The SEIU, one of the biggest and, usually, one of the more progressive unions, is staying neutral in the presidential race, at least nationally. But not in New Hampshire. The crucially important State Employees’ Association/SEIU Local 1984 voted to endorse Bernie late last week. Richard Gulla, President of the union: "Bernie Sanders has a long history of fighting for working people. He shares many of our members’ goals and values. He is not afraid to take on Wall Street and will fight against corporate greed and corruption. Bernie supports every worker earning a livable wage allowing them to care for and support their families. He is also respectful and supportive of the collective bargaining process. He understands that many of our young people cannot afford to attend college so they can prepare for the jobs of this century; and that our senior citizens are not being afforded a dignified retirement... We look forward to supporting Senator Sanders throughout the primary race and will be prepared to support the most labor-friendly candidate post primary."The media hasn't reported this and isn't interested in it. I guarantee you, neither Rachel Maddow nor Anderson Cooper will be interviewing Richard Gulla.The media has a very different story it wants to stoke: a war between Bernie and Elizabeth. The worst of all the anti-Bernie reporters, vile Wall Street lackey Sydney Ember, who was assigned by the New York Times to lead their character assassination efforts against Bernie, helped manufacture a war between him and Elizabeth on Sunday. And a desperate Warren, watching her support collapse as Iowa and New Hampshire approach, took the bait.Ember, gleefully: "A nearly yearlong run of good will between two of the leading progressives in the 2020 presidential race, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders, appears to be evaporating in the run-up to the Iowa caucuses. Ms. Warren said on Sunday she was 'disappointed' that Mr. Sanders’s campaign had been using a script for volunteers that suggested she was appealing mainly to highly educated voters and would not be able to expand the Democratic Party coalition. 'I was disappointed to hear that Bernie is sending his volunteers out to trash me,' Ms. Warren, of Massachusetts, said. 'I hope Bernie reconsiders and turns his campaign in a different direction.' After months of studiously avoiding any negative words about Mr. Sanders, Ms. Warren went on to cite the divisiveness of the 2016 primary race between Mr. Sanders and Hillary Clinton, implying it had helped President Trump. 'We all saw the impact of the factionalism in 2016, and we can’t have a repeat of that,' she warned. 'Democrats need to unite our party and that means pulling in all parts of the Democratic coalition.'"Because Shane Goldmacher, a professional journalist, shared the byline with Ember, the Times included:
In a rare question-and-answer session with reporters after his final event of a weekend Iowa swing, Mr. Sanders — in response to a question on whether he approved of his campaign’s criticism of Ms. Warren-- denied responsibility for the script, saying he himself had never attacked Ms. Warren. And he blamed the news media for overstating the tension between the two campaigns. “I got to tell you, I think this is a little bit of a media blowup, that kind of wants conflict,” he said.“Elizabeth Warren is a very good friend of mine,” Mr. Sanders, of Vermont, said. “We have worked together in the Senate for years. Elizabeth Warren and I will continue to work together, we will debate the issues.”“No one is going to trash Elizabeth Warren,” he added.The Sanders campaign did not provide any further information on the script. Pressed again on the topic, Mr. Sanders said: “We have hundreds of employees. Elizabeth Warren has hundreds of employees. And people sometimes say things that they shouldn’t. You have heard me give many speeches. Have I ever said one negative word about Elizabeth Warren?”
Just as the media had hoped, Warren then sent out an attack e-mail aimed at Bernie:
Last night, we got some disappointing news.Bernie Sanders’ campaign is instructing volunteers to dismiss our broad-based, inclusive campaign by saying the “people who support [Elizabeth] are highly-educated, more affluent people.”When I heard that description, I didn’t recognize it, Jacqueline. That doesn’t describe me or many of the passionate volunteers and organizers I know. This type of attack isn’t about disagreeing on issues-- it’s about dismissing the potency of our grassroots movement.Let’s be clear: As a party, and as a country, we can’t afford to repeat the factionalism of the 2016 primary. To win in November, we need a nominee who can unite a broad coalition of Democrats-- who will excite every part of the Democratic party and inspires more people to join the fight.
The Jacqueline mentioned above is Jacqueline Propps, an East Bay super-volunteer-- as well as a Blue America activist. "What a load of crap," she raged in a note today. "SHAME on her campaign and HER for letting them do this. As explained, it was a non-staffer volunteer and the comment was taken down off slack immediately. I have un-subbed from every Warren list and told them why she is no longer my #2. So disappointed."Dorothy Reik, a member of the Executive Board of the California Democratic Party and president of one of the most progressive and most activist Democratic clubs in Southern California-- Progressive Democrats of the Santa Monica Mountains-- also seemed mortified by Warren's attack. "As the primaries approach it is finally time for Bernie to point out that he and Warren are very different people even if many of their positions seem to be the same," she told us early this morning. "If Warren's supporters see the pointing out of these differences as criticism they should act to correct those differences where they can. A life history, however, cannot be changed. Bernie has always supported working people. He has never been a registerd Republican. Warren is a capitalist. Bernie is not. If she feels pointing that out in terms people can understand is wrong then maybe she should stop calling herself 'capitalist to the bone' and perhaps rethink her commitment to a system that has caused so much suffering to so many while enriching so few."Politico's Holly Otterbein's dawn post this morning helps put Warren's desperation into context: Sanders surges as progressives flock to him over Warren--The consolidation of left-wing support is a remarkable turnaround for Sanders..
Something’s happening with Bernie Sanders that looked unlikely to many a few months ago: Progressive leaders and organizations are lining up behind him, not Elizabeth Warren, in the lead-up to voting.Two groups run by young people-- the Sunrise Movement, which seeks to combat climate change, and Dream Defenders, which advocates for people of color-- endorsed him last week. He’s also won the backing of People’s Action and the Center for Popular Democracy, which together claim more than 1.5 million members, as well as three lawmakers in the so-called “Squad” and liberal-minded labor unions.The consolidation of left-wing support is a remarkable turnaround for Sanders. In September, the Working Families Party became the first major national progressive group to endorse a candidate when it picked Warren-- despite siding with Sanders in 2016. Warren was surging at the time, and looked poised to overtake Sanders as the leader of the progressive movement and a frontrunner for the nomination.But now it’s Sanders with the wind at his back. The endorsements, on display here Sunday when Rep. Rashida Tlaib and the Sunrise Movement joined him for a rally attended by more than 900 people, are giving him a jolt of momentum weeks ahead of the Iowa caucuses and supplying him with fresh volunteers in key areas.“I’m not surprised that Bernie is increasingly consolidating support,” said Waleed Shahid, an aide for the left-wing group Justice Democrats, which has not yet endorsed a candidate. “Many of his staff have backgrounds in community organizing, his 2016 campaign helped grow the progressive movement, and he received [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's] endorsement, who is shaping the future of the progressive left in significant ways.”
Many Bernie supporters-- though not Bernie staffers-- have long advocated a unity ticket between Bernie and Elizabeth. Unless the two candidates are working behind the scenes to mend this rift now, the chances for that have probably ended, something that will only go to help the status quo establishment-- Biden among Democrats and, worse, Trump. The media is rubbing its collective hands together in anticipation of tomorrow's debate at Drake University in Des Moines, a debate with a far less crowded stage. (The only candidates who have qualified at Bernie, Biden, Elizabeth, Mayo Pete, Klobuchar and, somehow, Steyer.) The RealClearPolitics polling average in Iowa stands like this:
• Bernie- 21.3%• Mayo- 21.0%• Status Quo Joe- 17.7%• Elizabeth- 17.0%• Klobuchar- 5.7%• Yang- 3.3%• Booker- 2.7%• Steyer- 2.0%
Pig man will do anything he can to make sure Democrats nominate Biden, the easiest candidate for him to beat
