Is Sanders making a tactical campaign mistake?

[brooklynite]

Yes, Sanders needs a national campaign strategy. Yes, he needs to improve his support among African Americans.

But a national, broad appeal strategy is pointless if you lose at the start. Sanders is continually behind Clinton in Iowa (and her numbers continue to rise), and at best, he's tied with Clinton in NH (Clinton has been ahead in 7 of the last 12 polls). If doesn't win at least one of these States, he'll have no momentum going into Super Tuesday.

In 2008, Rick Santorum basically moved to Iowa and campaigned there endlessly (yes, I know Sanders flies to Iowa and does rallies) in order to win the Iowa Caucus. Should Sanders have been spending time - NOW - in Baltimore?

[MaggieD]

1. Either experience or money or both are lacking

Been involved in politics for 35 plus years, and I am baffled by his campaign. That is why I wondered aloud the other day if he really wanted to win.

[Ron Green]

9. The politcs of the past 35 plus years are what must change.

They probably won't in this cycle, or maybe not at all. What Bernie is saying and doing is what's needed to turn this whole thing around, but your candidate will most likely prevail because she's all about the past 35 plus years.

[MaggieD]

14. Too bad he's not a better candidate

Frankly, I think most Dems agree with his rants against the system. To me, it's his solutions that are lacking, and his history of really not being effective in 25 years in congress.

To me, he's not the person to make the case. If Warren had run she would have done a better job, probably.

[Ron Green]

31. Well, that's bullshit, with all due respect.

What you and many others don't seem to get is that PEOPLE need to do this work; it's not about "solutions" that are seen through the lens of bought and corrupt politics, or even the "quality" of the candidate. It's what Bernie is saying must be done, and the willingness (or lack thereof) of people to do it. It probably won't happen, and that's why we'll most likely have HClinton, and nothing will change.

But his message will live on in a cadre of people doing the right things on the ground.

[MaggieD]

36. It is ALWAYS about the solutions

Ranting and raving has never solved a single problem in this country (or any other country), and it never will.

Again, Warren would have been a better messenger, with better solutions.

I still would have voted for Hillary, but the above is true.

IMO, Bernie is a socialist with pie in the sky proposals, a bad temperament, and not a great congressional record. He is inept on FP, and just plain wrong on guns. Not a good candidate to spread the message you all want spread.

[George II]

48. Throw in political acumen, too.

[firebrand80]

2. Tough to say

On one hand, it does seem like he needs to win either IA or NH to have a shot. However, he's way behind Clinton in the states after that, so he needs to work on closing the gap there as well.

To do any serious damage to Clinton he has to cut into her lead with African Americans. At this point, he could win IA and NH by 15 points and still get shellacked in SC and every other Southern state. That's what the trip to Baltimore was about.

[onehandle]

3. He's thinking about his next term as Senator.

Nothing more.

[BlueCaliDem]

34. That's my guess, as well. eom

[ljm2002]

42. Riddle me this...

...how does going to Baltimore to address serious problems in that black community, translate into helping him as a Senator from Vermont -- which, as many of our resident Bernie bashers like to point out, is 95% white? And which is mostly rural?

I really want to know how you came to this conclusion.

[George II]

49. I honestly don't think there will be another term.

[Warren Stupidity]

4. So he should have talked about ISIS

instead of addressing the concerns of the residents of Baltimore, a predominantly African American community, at a forum that was about the problems of that community?

Or you are just determined to regurgitate whatever the tpm orders are, regardless of how disjoint they are from prior talking points?

[AtomicKitten]

5. The council has been assembled.

[firebrand80]

8. LOL nt

[MissDeeds]

11. Love it!

[jeff47]

15. LOL (nt)

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

18. The results are in..

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

Would you like this slapped up on your OP? It's a disruptive and hurtful thing to call someone any kind of "troll" especially when this is a distinct OP discussing a topic, not someone jumping in and trying to derail a thread. AtomicKitten needs to find her IGNORE button instead of being disruptive and snarky. This type of "conversation" makes du suck. The "concern troll" in this thread is the author of this post.

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Wed Dec 9, 2015, 03:11 PM, and the Jury voted 1-6 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Are you KIDDING me?!

Don't waste my time!
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: I consider the post both apt and accurate.
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: meh...
Juror #7 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given

Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.

[AtomicKitten]

24. thanks

[MaggieD]

33. IOKIYABSS

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

38. TSRTUTC

[global1]

6. Some Would Like The American Public To Think That - Now Wouldn't They?.....nt

[Bread and Circus]

7. I agree. I wonder if Sanders is running just to win though.

[Ed Suspicious]

30. I think he is. I think that's the only real reason his in this thing is to win. What a jerk!

[virtualobserver]

51. I think that you may have hit on something.

Perhaps that had not occurred to Team Inevitable.

[daybranch]

10. It is amazing, the concern Hillary folks seem to show for Bernie's Campaign

crocodile tears, you think? LOL!

[cosmicone]

12. I think the campaign put too much stock in social media

and the "revolution" theme.

They assumed retail politicking was not necessary -- just a few appearances with huge crowds and everything else will fall in place.

They also overestimated Bernie's appeal and thought the debates would turn the tide. The first debate was supposed to be a knock-out punch.

They also made the same mistake that Hillary did in 2008 --- not paying attention to small and red state caucuses.

Bernie is a good candidate but his campaign strategy sucked and he is paying a heavy price. Bernie also didn't do his homework -- he waited to Elizabeth Warren to decide and jumped in when she decided not to run.

[Ned_Devine]

39. Yeah, they thought similar things about Barack Obama in 2007-08

[MADem]

13. His staff is running his campaign like it is Amateur Hour.

Beyond the one - note "Economic Justice" theme, he appears unable to pivot and address any other concerns without looping back to his default issue. It's just not confidence-inspiring.

He has squandered a number of opportunities.

I think he's trying to grow his black voting base. Going and having a picture taken with MLK's daughter, going to B'more, all this is to mitigate his lousy numbers with this segment of our population. Unfortunately, he seemed stunned by what he found in Baltimore. As I've said elsewhere, he can hop in a cab from his DC office and find the same conditions an easy drive from the hub of the nation. I got the impression that he didn't quite UNDERSTAND the gravity of the situation in the inner city (and Baltimore isn't the worst of the lot, to be blunt about it). If his eyes were opened, that's a good thing, but it's a bit late in the game for him to be learning about these concerns.

As for Iowa, I have no idea what kind of ground game he is running there. He'd better hope it is more cohesive than his national strategy to this point in time.

[Koinos]

46. I wonder if this was the first time he ever walked the streets of Baltimore.

He acted like he just got off the boat from Burlington.

His concern is appreciated, but he shouldn't be a stranger to poor neighborhoods in big cities.

And DC has some poor neighborhoods as well. Did he drive right past them on his way to work?

[George II]

50. I mentioned that this morning - Baltimore is only 30 miles from Washington, where he's worked.......

........for more than 25 years. Now he suddenly discovered the city?

[virtualobserver]

52. you are hilarious!

[Koinos]

59. O'Malley walked through those neighborhoods hundreds of times.

O'Malley felt the people's pain and fear of violence.

And he did his best to do something about it.

The problems of cities don't need more speeches and empty promises.

They need practical solutions.

And what did Sanders do for the neighborhoods of Washington, DC?

Did Burlington, Vermont prepare him for what he saw (as if for the first time) in Baltimore?

[George II]

60. In a word....no.

Baltimore is 63.7% black, Burlington 3.9%.

[MADem]

63. I think he lives within walking distance of the Hill.

I don't think he's ever hopped on the metro and taken a ride out to Southeast. Or even had an aide drive him around. He'd be surprised what happens so close to his home away from home.

He did seem a little shocked at what he saw, and that's not the worst America has to offer, either.

[jeff47]

16. It's fascinating just how concerned Clinton supporters are

about a candidate they do not support, and keep telling us can never possibly beat their candidate, and is so behind in the polls. If all that were true, there'd be no reason to be so obsessed about Sanders and his campaign "missteps". They could just sit back and get the result they want.

Clinton's internals must be awful.

[brooklynite]

17. I'm not concerned at all...I support Clinton

But I AM a student of politics, and I analyze Sanders campaign on that basis. Nobody' been able to give me a convincing argument as to how a radical rejection of traditional political tactics is going to be successful.

[jeff47]

21. Then why wouldn't you want to let this play out?

Nobody' been able to give me a convincing argument as to how a radical rejection of traditional political tactics is going to be successful.

So what? Wait a few months. Then you'll find out if it is or is not successful.

The fact that you keep posting over and over and over and over and over and over and over again that the Sanders campaign is terrible, no good, awful and screwing everything up demonstrates you aren't just curious to see how this plays out.

Again, Clinton's internals must be awful.

[brooklynite]

23. Since the Sanders folks are convinced Clinton will lose, I could say the same...

...we're here because this is a political blog and we discuss politics. But if you are all sure Sanders will win, wy keep reposting the same anti-Clinton screeds?

[jeff47]

40. Yeah, the goalposts looked ugly there. Thanks for moving them!

Or did you just call your "political studies" anti-Sanders screeds?

[KittyWampus]

26. You can be a Giant's fan and still dissect what the Jets do wrong.

[jeff47]

28. You'd do that after you find out it's wrong.

We basically have no real data until mid-March.

[Ed Suspicious]

32. What about the concern posts over O'Malley's campaign. oh. nevermind

[Ned_Devine]

41. Exactamundo!

[Hiraeth]

44. snicker

[HerbChestnut]

19. Hear that citizens of Baltimore?

You are a tactical mistake. Heard it right here on DU.

[msrizzo]

54. Honestly

I am a citizen of Baltimore and as far as I can tell things are pretty much the same here today as they were yesterday.

[Gamecock Lefty]

20. His tactical mistake . . .

was changing his political affiliation after all these years to a Dem and running against Hillary!!!

[Kalidurga]

22. You mad?

Send this to dozens of your friends it will make you feel better.

[Ned_Devine]

43. That was a great response.

[Hiraeth]

45. !

[KittyWampus]

25. darned if he does, darned if he doesn't.

[hootinholler]

27. Why not ask President Santorum?

Really, you're comparing what Bernie is doing to Ricky-Boy?

It seems to me that Bernie is doing the right things and making good progress. It's not his fault that from your ivory tower it appears as a series of mistakes.

I'm looking forward to cashing in when Bernie wins the nom.

[Ed Suspicious]

29. I wouldn't take campaign advice from the guy who has skin in the game behind his adversary.

[Armstead]

35. According to some, running against a Clinton is a major tactical mistake

But, to your point.....Yes he should have spent time in Baltimore. All candidates were invited by leaders of the AA community. Bernie showed up.

[ljm2002]

37. Wait, what?

So let me get this straight:

1 - Hillary supporters continually harp that "Bernie can only do one thing at a time"

2 - now a Hillary supporter criticizes his campaign for doing more than one thing at a time

Weird.

[Koinos]

47. Actually, a good campaign does the right thing at the right time.

IMHO, Sanders should never have hired Tad Devine. I never thought, from observing his prior campaigns, that Tad Devine had a very good sense of timing. But then, Sanders may be calling his own shots and making his own mistakes. It's probably useless to speculate about these things.

[ljm2002]

61. Nice deflection...

...a content-free platitude (a good campaign does the right thing at the right time -- wow, that's deep), and then pivot to a criticism of Tad Devine.

[bowens43]

53. clinton is going to re-experience 2008....

hopefully after this trouncing she will realize that she will NEVER be president.

[-none]

55. That's the ticket.

A Hillary supporter giving Bernie tips on how he should run his campaign.

He'll get right on that.

[Scootaloo]

56. "Should Sanders have been spending time - NOW - in Baltimore?"

Absolutely.

Next question?

[TM99]

57. Yes, screw Sanders for taking seriously

issues that impact many AA in urban cities like Baltimore.

Since it had no 'strategic' value, why go, right?

This is what is wrong with your candidate. If it ain't strategic, then don't bother. Pander, poll, 'evolve', and become the anointed one is her plan.

[bobbobbins01]

58. Latest NH poll shows him well ahead.

And there is still plenty of time left...momentum is building every day.

[slipslidingaway]

62. Spending time with the 99%, close to his day job and not accepting corporate for profit money??? nt