Bernie Sanders Accuses Liberal Think Tank of Smearing Progressive Candidates

[brooklynite]

Last edited Sun Apr 14, 2019, 01:49 PM - Edit history (1)

New York Times

WASHINGTON — Senator Bernie Sanders, in a rare and forceful rebuke by a presidential candidate of an influential party ally, has accused a liberal think tank of undermining Democrats’ chances of taking back the White House in 2020 by “using its resources to smear” him and other contenders pushing progressive policies.

Mr. Sanders’s criticism of the Center for American Progress, delivered on Saturday in a letter obtained by The New York Times, reflects a simmering ideological battle within the Democratic Party and threatens to reopen wounds from the 2016 primary between him and Hillary Clinton’s allies. The letter airs criticisms shared among his supporters: That the think tank, which has close ties to Mrs. Clinton and the Democratic Party establishment, is beholden to corporate donors and has worked to quash a leftward shift in the party led partly by Mr. Sanders.

“This counterproductive negative campaigning needs to stop,” Mr. Sanders wrote to the boards of the Center for American Progress and its sister group, the Center for American Progress Action Fund. “The Democratic primary must be a campaign of ideas, not of bad-faith smears. Please help play a constructive role in the effort to defeat Donald Trump.”

Mr. Sanders sent the letter days after a website run by the action fund, ThinkProgress, suggested that his attacks on income inequality were hypocritical in light of his growing personal wealth. The letter is tantamount to a warning shot to the Democratic establishment that Mr. Sanders — who continues to criticize party insiders on the campaign trail — will not countenance a repeat of the 2016 primary, when he and his supporters believe party leaders and allies worked to deny him the Democratic nomination.

[OnDoutside]

1. Lol ! I bet Hillary will give a wry chuckle reading this....

[Henhouse]

10. +1 n/t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. It's not the Center for American Progress that's being divisive.

[Gothmog]

3. From the Hoarse Whisperer

Link to tweet

?s=20

[KitSileya]

5. Journalist Victoria Brownworth wondered if this is Sirota talking, not Senator Sanders

David Sirota had a very disturbing obsession with Neera Tanden, which would have been very visible if he hadn't deleted 20,000 tweets where he kept bringing her up and talking about her.

[MH1]

24. But Sanders only hires "the best people", right?

[NastyRiffraff]

108. That may be true, but

It was issued under Sanders' name; he owns it. If it's not him, he should say so.

[Henhouse]

11. +1 n/t

[melman]

18. Tom Watson and the Hoarse Whisperer

Two of the very worst trolls on twitter.

[Gothmog]

39. and yet sanders is fundraising off this

Link to tweet

[Cha]

87. It is weird to see Bernie's campaign calling CAP corrupt corporate shills in an effort to raise $$$

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

40. You do know that sanders has been employing a guy named Sirota for a long time???

Link to tweet

[radical noodle]

82. Time and again

Sanders shows us who he really is.

[fleabiscuit]

67. The truth does make the best worst trolling. nt

[Gothmog]

94. From the Hoarse Whisperer

Link to tweet

?s=20

[LanternWaste]

104. We certainly tell ourselves what we need to in order to validate our conclusions.

We sometimes go so far as to tell ourselves things with zero evidence supporting them. On the other hand, that bias can be quite comforting (if not absolutely necessary) to a well-developed sense of weltanschauung.

[Cha]

99. Thanks!

[Gothmog]

100. The party needs to be unified if we want to beat trump

Link to tweet

[Cha]

106. Good to see.. Gracias, Goth!

Link to tweet

[still_one]

4. I would like to hear David Sirota's, Nina Turner's, and Briahna Joy Gray's take on this issue of

divisiveness

[KitSileya]

7. David Sirota showed a disturbing obsession with Ms. Tanden.

Anyone who followed his twitter saw that before he deleted the evidence like the hack journalist he is. Wouldn't surprise me if this is a result of his obsession - either by being a quote from him, or because he has filled Senator Sanders's ears about her, and the senator being unable to spot the skewed view and then reproducing it in an interview.

[Henhouse]

12. +1 n/t

[dalton99a]

22. Yes, the issue of bad-faith smears.

[SidDithers]

30. David Sirota, Nina Turner, and Briahna Joy Gray

three of the very worst trolls on Twitter.

Sid

[fleabiscuit]

69. +1

[KPN]

6. I'm very sorry to see this going on. But I think Senator Sanders is right to call CAP and Think

Progress out right now before this stuff gets out of hand. The Think Progress opinion piece and video questioning Sanders' authenticity were out of line.

He's not my personal front runner for my vote right now, but I 100% support Sanders on this.

Clearly, the party establishment fears Sanders, but openly seeking to undermine his candidacy is probably the best way to repeat the 2016 result.

[BlueFlorida]

14. It comes across as whining and weakness

"oh please please please please I beg you, don't expose my hypocrisy."

This is Trump like in that it will rile up the base but won't move a needle otherwise.

[TheFarseer]

23. The best way to look tough

Is to let people do hit pieces on you and never say anything about it. I certainly hope none of our candidates follow your advice.

[BlueFlorida]

28. Or write a terse response

stating that the story is inaccurate.

[KPN]

33. No it doesn't. Not to me at all. That's your take

because you have a problem with him. I understand but disagree with what you see as his faults/flaws. I don’t share that perspective to any degree.

[BlueFlorida]

44. It is whining at best and bullying at worst.

Do you know who else attacks media like that?

Donald J. Trump.

[KPN]

47. Im not going to continue with a discussion

that is going nowhere productive. Sound off all you want. I couldn’t disagree with either your views or apparent attitude about this issue any more.

[Politicub]

54. +1 on it sounding like whining

And downright bizarre to attack a liberal voice over a video that not many people have seen.

[LuvLoogie]

27. The establishment has decades of relationships, infrastructure,

position and data to protect. Bernie is like the runner who jumps in from the weeds during the last few miles of the race.

He throws bombs at the "establishment" from behind the lines while their backs are turned.

[KPN]

34. Decades of relationships? So the fact Dems

like me who have been registered Democrats since, in my case as an example 1972, and loyal voters for all candidates democrat since is irrelevant? That’s not a relationship? The relationship with voting party members? WTF?

Infrastructure? As in establishment?

Data? Yet they wanted Sanders’ badly last time despite not sharing with Sanders?

And I don’t even know what you mean by “position”.

I’m glad he had ruffled the establishment frankly.

[BlueFlorida]

46. You know deep down in your heart

that as much as you love Sanders, he attacks the Democratic party and is only using people like you by floating unworkable slogans that you hold dear.

I refuse to be manipulated that way and I shall remain loyal to the real Democrats.

[KPN]

48. Oh, you again.

[BlueFlorida]

49. Glad to be of service.

[saidsimplesimon]

102. Are you attacking another member,

with your comments of "using people like you...unworkable slogans and your refusal to be manipulated when no one is trying to do so...

he attacks the Democratic party and is only using people like you by floating unworkable slogans that you hold dear.

I refuse to be manipulated that way and I shall remain loyal to the real Democrats.

[Autumn]

107. You won't get an answer. This one is flagged but he will out his new screen name soon.

He always does. It lasted over a month this time.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=351748

[peggysue2]

8. This is not a good look, Senator Sanders

Plus, Think Progress is a Clinton rah-rah group?



Who would have thunk?

The bitterness is already showing. Instead of lashing out, why doesn't Sanders answer the criticism? Mineral Man had a perfectly good argument up as an OP this morning.

Warning: this is only the beginning, Senator Sanders.

[Blue_true]

68. Bernie and his supporters are letting it be known that ANY vetting of him will be

considered and attack an him and a threat to defeating Trump. He is already using the "democratic establishment" imagery as a way to create divisions among democrats. Maybe he should go over, sit down and have a conversation with Neera and the other CFAP members instead of throwing shade on their integrity.

[BlueFlorida]

79. Bernie should just drop out nt

[Blue_true]

80. It is clear that he won't do that.

Even once it becomes clear that he won't be nominated (if that happens), I expect him to doggedly continue on with sharper attacks on the "democratic establishment", setting up more hostility toward democrats by his supporters.

[BlueFlorida]

81. and making Old Towme Media rich

wink wink

[peggysue2]

92. Sanders isn't a team player and this is a . . .

fine example of that and a very thin skin approach. It was Bernie Sanders' decision to withhold his tax receipts with one excuse after another while howling about the excesses of millionaires and billionaires. He didn't think anyone would notice that his own wealth had grown to millionaire+ status? Or that very fact might raise eyebrows/questions in light of his own stump speeches about the sins of capitalism?

Come on!

He and his supporters should have been prepared with a reasonable answer to the criticism and snark, rather than the angry pushback and accusations which simply digs the hole deeper.

You might be right that this response is a shot across the bow that any Bernie vetting is taboo.

Good luck with that!

Their real beef is with Think Progress. My understanding is that TP works independently, that published work is not controlled by members of the larger organization. Why not go to the source of the vid instead of casting a wide net to accuse others of undermining the campaign specifically and progressives generally?

A very Trumpian response. Not a good look.

[Cha]

88. It is weird to see Bernie's campaign calling CAP corrupt corporate shills in an effort to raise $$$

Link to tweet

[peggysue2]

93. Transparency only appears to apply to others, Cha

Sanders is burning his own bridges with these responses. The angry, sharp-elbow approach is not attractive and simply reminds people of how exhausting it is to deal with unreasonable people.

Not a good look, particularly in the times we're a-living.

[Cha]

96. Right.. not sure why

he feels the need to burn bridges.. but here we are.

Link to tweet

[Kurt V.]

9. i have zero use for neera tanden but sanders is wrong here to call out cap as a whole.

[BlueFlorida]

13. Bernie: "I'm Pot"

"The kettle is black."

[ChiTownDenny]

15. Sanders does not have the temperament to be president. n/t

[dalton99a]

25. Nah, he's got one of the best temperaments of anybody that's ever run for the office of president

Ever.

[Blue_true]

71. He is very sensitive to criticism, even valid criticism.

He seems unwilling to change his ideas in the face of evidence they may not work.

[NastyRiffraff]

109. Yes he is

Reminds me of someone else in the news, who is squatting in OUR House.

[Kahuna7]

16. Sheesh. Oh man...

Make it stop!

[comradebillyboy]

19. He really is thin skinned and can't take criticism at all.

If he over reacts to a mild rebuke from a liberal outfit just think how he would react to the kind of personal ridicule and smears he would get fro Trump and the repukes.

[MrsCoffee]

20. Bernie doesn't like being vetted one little bit.

His campaign wants to raise $27M from each of the 50 states ($1.35B).

You too could run for President and write a best seller.

Do we still get to see the tax returns he said they needed to “fix”?

Link to tweet

[Cha]

45. BS is just hurting himself here.. deepening the divide..

Link to tweet

[Hoyt]

21. Wait til GOPers start hammering on Sanders. Is he going to write a letter every time? n/t

[SFnomad]

32. Probably a sternly worded one .. eh? n/t

[Hoyt]

52. Ouch. Cleaning coffee from monitor.

[KPN]

50. Won't happen. As much as I admire Sanders,

I don’t see him being getting the nomination.

[MH1]

26. "threatens to reopen wounds from the 2016 primary"

Sanders' choosing to run has already done that.

Go home, dude. You've done quite enough already.

[Cha]

42. Brawawaaa..

Link to tweet

[comradebillyboy]

56. Has Bernie figured out he's not running against Hillary any more?

Bernie and The Donald, the only two people still attacking Hillary. It's quite sad.

[Cha]

60. They can't quit.

[aikoaiko]

29. Think Progress like Politico likes to stir up conflict for the left of center clicks.

[dogman]

61. Here is Think Progress parent.

The Center for American Progress is an organization whose massive annual budget is bankrolled by billionaires and corporate executives that profit from finance, pharmaceutical companies, fossil fuels, and sending American jobs overseas.

Last year alone, they took funding from financial giants like Bank of America and Blackstone, whose CEO was chair of Trump's business council and is a leading Republican donor.

Before that, they cashed checks from companies like BlueCross Blue Shield, Pfizer, WalMart, and defense contractors like General Dynamics and BAE Systems.

They also took hundreds of thousands of dollars from the fossil fuel pumping United Arab Emirates while the country was bombing innocent civilians in Yemen – a war Bernie has led the fight to end.

[fleabiscuit]

73. Is that the same as a book being sold online by a company owned by a billionaire that pays no taxes?

[SidDithers]

31. Suck it up, Bernie...

you wanna be a frontrunner? This goes with the territory.

Sid

[Gothmog]

35. sanders is mad at a think tank

Link to tweet

[WhiskeyGrinder]

36. Wait, is he...is he worried about...Democratic unity? The hell you say!

[Cha]

43. Unreal!

[WeekiWater]

37. This is so rich coming from the founder of OR. NT

[Gothmog]

38. From my twitter feed

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Cha]

41. ..

And, hiring "3rd party attackers", David Sirota, Nina Turner, and Briahna Grey?!

BS needs to look in the mirror.

Link to tweet

Thanks, Goth!

[fleabiscuit]

74. That would complete the 4th horseman.

And we already got Trump out of it.

[Cha]

86. ..

[redstatebluegirl]

51. He didn't get vetted at all last time. Different times now Bernie, suck it up and get ready for it.

[Politicub]

53. Stay classy, Bernie.

Somehow I’m not surprised that the Bernie camp would fire a salvo over the bow of an important liberal institution.

I’m sick of cheap shots and petty divisiveness. It is even worse if divisiveness is aimed at a progressive ally. So much for unity.

[Baclava]

55. Down with the Centrists! REVOLUTION! Bernie or Bust!

sounds familiar

[dogman]

57. How is this different than Obama saying stop the circular firing squad?

[Baclava]

58. Bernie seems intent on running the same campaign he did in 16, its his path and he wont change

He will fight any moderate Dem and attack any "establishment" candidate as his way of making noise, its his schtick. I dont hold it against him, he does what he does and he brings in the crowds of faithful believers.

[dogman]

59. A "liberal" think tank is attacking him, who are they working for?

Which candidate is he attacking? He is also defending other candidates from their smears. Again who are they working for?

[Baclava]

62. Who knows, but I bet Bernie got spies on the ground sniffing them out lol

You don't fuck with The Bern

[Blue_true]

65. Don't they know that criticism of Bernie is not allowed.

Bernie is the only one that gets to point out shortcomings in everyone else.

[NurseJackie]

70. Aw.

“This counterproductive negative campaigning needs to stop,” Mr. Sanders wrote

What an interesting comment. But calling the Democratic party "corrupt" and "feeble" and "ideologically bankrupt" and "the party of the elite" and "and absolute failure" and "no different than the GOP" ... all those insults and negative rhetoric and smears are simply find and dandy???

It's so hard to keep up. How can I take this seriously when I've heard nothing but smears against Democrats and the Democratic party for the past two years?

[betsuni]

72. One must keep in mind Bernie's definition of the words unity and divisiveness.

Unity: Obey my demands because I am the only one who can save our country, the Democratic Party will not.

"The political, financial and media elite of this country will stop at nothing to defeat us. ... They not only want to discourage or defeat a Sanders candidacy, they want to make sure that the progressive agenda is not advanced by anyone. They want us to go back to their failed corporatist approach ... . Last time we ran, we made the financial elite pay a price for their attacks on our progressive agenda. It is just as important we do it again today."

Divisiveness: Objecting to my demands, objecting to "constructive criticism" of the Democratic Party, and criticizing me in any way (which is always a smear no matter how true). Oh, and questions, don't ask me questions.

"My own feeling is that the Democratic Party is ideologically bankrupt. ... They have no ideology. Their ideology is opportunism."
"The business model, if you like, of the Democratic Party for the last 15 years or so has been a failure."

[NastyRiffraff]

75. +++++++++

[comradebillyboy]

95. Exactly right!

[LisaM]

77. RARE rebuke?

[KitSileya]

78. So, in other words, Senator Sanders attacked a liberal think tank...

...because he didn't like what they said about him? I swear, that sounds positively Trumpian. Especially considering his campaign manager used to be the editor-in-chief of the think tank's website, and another in his campaign claimed to be an independent journalist while working with the campaign, and used his duplicity to attack the woman of color in charge of the think tank for daring to criticize the Senator.


Yup, Trumpian is the right word for this mess, which ideally should disqualify the Senator from the nomination immediately. We already have one manbaby attacking people for saying critical things about him and sending his attack dogs to destroy them while lying in the White House. We don't need a lite version of him as our nominee.

[redstateblues]

83. Always the victim

[ucrdem]

84. "This counterproductive negative campaigning needs to stop"

[betsuni]

85. "I will be informing my grassroots supporters ... "

Uh oh, CAP, Bernie is going to tell on you.

[Cha]

89. ..

Link to tweet

[samnsara]

90. not again.....

[Blue_Tires]

91. And just like that, Bernie is done...

[Cha]

97. One can surmise it's about 'working the refs,' trying to intimidate others from criticizing his

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

98. Washington Post-Opinion: Sanders's testiness will revive long-standing concerns

Link to tweet

One of the “digs” on Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the 2016 presidential campaign was that he was all about himself — insufficiently attuned to concerns about unity, quick to lash out at critics and exceptionally thin-skinned. Those concerns surfaced again in Democratic ranks when he hired a rabid social media hit man, David Sirota (who hadn’t initially disclosed his affiliation with the Sanders camp).

Now he has gone into full attack-and-destroy mode, targeting in a vitriolic letter the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank that has advanced, for example, a health-care plan that expands Medicare but is distinct from the Sanders Medicare-for-all plan, and CAP Action Fund, CAP’s political arm.....

What’s the reason for his letter? One can surmise it’s about “working the refs,” trying to intimidate others from criticizing his ideas or him. Sanders’s effort is downright bizarre, when you think about it. Imagine if Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) railed at the New York Times editorial page, demanding more praise, or if Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) demanded the Nation be more friendly. A Democratic veteran of many campaigns (not associated with CAP) observes, “This is disgracefully Trumpian, as Sanders desperately tries to create a fake controversy to change the subject on the eve of the release of his tax returns. … If he can’t take some accurate, fairly lighthearted ribbing from a progressive source, he’s proving that he’d be incapable of weathering the general election hurricane that Trump would unleash.”....

We already have a president who can’t take the rough and tumble of politics and wants to silence critics. I find it hard to imagine that Democrats want someone who might be just as touchy and intolerant of criticism.

[Me.]

101. Same Old, Same Old

BS having a snitty fit

[awesomerwb1]

103. Smells like desperation

Wants to get this out there so that his shameful, some despicable, surrogates pick it up and follow that line of attack.

He's desperate, the last train is leaving and he'll use the scorched earth strategy if he "has" to. Then he'll just blame the EsTaBlIsHmEnT again. And a lot of his fanatics will vote for trump or Stein to "own" the establishment Dems.

[LanternWaste]

105. Best thing to do when dealt a bad hands of cards is to complain about it.

Counter-productive, indeed.