Bernie and his army are losing 2018

[Gothmog]

Our Revolution did not have a good night https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/08/bernie-sanders-endorsements-2018-elections-767403

Bernie Sanders is sputtering.

Two years after his defeat the 2016 presidential primary, the Vermont senator has amassed a growing string of losses in races in which he has intervened. Beginning last year, Sanders-backed candidates faltered in an Omaha mayoral race and a nationally watched House race in Montana.

Then came Rep. Tom Perriello’s loss in Virginia’s gubernatorial primary, and in June, the drubbing in Iowa of Pete D’Alessandro, a top adviser to Sanders during his 2016 Iowa caucus campaign. Cathy Glasson, endorsed by Sanders’ successor group, Our Revolution, fell short in Iowa’s gubernatorial primary, as did Peter Jacob and Jim Keady in two New Jersey House races. Dennis Kucinich lost in Ohio.

Tuesday night brought Sanders and his army their latest blow, with a pair of high-profile losses in Michigan and Kansas.

[lapucelle]

1. I wonder if some of the candidates may have done better

without the publicity tour. I wonder how the money BS was raising for his candidates via email was allocated by Act Blue.

[Gothmog]

3. From the article cited in the OP

This is interesting

In a crowded Democratic primary in Kansas, former Sanders campaign staffer Brent Welder said before results were finalized on Tuesday night that his “message of bold progressive values and running an uncorrupted campaign that does not take corporate PAC money is resonating with people across Kansas, across the district and across the country.”

Echoing Sanders’ rhetoric from the 2016 presidential campaign, he told supporters in his suburban Kansas City district, “We are going to prove that we can and we will succeed [in] sending a congressman to Washington who is not corrupted and who will stand up to Wall Street and the giant corporations and the billionaires that are buying our politicians.”

But hours later, the race was called for Welder’s opponent Sharice Davids, an attorney who will take on Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) in November.

Sanders did even worse in Michigan, where he and Ocasio-Cortez campaigned aggressively for Abdul El-Sayed, who was trampled by more than 20 percentage points in the Democratic primary for governor. El-Sayed, a 33-year-old physician who was seeking to become the first Muslim governor in the nation, with Sanders rallying supporters in Detroit over the weekend.

El-Sayed lost to former state Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, the favorite of the Democratic establishment.

[lapucelle]

2. "Bernie and his army are losing 2018"

Sanders missed the boat on Ocasio-Cortez, then watched his endorsed candidates fall on Tuesday — a sign that his sway is limited heading into 2020.

[Cha]

17. Omg!

[murielm99]

4. Sputtering.

There is nothing new about that.

I think most Democrats are tired of Bernie. And AOC needs to take care that she is not a one-hit wonder. She will have to get along with her fellow Democrats in Congress, and get re-elected in two years. Her constituents could get very tired of the gallivanting and dividing.

[DonViejo]

27. My youngest son (he's 27) and his friends were "in my head I'm for Hillary but my heart says...

Bernie" type voters. They voted for Bernie in the primary but, they've grown tired and weary of Bernie, surprising the heck out of me.

[Gothmog]

35. My son in law was a bernie supporter but he wised up

My three children were all Clinton supporters.

[Me.]

5. So Who Asked The Non-Dem Senator

to rebuild the Dem Party?

[Ccarmona]

6. Spiking The Football at the Expense of Felow Dems In Not Becoming

I hope you partisans are taking great joy in the loss. It does nothing but accelerate the division of our Party.

[Fullduplexxx]

7. Bernie is not a fellow dem in fact he has no problem demonizing the dem party causing

The "division in our party"

[Gothmog]

8. Sharice Davids and Gretchen Whitmer are both great candidates and deserved to win

I am very glad that Sharice Davids won her race. She is an amazing candidate

Link to tweet

Gretchen Whitmer is another great democratic candidate

Link to tweet

I strongly prefer both of these candidates our the Our Revolution candidates supported by sanders

[George II]

20. They're both very progressive. Maybe not pure enough for some, but obviously they are...

...progressive and Democratic enough to win their primaries.

[riversedge]

26. Kathleen Sebelius sent out a great supportive tweet for Davids....

Kathleen Sebelius
‏ @Sebelius

Please join me in supporting @sharicedavids.She’s smart, policy oriented, and pragmatic.She gets what working people are going through bc she’s lived it.DC desperately needs representatives who will get things done for KS families.Rep.@kevinyoder is more about his donors than us.

Link to tweet

[OilemFirchen]

13. "Partisans".

BTW, a Democrat won each and every one of these primaries.

[Gothmog]

16. Yeah for Emily's list

Link to tweet

[George II]

18. I don't see it as spiking the ball, I see it as pointing out that perhaps a number of voters....

....(not necessarily Democrats) might look in another direction for winning candidates. As seen by last night's results, many have already done so. Now is the time to rally behind the Democratic flag and take on the republicans.

[Gothmog]

23. This was not spiking the ball

[Blue_Tires]

9. They would have been better served making Trump their enemy

instead of so-called "establishment" Dems...

And without the hyper-polarizing, everybody-got-an-opinion-about Hillary Clinton on the public stage to contrast himself with, Bernie has looked positively ordinary... Bernie's got two years to make hay because his legion of 20-something fanatics are about to drop him like a hot rock for the AOC bandwagon full-time

[msongs]

10. good news is the not-winners can try again...maybe oppose repubs next time. nt

[Gothmog]

11. Democratic Party's liberal insurgency hits a wall in Midwest primaries

This makes me smile https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/democratic-partys-liberal-insurgency-hits-a-wall-in-midwest-primaries/2018/08/08/422f0140-9a50-11e8-8d5e-c6c594024954_story.html?utm_term=.209bbc9ca5bf

Candidates backed by Emily’s List, which endorses women and sometimes clashes with the left, bested left-wing challengers in three southeast Michigan districts; at least two are seen as toss-ups in November.

And in Kansas’s 3rd Congressional District, Brent Welder, a Sanders-backed labor lawyer who was viewed as the most liberal candidate in the race, was bested by attorney Sharice Davids, whose win Tuesday night makes her the state’s first gay and Native American congressional nominee.

“This is a fantastic night for centrist Democrats,” said Jim Kessler, senior vice president for policy at the center-left Third Way think tank. “We nominated the right candidates who can win House seats and governor’s mansions for the Democratic Party. There’s a quiet enthusiasm in the middle. There’s a quiet voice that people are not hearing in the media, but it’s loud at the ballot box.”

[George II]

19. It's beginning to look like Tammy Duckworth was correct.

[Gothmog]

21. I agree with your analysis and the analysis of Senator Duckworh

[Rebl2]

12. Beginning to

think he’ s trying to help Republicans.

[Gothmog]

25. The Our Revolution group does not care about the Democratic party

A great deal of their efforts do help the GOP

[Gothmog]

14. Down Goes Socialism

This article in Politico Magazine really made me smile https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/08/08/democratic-socialism-sanders-ocasio-cortez-2018-primary-results-219161

The most glaring defeat came in Michigan’s gubernatorial primary. This is the state where Sanders defied the polls and edged out Hillary Clinton, raising hopes that he had a magic touch in the Rust Belt. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez tried to catapult the young and brash newcomer Abdul El-Sayed, who trailed in polls, endorsements and money to former state Senate Democratic leader Gretchen Whitmer. They could only nudge him up to second place, with 30 percent of the vote.

In fact, Clinton’s endorsement appeared to carry the most weight in Michigan. Her late robocall in support of Haley Stevens helped take Stevens from second place in polls to an election night victory in the suburban 11th District, a top Democratic target, while Fayrouz Saad, backed by Ocasio-Cortez, placed fourth. In two other House primaries in Michigan, candidates backed by the party’s official campaign arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, coasted against supporters of Sanders’ signature Medicare for All proposal.

El-Sayed’s defeat may have been the most noticeable loss for Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders, but the defeat of Brent Welder in Kansas is far more politically significant. Welder, a former Sanders 2016 campaign staffer, hoped to carry the Democratic banner in Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District. The largely urban district is a top party priority, one of a handful of Republican-held seats that Clinton won in 2016.

The Berniecrat left desperately wants to convince naysaying political veterans (and annoying political pundits) that a democratic socialist platform holds the ticket to victory in heartland districts like this one—so much so that Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez gave a full-throated endorsement to Welder over another compelling and fairly liberal candidate in Sharice Davids.

The endorsement of Hillary Clinton carried a great deal more weight compared to the support of the Our Revolution group.

[brer cat]

15. A lot of interesting reading upthread, Gothmog.

Thanks for posting. We certainly had a great night!

[rtracey]

22. hmmm

Sorry, but extremism on both sides sucks. There is nothing wrong with moderate democrats. I am a liberal (in theory), but have ZERO problem voting for the best democrat for my country. I refuse to vote any right wing zealot or any politician who tend to make extreme notions.

[Gothmog]

24. These two candidates opposed by Our Revolution are the faces of the party

Link to tweet

[pamdb]

28. Bernie

I have nothing against Bernie, we voted for him in the primary in Michigan last election.
Having said that, we, and all our friends, are Gretchen Whitmer supporters. I don't like it when people from outside the state -WAY outside (VT and NY) come in and try to influence an election. They don't live in Michigan, they don't know the people here, if El-Sayed had won the nomination, I honestly think we could have just handed the election to Schuette then and there. I kind of like El-Sayed (maybe Lt. Gov?) but I wanted someone with that little thing called EXPERIENCE. What works in Queens or Brooklyn or wherever Cortez is from may not work in Michigan.

[Gothmog]

29. Whitmer appears to be an amazing candidate and a good person

I have been impressed with Gretchen Whitmer and will be donating to her

[oberliner]

31. She is not from Queens or Brooklyn

And her last name is Ocasio-Cortez.

[RandySF]

30. They're aiming too high, too fast

If I ran Our Revolution, I would focus like a laser people for city, state and county elections. Those who win will develop experience, legislative skills and get their names out there for future Congressional runs.

[Uncle Joe]

34. They're focusing on the local as well, they do have some wins under their belt

https://ourrevolution.com/results/

[RandySF]

32. Another problem for his people

Welder, Bush, El-Sayed and Kucinich had greater support out their states and districts than inside.

[ehrnst]

33. Army? (nt)

[Gothmog]

36. The Far Left Is Losing

This is a good article https://www.usnews.com/news/the-run/articles/2018-08-08/the-far-left-is-losing

A band of far-left candidates have suffered a string of defeats in Democratic primaries this year, the most recent coming on Tuesday, when most of the contenders backed by the progressive duo lost their races.

In two of the marquee contests, it was women who trumped those claiming the liberal banner.

In Kansas' 3rd Congressional District, Sharice Davids, a lesbian Native American, defeated Brent Welder, who had the backing of Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee....

Mike Trujillo, a Democratic consultant who worked on the Kansas congressional race for a third candidate, says Sanders has overestimated the breadth of his 2016 coalition.

"His coalition did include folks attracted to his policy stances, yes, but it was also a majority of 'Never Hillary' Democrats," says Trujillo. "Until Team Bernie understands his coalition is a fraction of a fraction of the Democratic Party – which is fueled by women and people of color – then these losses will continue to stack up."

[Gothmog]

37. Looks like the revolution didn't do too well in Hawaii, despite sending AOC.

Link to tweet