How Bernie Sanders Lost the Debate Before the Debate

[RandySF]

Before the Democratic debate even began Saturday night, Bernie Sanders was losing. A story, first reported on Yahoo News, began widely circulating that a top aide to the Vermont Senator had vigorously protested CBS’ decision to focus more on foreign policy in the wake of the Paris attacks on a conference call.

It was tailor-made to make Sanders look bad. And Sanders’ aides say that’s because it was “fabricated” and their account was backed up Saturday by a Democratic National Committee official who was also on the call, along with representatives for Sanders, front-runner Hillary Clinton and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.

Sanders aide Mark Longabaugh said it is true that he argued with CBS about opening and closing statements, which he views as vital to a candidate who is not as well-known as Clinton and who is running an issues-based campaign. But he said the claim that he objected to a foreign policy focus, which came from a rival campaign, was bogus.

“The only bone of contention was, were you going to have closing statement and original opening statement which we agreed to? The rest of it was all baloney,” said Sanders aide Mark Longabaugh. “Any story that implied we were not fully prepared and ready to engage on foreign policy or Paris strategy in any way is just not true.”


http://time.com/4113762/democratic-debate-bernie-sanders-argument/

[Duckhunter935]

1. Typical of one candidates

Surrogates to push that untrue story. They got some press, I guess they are happy.

[bravenak]

2. He lost before, he lost during, he lost after

[Scootaloo]

10. How so?

[bravenak]

11. You couldn't tell?

Before: his campaign getting strange about the opening statement. It was all over the news and did not make him look good. Made him look worried about discussing foreign policy.

During: his pivot from paris to his stump speech.
He did terribly on guns
He did not know that glass steagal would not have prevented the crisis
The optics of his floridness were bad
The yelling
Lack of knowledge of the nations of the middle east.

After: article after article on his not winning. Will not shift th numbers and by not winning, he lost badly

[Scootaloo]

13. So out of your three points...

One: A fabricated article denounced by the people who were actually there and know better.

Two: "The optics of his floridness"? "Lack of knowledge of the nations in the middle east"? What on earth are you even talking about?

Three: You're really going with "people say it, so it's true"? I thought you might be above circular logic.

[bravenak]

15. Huh

That veracity of the article was shown in his failure on foreign policy
He did not seem to know which nations were there that had beeen and are allies to us and currently fighting extremism, did you watch? Um, you need to watch it. I watched twice.
Yes. Florid. Like Kennedy and Nixon, it was those kinda optics. Look how red. Very.
And guess what Scoot, the people decide who won. Just like elcetions.

[Scootaloo]

19. Yes, I did watch it. I actually thought O'Malley did the best.

And no, the veracity of the article was not verified - the article asserted that the Sanders campaign had "a hissy fit" over the debate changes. This claim has been debunked by people who were present.

He did not seem to know which nations were there that had beeen and are allies to us and currently fighting extremism,

Give me a reminder?

Yes. Florid. Like Kennedy and Nixon, it was those kinda optics. Look how red. Very.

Fascinating insight into your critical issues, I suppose.

And guess what Scoot, the people decide who won. Just like elcetions.

yeah, we'll see how long you stick with that after elections start happening.

[bravenak]

20. It was shown how out of touch he was.

Reminder: look how Hillary had to step in and correct him

Florid: I am sure Nixon said the same thing

Sticking with that: I evolve

[Scootaloo]

23. Clinton didn't correct him. She changed the subject.

Jordan taking in refugees is not relevant to the subject of discussion, that being military action to confront and defeat Daesh. And Sanders' point - that the other nations in the region aren't stepping up to the plate, and are relying on the US (or recently, Russia) to come handle the problem, is perfectly valid. In fact I'd seen no shortage of Clinton supporters making the same argument, that other nations in the middle east ought to be at the forefront.

At least until Friday, that is. I can't wait for you guys to start denying climate change just because Sanders talks about it.

[bravenak]

25. Sorry. He did not sound on point one bit.

That is not his area and it showed. And other nations are fighting isis, they just don't have our insanely giant military. They are being attacked by suicide bombers constantly. Saying they are not stepping up made my mouth drop open, with all of the victims of isis in the middle east... We can pretend he did great though, if you want.

Once people can admit Sanders is not perfect, they will calm down and not see every criticism as a major slight and get so defensive.

[Scootaloo]

29. No one has argued for Sanders' perfection. Come off it.

I'm saying that your critiques are simply not grounded in fact.

[bravenak]

33. They are factual

[lovemydog]

35. The one you mention in this post, I noticed it too.

And yes, Clinton stepped in and schooled him on it.

[bravenak]

37. Thank you. Every candidate has those moments.

He just needs to bone up on his middle easy policy and events. I use google alerts for alot of stuff.

[lovemydog]

38. Quite true. Every candidate

has those moments. They all get good spokespersons, lol. Clinton appears very smart and relaxed. I think she genuinely likes Bernie and vice versa. O'Malley & Clinton, not so much. Just my feeling from the body language. Any thoughts on that?

[bravenak]

39. I think Omalley likes her less than she did him at first.

But I think she and Bernie like each other and will work well together, no matter who wins. They learn from each other.

[okasha]

46. Thing is, we elect a President

to deal with more than one issue. If Bernie hasn't developed an interest and some expertise in foreign policy, it's not going to happen now. "Boning up" at this point won't be even minimally adequate. Hillary knows this stuff in her bones. Sanders doesn't, and it shows.

[lunamagica]

21. His face was so red, he looked so agitated and unconfortable, squirming... did you see the

picture of him looking at his watch? Granted, it was during a commercial, but still, it showed how he could not wait for it to be over.

Looking at his watch was one of the things that killed Bush senior's campaign. It smells of desperation.

[bravenak]

22. Ok. So I am not the only one who saw it like that.

The redness. Sweating. Ohhh! Not good! The volume! The double handed pointing....
I found him a bit evasive myself. I think I should watch it just one more time. I feel worse for him with each viewing.

[lunamagica]

24. No, you are not the only one...far from it. eom

[MoonRiver]

45. I've heard it mentioned that he was possibly ill.

He sure looked like he was.

[Hekate]

16. +1 bravenak. He came off like an angry old man, wagging his finger, noticeably red in the face...

...and yes, shouting. He has only one topic, and when asked about a serious foreign policy crisis with one of our European allies -- one that had been in the news nonstop for 24 hours-- he gave a perfunctory condolence and immediately pivoted to his standard speech on the domestic economy. I was a bit shocked at that.

[bravenak]

18. Thank you! I had to rewatched the beginning over and over to see if it was me.

NO it was not. He failed to rise to the occasion. I was searching for the empathy that I KNOW he posesses. I think he was advised to shy away and he should not have listened.

[daybranch]

31. You continually make unsupported state,ments

He looked worried, he yelled, -some of us believe emotion and passion is often warranted and the only passion we get from Hillary is the bitter anger she displayed as her willingness to support Wall Street over us was revealed more strongly than last time by both Sanders and OMallley.
His position on guns is rather than impose a solution to a complex problem that is simple direct and wrong, he would support achievable changes like background checks, close gunshow loopholes etc. Gun violence is abhor able, but we must as he said find reasoned compromises. This is no matter what Hillary says or
O Malley says the truth is the truth.
Bernie displayed no lack of knowledge of the middle east, he just did not have plan to expand the war there as Hillary does.
Optics of his floridness? I guess you really would rather not speak frankly and that puts you perfectly in line with Hillary and her less than frank answers. Are you from America? If you want to show your elite vocabulary there are many more appropriate venues, but if you want to communcate to us common folk who support Bernie , you need to speak much more down to earth.
AS for Glass Steagull, every progressive I know in Congress support its reinstatement. This includes Elizabeth Warren, Sherrod Brown, Bernie etc. as well as the Progressive Caucus in the House. But Hillary knows better- because, just because. Just Because she is smarter than everyone else- would you like to buy a bridge?

[bravenak]

32. I supported my statements.

[MaggieD]

43. That was my assessment

Even the lone Bernie supporter at my little party gasped out loud and said "dammit Bernie" when he turned his opening remark about Paris into "income inequality."

"Dammit Bernie" was the best line of he night in my house. LOL!

[enid602]

3. nit pic

If you have to nit pic to get the nomination, how are you going to govern effectively, not to mention spearhead a 'revolution' that will deliver on the cornucopia of goodies he's proposing? Where is the list of Congressional candidates who are running on his platform? Who are the current Congress people who endorse him?

[pacalo]

4. Time Warner is one of Hillary's big contributors.

[Sheepshank]

17. Lifetime donors that includes Lehman bros...who no longer exists

What are you trying to prove?

Let's see 2016 numbers....remembering that Hillary has more Union endorsements than Bernie.

[Thinkingabout]

5. If Sanders had a difficult time handling this change being president will be impossible for hom to

Handle. Terrorists do not make appointments at the president convenience. The other two candidates handled it quiet well.

[HerbChestnut]

6. Did you read the part of the excerp where it said the accusations were fabricated?

[jfern]

7. Facts? Who needs facts?

[jeff47]

8. Of course not. No need to read when the lie tells the story one wants to hear. (nt)

[Thinkingabout]

9. I noticed he did not remain on subject as the other two did.

[Hekate]

14. Sadly, it made him look like someone who knows ONE thing really well. The POTUS juggles multitudes

...of subjects all the damn time.

[tblue]

12. Well you've been busy today

[LovingA2andMI]

26. Ummm, Like What?

It was tailor-made to make Sanders look bad. And Sanders’ aides say that’s because it was “fabricated” and their account was backed up Saturday by a Democratic National Committee official who was also on the call, along with representatives for Sanders, front-runner Hillary Clinton and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.

Sanders aide Mark Longabaugh said it is true that he argued with CBS about opening and closing statements, which he views as vital to a candidate who is not as well-known as Clinton and who is running an issues-based campaign. But he said the claim that he objected to a foreign policy focus, which came from a rival campaign, was bogus.

“The only bone of contention was, were you going to have closing statement and original opening statement which we agreed to? The rest of it was all baloney,” said Sanders aide Mark Longabaugh. “Any story that implied we were not fully prepared and ready to engage on foreign policy or Paris strategy in any way is just not true.”

Just highlighting how Sanders didn't lose the debate, before the debate facts -- from the same Time article.

[Fearless]

28. Good luck presenting the facts.

In some corners of DU facts don't matter.

[72DejaVu]

41. Sanders aides saying something doesn't make it a fact

For example, they like to say they are winning.

[LovingA2andMI]

42. Neither do you saying it...

But I'll Believe the Sanders Aide as they have no reason to lie in this case.

[72DejaVu]

44. Right...

Sanders' campaign gets caught looking like a bunch of insensitive jackasses, but they have no reason to lie about it...

[TM99]

40. Great quote.

Can you please provide the link so this can be used to counter the hyperbolic bullshit being peddled here by Clinton supporters?

Thanks.

[Fearless]

27. Are you even trying anymore?

[SammyWinstonJack]

30. Dishonest.

[lovemydog]

34. Wait. Isn't Time's headline antithetical

to what the actual story says?

The full story quotes Sanders aides who go on record refuting the Yahoo News story. And an unnamed DNC official who supports the Sanders' campaign claim. It doesn't provide anyone who supports the Yahoo News story.

Wouldn't a more accurate headline be 'Yahoo News Story On Debate Appears False.' Or 'Sanders Campaign Refutes Yahoo Story.' Or something better than the one Time wrote?

[2pooped2pop]

36. except he won the debate

Lol but keep trying. It does have humor value