Bernie Sanders campaigning for Heath Mello was 'a colossal mistake,' professor says
Mayoral candidate Heath Mello took a gamble when he brought U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders to Omaha to campaign with him. But not only did that gamble not pay off, some political observers say it might have blunted Mello’s momentum against Mayor Jean Stothert. Paul Landow, a political scientist and a former Democratic mayoral staffer, called it a “colossal mistake” to bring in Sanders.
“Why do you bring an ultraliberal into a moderate city to campaign for a moderate candidate for mayor?” Landow said. “Bernie Sanders is not going to do anything to expand your base.”
The mayor’s race is officially nonpartisan. But the election became more partisan when the former Democratic presidential candidate appeared with Mello. His visit came on the heels of a primary election that was a surprise even to Mello’s campaign, with him finishing only 3 percentage points behind the mayor. On Tuesday, Stothert won by close to 7 points.
The Sanders event brought some national attention to the race, but not all of it was positive. Sanders was criticized by some national Democrats for endorsing Mello, who opposes abortion.
The following week, Stothert brought Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican who receives praise from conservatives and criticism from unions. Walker said he wanted to inject some “Midwest values” back into the race.
http://www.omaha.com/news/politics/city-election/bernie-sanders-campaigning-for-heath-mello-was-a-colossal-mistake/article_28603bdc-3591-11e7-93b9-137182190462.html
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... may "feel good" and may seem satisfying at the moment, but as is most often the case, it comes back to bite our asses if we're not careful. It's seems to me that the people in charge were not thinking clearly... or they lacked an ability to look further into the future and to anticipate possible outcomes. This is what happens when the planners and "organizers" disregard reality and substitute their own self-indulgent fantasies.
As a party, we cannot afford to continue to make vanity-based and ego-based mistakes. There was no need for this. It didn't help. It was a source of angst and consternation within the party. It's a waste of time and resources. There's NOT a good return on the investment, and losses like this help to illustrate the things that concern me the most. It's a mistake to just sit back and "hope for the best" and to hope that everyone has our party's best interests in mind.
It's my hope that party leaders (like Schumer and Perez, for instance) will pay closer attention to things happening around them, and that they'll be willing to put on the brakes, wait a beat, catch a breath, think, and let cooler and calmer heads prevail.
Absolutely right. 
... taken any steps, or said anything to make the "organizers" reconsider what they were doing. (Did either of them even KNOW what was going on, or was this being planned on the QT.)
This whole thing wasn't very well planned or considered or thought-out. Someone TRYING to cause this much havoc and consternation would have been pleased with their success. (I'm not saying that was their intent, but the results of this fiasco were certainly not what any rational person would have hoped for.)
We need to do better in the future. I hope that Perez and Schumer take a more thoughtful and active role with regard to these types of things and events.
Having a SINGLE message, and a UNIFIED message... with everyone being on the SAME PAGE is very important. It really makes no sense for the DEMOCRATIC PARTY to have various assorted "representatives" running around doing their own thing (which might end up being at odds with, or in direct conflict with, the party and the bigger picture.)
Come on, Perez! Come on, Schumer! Get your acts together... we're ROOTING for you!