How Bernie Sanders scored a coup and won the backing of Ocasio-Cortez and Omar

[Donkees]

Sean Sullivan and Chelsea Janes
Oct. 17, 2019 at 5:00 a.m. EDT

Yet it was Sanders who prevailed in the endorsement chase, with an approach that mirrored his strategy for winning voters: methodical, policy-driven and consistent.

Excerpt:

“A lot of good conversations. A lot of good, thoughtful conversations,” Shakir said after Tuesday’s debate, by way of explaining the process that won her over.

He said the endorsements were part of a larger plan heading into the final months before the first nominating contest, the Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses. “We thought it would be very helpful to start rolling these out in October and keep building momentum into November and December and ultimately, hopefully, win the Iowa caucuses,” said Shakir.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), a Sanders campaign co-chair, said the biggest benefit of the endorsements “is the message that Bernie Sanders resonates with young people, with communities of color, with women.” Sanders has sometimes struggled to attract African American audiences.

In an email to top campaign personnel Wednesday, Sanders’s political team said it was eager to roll out a new slate of state-level endorsements, but was holding off until next week to allow for more time to woo people who may have been swayed by the debate and the congressional endorsements.

“This is the moment, in our perspective, that everything has to move in the upward direction,” Shakir said. “It was our view that we wanted to start off the fourth quarter with some strength. I think rolling out a couple major endorsements of people who can inspire a lot of young people around this country is a good marker, I hope, of success in the next months to come.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-bernie-sanders-scored-a-coup-and-won-the-backing-of-ocasio-cortez-and-omar/2019/10/16/53beca18-f020-11e9-8693-f487e46784aa_story.html