. They quite simply did not want him.

Hope that helps. If you want more details I am happy to provide them. Aaron Swartz and Lessig were/are both brilliant and fascinating public figures. I look forward to Lessig's next plans.

[sheshe2]

29. You have been here for a week....

I asked a question that I truly did not know the answer to, and to tired to google.

You answered me. Thank you for that, Jon. You did not snark at me or give me talking points.

Appreciated, welcome to DU.

[JonLeibowitz]

31. Thanks!

What a time to join though. The snark is unreal. I view it as theater almost. Nobody can really be this hateful of either candidate.

I should mention I am not blameless. I got banned from the Hillary Clinton group on the first day for pointing out that a member didn't know how to spell. I think they thought I was a spam account set up to troll, when really, I hate it when people can't spell and expect me to take their arguments seriously. A pet peeve.

[Alittleliberal]

56. It hasn't always been this way

We lost a number of brilliant posters this year. The quality of discussion has dropped dramatically.

[Dustlawyer]

43. Welcome to DU!

I agree, his message should be heard. While Bernie sides with him on his issue, they make sure it doesn't come up in the debates. Bernie will not get a question on Publicly Funded Elections and why we need them. Lessig would speak of nothing else! This issue is the single most important issue as it is the root of most of our problems and is what holds back any significant action on Climate Change.

Proof in action that the MSM is looking out for their corporate masters. The corruption of our country and its system of campaign donations (bribes) will be dealt with sooner or later, but we all will fight for "sooner" rather than later!

[sheshe2]

15. I have never heard of them.

In asked you to explain who they were. Guess you have no time for that.

[WillyT]

16. Here:

NYT Link: http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/11/02/lawrence-lessig-ends-his-long-shot-presidential-bid/

Campaign Page: https://lessig2016.us/

Modern day godfather of getting money out of politics. Harvard Professor... definite long-shot.

[WillyT]

21. Lessig Will Be Coming Up On Lawrence O'Donell Next...

Check it out.

[Android3.14]

24. "Not everyone has a chance of being president of the United States"

Do you even listen to yourself?

[cantbeserious]

25. So You Admit The Fix Is In For HRC - What Kind Of Democracy Is That

eom

[restorefreedom]

14. another voice shut down

democracy is dying..long live democracy!

[Starry Messenger]

17. I guess we know who that one Lessig voter is now.

[Phlem]

18. Thanks brother.

Excellent post.

[WillyT]

27. Anytime Phlem... What Pisses Me Off...

is the WE don't pull this crap... WE are supposed to be better than Republicans.

The author of that piece worked for some pretty Centrist, Center Right Dems. Also worked in the top echelons of Senate Campaigning. He's seen the money chase up close and personal, and apparently he's sick of it.

I would have loved to be a fly on the wall for that phone call he got, and get to see his reaction after he hung up.

All DWS/DNC had to do was allow Larry on stage for the next Dem Debate or two. If he gets no bounce, he withdraws. But the words he has, need to be said on a national stage.

GET MONEY OUT OF POLITICS !!!

I hope Bernie mentions this bullshit at the next debate.

[Phlem]

32. "I hope Bernie mentions this bullshit at the next debate. "

It needs to be said. I want to hear it!

I hope he does.

[SoapBox]

20. wow...

DWS and the Third Way?

[Android3.14]

22. This is important

She is trying to twist the Democratic process in her favor, and it's the reason we cannot let Hillary win this primary.

[cantbeserious]

23. Personally - I Am Tired Of Being An Afterthought To The DNC DWS DLC Third-Way Party Establishment

eom

[Spitfire of ATJ]

26. That's a proud list of derp.

[bbgrunt]

28. k and r. is it oligarchy yet?

[stevenleser]

30. I like Lessig. If he really had wanted to be President, I would support him being in the debates.

Originally Lessig said he would become President to pass a single bill for campaign finance reform and then resign.

That's not a real Presidential campaign and not someone who actually wants to be President.

He later tried to amend that when he realized his original plan would not inspire many folks at all to support him but the damage had been done.

[Bread and Circus]

34. But doing that one thing would likely do far greater good than anything Hillary will accomplish.

I agree it wasn't a real candidacy in the classic sense but CFR would have a lot better downstream affects than all the triangulation we are going to get.

[stevenleser]

35. Whether you think that or not it makes it a joke of a candidacy and of the Presidency.

No serious people will support a two year effort to elect someone who says they will do that.

And that all is besides the fact that the President cannot do that by himself and we will have a Republican House of Representatives until January of 2023 who would stop him.

[Bread and Circus]

37. All he wanted to do was be at the debate to raise awareness. What's your fucking problem with that?

And don't give me this "serious people" crap.

"Serious People" have been wrong on so many things the past few decades I can't even count.

Btw aren't you one of the trio of Hillary Clinton supporters who used to say she is too stupid to be President?

How can anyone take you three serious?

[stevenleser]

38. The debates are to decide whom to nominate to be President. They are not 'awareness raising' gigs

That's my "fucking problem' with that.

[Bread and Circus]

48. That is not true.

If you have never heard of a "message candidate" then you don't know politics.

Btw how are the other two Musketeers?

[aidbo]

33. K&R. It's too bad. I wanted to hear from him. And I wanted the US to hear from him.

I am somewhat of the belief that getting money out of politics is the 'first issue' going forward.

Until something is done about this, solutions in our government will be few and far between.

And many of the thing that do get through, will be half measures or worse.

[sabrina 1]

36. Big money HAS destroyed our democracy. Now what can be done about it?

[Scuba]

39. It's false to claim "The Democrats Have Now Changed the Rules" ...

Fact is DWS is not a Democrat, she's a Republican who has infiltrated our party.

[in_cog_ni_to]

40. The DNC/DWS/CORPORATIONS/WALL ST./

Clintons have destroyed what was The Democratic Party. I know, personally, I've washed my hands of their filth. I will not be a part of their grand planned Oligarchy and will never vote for the Corporate Owned DNC candidates DWS puts forth for coronation.

After this election (should the DNC successfully steal the election via electronic voting machines - that's the plan) , and seeing what the DNC has so blatantly shoved down our throats, it's imperative the Progressives in this country start a Progressive Party. Our numbers are huge and without our votes, Millennial's votes and Independent votes, the so-called" "Democratic" Party (that's LAUGHABLE!) could never survive. Their only hope will be to join forces with their brethren, THE GOP.

Moving the goal posts on Lessig is DISGUSTING. I know the CORPORATE OWNED MSM deliberately ignores Bernie (at their own peril), but to completely blackout Lessig and Stein should send chills through everyone in this country. THAT is CORPORATIONS /DNC/DWS controlling our electoral process and is UNDEMOCRATIC!

Screw CORPORATIONS /DNC/DWS/WALL ST./OLIGARCHS /THIRD WAY/CLINTONS and everyone like them.
We The People will win this battle.

PEACE
LOVE
BERNIE

K&R!

[LWolf]

42. K & R

[Cosmic Kitten]

44. K&R The DNC is crony corruption

[Adrahil]

45. Oh yeah... Larry Lessig was a serious contender...

... sure he was...

[WillyT]

46. Did He Meet The Agreed Upon Requirements, Or Not ???

That is the ONLY question.

[Adrahil]

49. Your OP title is just sensationalistic nonsense.

The idea that "The Fix is in" implies that Lessing was a serious candidate. He never really was.

If he debated, I would have been fine with that. But the histrionics here are ridiculous.

[riderinthestorm]

47. Its about the DNC shutting out Lessig from the debates

Even though he was fully qualified.

That stinks

Lessig earned a spot at the debate table fair and square and the DNC refused to allow him.

If you dont find that troubling then you're not paying attention.

[Adrahil]

50. Oh yes... I'm TERRIBLY troubled....

That a candidate with poll numbers less than the margin of error was "shut out."


It wouldn't bother me if he DID debate, but it's not like I'm bothered that he didn't. He was never a really serious candidate.

[WillyT]

51. So DNC Rules Mean Absolutely Nothing ???

Nice system ya got there.

[riderinthestorm]

52. It's not about Lessig per se, it's about the DNC shutting out qualified candidates

that bothers me, whoever it may be.

FWIW, I think Lessig has valid positions in regard to campaign finance reform. Including him in the debates would have compelled questions about that issue since it's his primary issue.

I find it troubling that the one candidate whose focusing on CFR is shut down by the DNC.

[WillyT]

53. I Love How THIS... Is Histrionics...

I have been a Democrat my entire life. I have proudly helped elect many of the leaders of our party including Tom Daschle, Bob Kerrey, Mark Warner, Jim Webb, and Tim Johnson to high office and I have served nearly four years at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee as Communications Director and Senior Advisor. But I am sad to say that I have never experienced this kind of game playing and deception from party leaders in nearly 38 years of political activism.

As I said at the outset, big money is destroying our democracy...

From OP.

When the Democratic Party cannot defend Democracy, I think we have a pretty serious issue. Existential, in fact...

[riderinthestorm]

54. Yup. "Never experienced this level of deception...in 38 years"

I'm surprised both sides aren't up in arms about this.

It's terrible precedent (and why defend DWS?)

[WillyT]

57. Apparently... "Supporting Democrats" Has A Very Selective Meaning...

[WillyT]

58. TYT: Lawrence Lessig Drops Out Of Democratic Primary

Also in V & M...

[Babel_17]

59. "I'll make him dead now, I'm tired of playing with him. Be dead. Lessig, you be dead!"

"It's real fine that you done that, that's real fine Debby."

[Enthusiast]

60. Kicked and recommended to the Max!

[WillyT]

61. Thank You For That !!!