Sanders Campaign Calls on Biden--and All 2020 Democrats--to Reject Any Help From Shadowy Super PACs

[Uncle Joe]

(snip)

"Let's be clear," Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir said in a statement Thursday, "super PACs exist for one reason and one reason only: to help billionaires and corporations bankroll a presidential campaign with unlimited amounts of money, in exchange for favors."

(snip)

More than $14 million of the $37.6 million Biden collected from individual contributors through the end of September came from donors who gave $2,800 or more to his bid for his party's presidential nomination, according to a tally provided to CNN by the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute, which examines money in politics.

By comparison, just 3% and 5% of the money raised by his Sanders and Warren, respectively, came from donors who donated at least $2,800—the maximum an individual can donate to a candidate for a primary election.

(snip)

"Joe Biden has spent his campaign promising elite donors that nothing will fundamentally change for them, and he has made clear to fossil fuel and pharmaceutical donors that he will be their ally," said Shakir. "As a result, he has had trouble generating significant grassroots support from Americans who are getting crushed by those same big donors—and so his supporters are suddenly begging for help from super PACs, even though they are vehicles for the kind of corporate corruption that Democrats should be fighting to stop."

(snip)


https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/10/24/sanders-campaign-calls-biden-and-all-2020-democrats-reject-any-help-shadowy-super#

[OnDoutside]

1. Lol !

[Uncle Joe]

3. ...

[George II]

2. Why doesn't he just run his own campaign and stop calling on other campaigns to do things?

I remember that HE was the one who called on all the other campaigns to sign the "Pledge", then his campaign, through his surrogates, was the first to break the pledge.

[Uncle Joe]

4. No rebuttal to the actual substance of the argument

eh George?

I'm shocked!

[corbettkroehler]

6. I'm Shocked, Too! (n/t)

[George II]

8. Nope. Why should I "rebut" it? Plus it's not an "argument", it's bordering on a demand.

We don't see any other campaigns telling anyone else how to run their campaigns.

BTW, do you think he will ever reveal exactly WHO and HOW MUCH contributed the 70% of his receipts in the form of "unitemized contributions"?

[ehrnst]

40. +1000. (nt)

[Magoo48]

54. No comment at all on the purpose of SuperPACs or their damage to representative government?

[ehrnst]

63. Especially considering Millions of $$ of help certain Democratic candidates recieved from

Karl Rove's superpac American Crossroads, which by ANY definition is a "shadowy" superpac.

[George II]

17. What's to rebut?

[Kurt V.]

28. ...

[Gothmog]

48. sanders is engaged in the same conduct through Our Revoluton

Link to tweet

[Politicub]

5. Stop with the pledges! It's a cheap way to bait people. They remind me of the nonsense that Tulsi

pulled at the debate trying to ask questions of the other people on the stage.

Sanders, Tulsi, all of the candidates do not get to set the parameters of others' campaigns.

[Uncle Joe]

7. I suppose we could just continue on the status quo path to perdition

while allowing our democracy (such as it is) to be bought by the less than 1%?

However I don't believe that's a good idea.

Every candidate has the right to "set the parameters" or throw down the gauntlet, of course no candidate is required to pledge anything or pick it up.

[Politicub]

9. Or we could stop with the hand-wringing and cheap stunts. That's all pledges are. Stunts.

They're meaningless.

Have a debate about financing and make the case or whatever.

A stunt convinces no one but the people who demand fealty to their point of view.

[Kurt V.]

30. well said.

[Gothmog]

49. Our Revolution which was founded by Bernie is a 501c4 dark money group that takes unlimited, undiscl

Link to tweet

[awesomerwb1]

51. Perdition??

Did I accidentally click on an evangelical pro trump website?

This is hilarious.

[ehrnst]

65. You mean like staying quiet when a GOP superpac is spending millions running ads on behalf of

a particular Democratic primary campaign?

That kind of "status quo?"

[George II]

12. I wonder if Justice Democrats and Brand New Congress....

....(or whatever their most recent name change is) are considered shadowy PACs or Super Pacs?

[NurseJackie]

15. They're kind of slushy and shadowy groups.

I don't trust them, or anyone who is (or who has ever been) associated with them. Anyone who's associated with Uygur is tainted for life. Very shadowy. Anyone who supported or voted for Jill Stein is also shadowy and not to be trusted.

[ehrnst]

68. Isn't that something that Senator Sanders get to decide for all concerned?

[empedocles]

10. Wish Sanders would reject any help from shadowy help, campaign workers, sources - in BS campaign

[beastie boy]

14. Why doesn't Mr Shakir call for the primaries winner to drop out of General Elections upon victory?

That will level out the field for Trump just as well, wouldn't it? But not in so many words, and with less drama.

[George II]

23. I'm sure if he thought everyone would agree he would call for that.

[TidalWave46]

16. Sanders is flailing like no other candidate. Sorry to see what he is doing on his way out.

Sanders doesn't even stick to the pledges he has signed onto.

[George II]

18. Or even the pledges that he's called on OTHERS to sign.

[Skidmore]

19. I think of Republicans when I see demands

for pledges and litmus tests. They bring to mind Norquist's bathtub, the NRA, and pro lifers.

I am happy to support candidates who I agree without don't like to see this sort of pigeonholing. I look for a person who is flexible and learns. The candidate doesn't have to be stuck. I'll decide my issues and gauge who lines up the closest. We are not assured a perfect world in which others are forced to fit a narrow space. That's how we got Trump.

[Uncle Joe]

20. I think of Frederick Douglas

“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”

― Frederick Douglass

[NurseJackie]

21. Oh good lord!

So you're using this quote to suggest that the rest of the Democratic candidates are oppressive tyrants? What an offensive comparison. GMAGDFB!

Absurd.

[Uncle Joe]

22. Of course not, they don't have the power.

From the OP

Sanders Campaign Calls on Biden--and All 2020 Democrats--to Reject Any Help From Shadowy Super PACs

[ehrnst]

59. "Shadowy..." I guess that's in the eye of the beholder. As well as "rejecting any help..."

https://time.com/4261350/bernie-sanders-super-pac-alaska-millenials/

But I'm curious about what you think of this: If a hypothetical Democratic primary candidate is getting millions of dollars in ad buys spent on their behalf by a dark money "shadowy" GOP superpac against their Democratic opponent, and that candidate refuses to tell their supporters to stop making those ads go viral, and remains silent about those millions of dollars, is that "rejecting help" or "accepting help" from said shadowy superpacs?

Are there different rules for Bernie than that hypothetical candidate?

[emmaverybo]

26. Hah hah. No one fools you! I couldn't articulate what I found so ridiculous and yet pretentiously

offensive about the use of that quote. Yes. There it is. Completely misplaced in the context of the primaries.

Give me liberty or give me death. Give us a BREAK!

[NurseJackie]

32. It's a symptom. It's a sign of a campaign that's in trouble. BS has reached his high-water mark...

It's a symptom. It's a sign of a campaign that's in trouble. BS has reached his high-water mark. He's reached his ceiling. His followers are loyal, but there aren't enough of them to secure the nomination.

The BS campaign's new tactic of "free stuff for everyone" and "let's legalize pot" will likely soon be followed with "free pot for everyone". Of course I kid... but you get the idea.

It's just more rainbows and unicorns and pie-in-the-sky unfunded promises. Everyone has seen it before. It didn't work last time and it won't work this time.

All I'm saying is that this time around, BS is better known than he was before... he's not battling the typical problems a candidate must face when they are relatively unknown. In other words, he has an advantage. An ADVANTAGE... yet still the BS campaign can't leverage that built-in advantage to be anything meaningful.

Instead he's having to resort to gimmicks and stunts and empty promises that cannot be fulfilled.

[emmaverybo]

33. Well put. "It's just more rainbows and unicorns and pie-in-the-sky unfunded promises..."

[Uncle Joe]

35. Do you believe the big money people/institutions here in good old America don't have power!?

That's what the quote is about; power and the misuse of it, whether you're "offended" or not.

[Gothmog]

50. Now legal experts tell @AP the group appears to be violating campaign finance law

Link to tweet

[NurseJackie]

56. So they're saying that Bernie's "Our Revolution" group is violating the law...

So they're saying that Bernie's "Our Revolution" group is violating the law or appears to be? Well, that's certainly not good news for the BS campaign. After all this talking point about "dark money" (etc) has been an often repeated line in his stump speeches.

How embarrassing!

[ehrnst]

60. A straw man. How surprising.

[ehrnst]

67. Yep, pretty clear to anyone reading this what the implication was.

[Skidmore]

24. I'm sure that's

the first thought that came to mind.

The thing about those shadowy PACs is, well, they are shadowy. I seem to recall that Sanders himself wasn't averse to taking superpac money in 2016. Given that, why should he be trusted to not do so again?

[NurseJackie]

25. Justice Democrats seem pretty shadowy to me. And, by the way...

... who gets the honor of deciding which pacs are shadowy and which aren't? Personally, I think any pac associated with the likes of Cenk Uygur are going to be "shadowy" ... and I'm hearing rumblings about how accurate they've been with bookkeeping and reporting. People deserve to know the truth.

Given that, why should he be trusted to not do so again?

That's a perfectly valid question that deserves an honest answer.

[George II]

27. I don't know their legal status (PAC, Super PAC, 501c, LLC, whatever) but I wonder....

....how everyone feels about Justice Democrats, Brand New _______ (fill in the blank), Our Revolution, even the now suspended Sanders Institute?

[still_one]

31. All good points. I for one am glad Biden is doing this. President Obama did the same thing, and we

wone

[still_one]

29. NO. President Obama released very quickly that wasn't the way to go. Until we take back control,

tying both arms behind your back only gives advantage to the republicans

The amount that trump received during the third quarter surpassed everyone by a huge margin.

2020 is too critical to screw around with

For those that want to go that way, that is their choice


I for one will NOT hold it against any Democratic candidate who does that

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

34. Thanx Uncle Joe for bringin this to light! Bernie shows once again hes the 1 true Democratic leader

who's setting an example for his fellow Democratic colleagues to follow.


Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[Uncle Joe]

36. "A prophet in his/her own land" and all that,

same psychological dynamics.


Thank you InAbLuEsTaTe.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

37. You got that right Uncle Joe!! You're welcome!!

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[George II]

42. Really? He accepts help from Super PACs himself.

[ehrnst]

64. .....

https://www.democraticunderground.com/110787805

[ehrnst]

66. He's had a change of heart then?

Shadow group provides Sanders super PAC support he scorns

[Hortensis]

38. If this was such an acceptable tactic, Democratic candidates

might ostentatiously call on him to do the same, but I trust they won't.

I would like them to call on him to publicly reject help from Russia and any other hostile nations that promoted him in the past, as well as any his people and/or our intelligence services discover are promoting him now and in future.

Intelligence says Iran, as well as Russia, is revving its interference now, btw. Iran also used Sanders in 2016.

ALSO, I would like him to both apologize publicly to his followers, whom he knew were being barraged with election warfare lies targeted directly at them but didn't warn AND to warn them now that it's started up again. A quick trip over to that hostile little satellite forum some fled to -- who had subsequently refused to vote for Democrats as a matter of deluded principle! -- shows that they have never recovered from their deep immersion in Saint Petersburg and Tehran Kool-Aid.

WaPo this week: This time, a coordinated group of Russian accounts that appears to show some links to the Internet Research Agency largely took to Facebook’s photo-sharing app, Instagram, to post content this year about U.S. politics and memes targeting Democratic presidential contenders. ... One Russian account, which portrayed itself as a black voter in Michigan, used the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag to hammer Biden for gaffes about racial issues. Some of the accounts boosted one of his rivals on the left, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

[OldRed2450]

39. United Nurses, Our Revolution, Justice Dems

They all help Bernie with $$$. This has to be gaslighting

[ehrnst]

41. +1000. (nt)

[Bhphoto]

43. Not a fan of Sanders but

He has a point.

[LanternWaste]

44. I s'pose a third-tier candidate is in a good position to instruct the first-placers on campaigning.

But there it is... still throwing whatever chum we can at the walls hoping it sticks.

[Gothmog]

45. I disagree with sanders

I have no issue with Joe Biden not discouraging a super pac. Super Pacs are not controlled by the candidate and if you want to win the general election, a Democratic nominee will need a super pac

[NYMinute]

46. Justice Democrats, Our Revolution et al

are all "shadowy" and don't disclose the names of the funders.

Sanders is saying, "I'm pot, and you, kettle, are black"

[George II]

57. Don't forget National Nurses United, flush with dark money, and a few other smaller Super PACs.

[Gothmog]

47. Shadow group provides Sanders super PAC support he scorns

Link to tweet

Bernie Sanders says he doesn’t want a super PAC. Instead, he has Our Revolution, a nonprofit political organization he founded that functions much the same as one.

Like a super PAC, which is shorthand for super political action committee, Our Revolution can raise unlimited sums from wealthy patrons that dwarf the limits faced by candidates and conventional PACs. Unlike a super PAC, however, the group doesn’t have to disclose its donors — a stream of revenue commonly referred to as “dark money.”

Now, with less than one month to go before the Iowa caucuses, Our Revolution appears to be skirting campaign finance law, which forbids groups founded by federal candidates and officeholders from using large donations to finance federal election activity, including Sanders’ 2020 bid. ….

Our Revolution has taken in nearly $1 million from donors who gave more than the limits and whose identities it hasn’t fully disclosed, according to tax filings for 2016, 2017 and 2018. Much of it came from those who contributed six-figure sums.

It won’t have to publicly reveal its 2019 fundraising until after this year’s presidential election. And money it raises between now and then won’t have to be disclosed until the following year.

“Any entity established by a federal officeholder can only raise and spend money under federal contribution limits for any activities in connection with a federal election,” said Paul S. Ryan, a campaign finance expert and attorney with the good-government group Common Cause. “Our Revolution was undoubtedly established by Sen. Sanders, is subject to these laws — and is seemingly in violation of them.”

[awesomerwb1]

53. This is worthy of its own thread

The hypocrisy of BS is incredible.

[ehrnst]

69. Indeed:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287412721

[still_one]

52. Hey Bernie tell us about justice Democrats and our revolution in regard to super pacs

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

55. What makes a superPAC "shadowy"?

If it's merely beige is it OK?

But seriously, folks, this is getting old. If a candidate uses a legal means of fund-raising it's none of the other candidates' business, and to suggest that if rich people (who are by definition evil because they're rich) are contributing that must mean the candidate is corrupt and takes bribes is out of line. If Bernie wants to take a buck an hour for 2,800 hours from someone who pretends not to be rich, and call it 2,800 individual contributions, how is that any more honest?

[George II]

58. I suspect now that this is coming out about Super PACs are indeed supporting Sanders' campaign....

....they might not be as shadowy as they were a couple of months ago.

But see the tricky part of the title of this OP:

"Sanders Campaign Calls on Biden--and All 2020 Democrats--to Reject Any Help From Shadowy Super PACs"

Interesting wording, isn't it? He didn't call on himself to reject help from Super PACs.

[ehrnst]

62. Bernie is the only one who gets to decide what "shadowy" and what is "rejecting help" mean

Last edited Wed Jan 8, 2020, 02:07 PM - Edit history (1)

American Crossroads and Bernie Sanders helped Nevada caucus-goers see right through Hillary Clinton's manufactured zeal on immigration reform after spewing virulent Trump-like rhetoric — and that one-two punch shaved Clinton's 50-point lead a year ago to a slim, single digit win. - Steven Law, president and CEO of American Crossroads

[ehrnst]

61. Like being silent about $millions in ads run on one's behalf against one's primary opponent

from a shadowy GOP superpac?

That kind of "rejecting help" from any shadowy superpac?

I guess Bernie has had a huge change of heart about what "shadowy Superpacs" and "rejecting help" mean.