Matt Taibbi: DNC Leak Shows Mechanics of a Slanted Campaign

[babylonsister]

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/dnc-leak-shows-mechanics-of-a-slanted-campaign-w430814


DNC Leak Shows Mechanics of a Slanted Campaign
Matt Taibbi


snip//

What does it all mean? If you're a Clinton fan, probably nothing.

To anyone else, it shows that the primary season was very far from a fair fight. The Sanders camp was forced to fund all of its own operations, while the Clinton campaign could essentially use the entire Democratic Party structure as adjunct staff. The DNC not only wasn't neutral, but helped with oppo research against Sanders and media crisis management.

DNC chief Debbie Wasserman Schultz was forced to resign as a result of this mess, which exposed to Sanders voters the extent to which they were viewed organizationally as annoyances to be managed. The immediate question going forward for the party is whether the two camps can put aside their differences in time to defeat the more-than-a-little-scary Donald Trump.

But down the road, someone will have to address the problem of a Democratic Party structure that effectively had no internal advocates for a full 43 percent of its voters. As we've seen with the Trump episode on the other side, people don't much like having to fight against the party claiming to represent them.

[emulatorloo]

1. From Sander's press officer: NO ONE STOLE THIS ELECTION

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141531007

----------------

Source: Talking Points Memo

Symone Sanders, former national press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)'s presidential campaign, went on a Twitter rant Monday as the Democratic National Convention unfolded, criticizing those who were still supporting the Vermont senator over the party's nominee, Hillary Clinton.

-snip-

Symone D. Sanders
@SymoneDSanders

Look, people are well within their rights to have passions and opinions. That is how we create change in this country. We need the passion!!

5:33 PM - 25 Jul 2016
144 144 Retweets 197 197 likes


Symone D. Sanders
@SymoneDSanders

But let me be clear - NO ONE STOLE THIS ELECTION! Team Sanders we did AMAZING WORK. But we lost. It's a hard reality for some.

5:36 PM - 25 Jul 2016
2,356 2,356 Retweets 2,648 2,648 likes


Symone D. Sanders
@SymoneDSanders

It was a hard reality for me. Because I fought hard. Now, we won some great battles, but the reality is the system didn't cheat us.

5:38 PM - 25 Jul 2016
663 663 Retweets 777 777 likes


Symone D. Sanders
@SymoneDSanders

Now the contents of the leaked emails show individuals were definitely biased, but 7 folks on an email didn't "steal" the election.

5:41 PM - 25 Jul 2016
1,119 1,119 Retweets 1,274 1,274 likes


-snip-

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sanders-spox-twitter-rant-support

[think]

2. Does that vindicate the actions of the DNC?

[geek tragedy]

3. actions can be both indefensible and mostly inconsequential

the people inside the DNC didn't like the campaign that sued them and accused them of money laundering.

Go figure.

[think]

4. Multiple well known main stream sources reported on the same issue in Bernie's claims.

So using that as an excuse for the DNC actions isn't very credible...

[geek tragedy]

5. the DNC staff didn't like Sanders

I don't think anyone is surprised to learn this.

But their malicious gossip about him doesn't translate into any kind of structural bias.

[paparush]

69. Structural bias, you say?

DNC sought to hide details of Clinton funding deal
Leaked emails show officials tried to obscure fact that Clinton allowed states to keep only a tiny fraction of proceeds from joint fundraising.

[link:http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/dnc-leak-clinton-team-deflected-state-cash-concerns-226191|

[geek tragedy]

70. There was only one campaign that raised money for state

parties as well as for the DNC.

As it turns out, when you raise money for an organization, they tend to help you raise money for them.

[emulatorloo]

9. Did I say it did? Posted because I think should be part of article discussion.

Sanders primary supporter here.

Seen lots of spin and allegations about DNC emails that don't necessarily match up to the content of the emails. I see catty emails, I see no evidence of a 'conspiracy' and no evidence of any action taken that indicates DNC took any action to 'sabotage'

So I share Symone Sanders viewpoint that there were folks who displayed bias against Sanders in emails but that nothing was actually done to damage Sanders campaign. Plenty of emails helping Sanders campaign meet deadlines etc etc.

Does that 'vindicate' those jerks who said biased things? No.

Did those jerks actually do anything? No

IMHO the boneheaded "strategies" of Jeff Weaver have a lot more to do with why Bernie Sanders did not win the nomination.

He spent more time serving red meat to those of us who already supported Bernie than working to broaden Bernie's coalition.

He made the disasterous mistake of making Bernie go negative before NY primary.

As you know, Bernie is not a negative campaigner and to me it was clear Bernie was extremely uncomfortable doing it. It tarnished Bernie's image rather than elevating it, and voters responded accordingly.

I'm very very bitter about it because there has never been a presidential candidate as close to me ideologically. Bernie had a shot, and it was frittered away by an incompetent campaign. I'm struggling to let go of it.

And I'm almost there. I know that Jeff is a loyal friend and was working to the best of his ability. It is not his fault that he was in over his head when it came to running a natl campaign.


I'm happy as hell DWS is gone, she should have resigned years ago. DNC does need to be shaken up. Those people at DNC who wrote those emails should be fired.

[think]

11. Thank you for your response. /nt

[emulatorloo]

12. Of course!

[RBInMaine]

16. VERY good response! My thoughts almost exactly. THANKS!!!

[kristopher]

49. No evidence of a conspiracy, you say?

Yes, that's true. Unless you are completely oblivious to the debate schedule and the rolling thunder of primary election shenanigans. Purely coincidence, obviously.

The one good to come out of this will be increased future opportunity to reinvigorate the traditional Democratic base.

[redqueen]

55. The traditional Democratic base, or as Wellstone called us

The Democratic wing of the Democratic party

[KittyWampus]

83. Does anything vindicate the many illegal/unethical actions of the Sanders campaign?

Stealing data
Misappropriating logos
Impersonating Union members
Harassing, bullying and threatening others

The dumped emails don't say what some are pretending. Furthermore, it's a shame the Russians didn't intercept and then dump the Sanders campaign's communications.

[JRLeft]

36. That wasn't point of the article, but you seem defensive.

Agree she won, but she had a lot of help. Anyways she's the nominee. The DNC needs to be unbiased moving forward. Get rid of all of the old guard, most of who are corrupt and replace it with new blood.

[Snotcicles]

6. Matt Tiabbi, by leaps and bounds is the most astute and ethical journalist in the business. IMO nt

[think]

7. +1

[avaistheone1]

8. +1

[One of the 99]

10. I'm assuming you meant that ironically. nt

[yallerdawg]

13. Our 'confirmation bias' is showing.

I bet we all have our own 'best' journalist!

[One of the 99]

35. No. Really don't trust any of them.

[RBInMaine]

15. Tiabbi is EXAGGERATING THIS BIGTIME!

[AlbertCat]

31. Matt Tiabbi, by leaps and bounds is the most astute and ethical journalist in the business.

Indeed.

[floriduck]

53. Michael Hastings, RIP, was also a true journalist. I miss him very much.

[Phlem]

67. +100000000000000000000000000000000 etc....

[NurseJackie]

71. Oh dear!

[KittyWampus]

84. LOL! Actually, he's playing to his audience. And apparently you are one of them.

[RBInMaine]

14. BULLSHIT! A few dumb emails didn't mean any big conspiracy against Bernie. PISS on Taibbi.

[babylonsister]

18. For something

you claim is 'bullshit' why did you get so worked up? Taibbi is informing us; you really should read it.

[KittyWampus]

85. He's not informing anyone. He's playing to some Sanders' supporters need to feel cheated.

[Omaha Steve]

68. From the OP

What does it all mean? If you're a Clinton fan, probably nothing.

[uponit7771]

90. +1

[treestar]

95. One email we don't have in context

There is no way Bernie would have one had those emails never been made. Exaggeration is the word.

[MrModerate]

17. In what may be the first instance of a comparison between parties that's reasonably apt . . .

And doesn't veer into false equivalency, BOTH parties need to reform their nomination practices, because they are dysfunctional in the extreme.

[TheBlackAdder]

20. A roots cause is the state's rights control of voting, no standards like driving or commerce.

.


Each state has perversed the election process, which causes a multitude of issues and lawsuits.


People should be able to migrate from state to state and retain their voting priviledges and settings, since this impacts federal elections too. If they want to jerk around with state elections, that might be one thing, but for states to hold two sets of election laws when a federal one is in place would reveal its corruption.


While political parties are left to determine their own future, standardized voting might promote standardized party structures, and it would remove a lot of the bullshit they try before and at the polls.

.

[Laser102]

51. Agreed.

[jalan48]

19. And people wonder why Sander's delegates might be upset?

[BobbyDrake]

21. I don't wonder. They're upset because they're misinformed. They're misinformed because

the campaign they've followed for several months the was not honest with them. The campaign was not honest with them because truthfully admitting they simply lost primaries wouldn't have stoked the (self-)righteous anger the campaign assumed would drive its supporters to the polls.

There's no excuse for the behavior of these delegates. They're all adults who should know better.

[jalan48]

23. Looks like you missed the email leaks about the smears against Sanders.

[BobbyDrake]

29. Nope. Again, you're misinformed. The DNC did not "smear" Sanders in any way. nt

[jalan48]

30. I think you are the one who is misinformed.

[BobbyDrake]

34. Nope, still you. There are no actions during the primaries that can be traced to the emails.

The emails mentioned going after Sanders' faith. That never happened.

[think]

38. THE DNC CFO suggest using Bernie's religion against him. The DNC isn't part of the Clinton campaign

is it?

[Recursion]

78. One guy suggested it and the suggestion was shot down (nt)

[think]

79. The DNC's chief financial officer mentioned using Sanders' religion against him. How is that

acceptable in any fashion?

This place would explode if it was found out a member of the DNC was suggesting using Hillary's religion against her.

The tone deaf responses to this issue are truly disturbing...

[Recursion]

81. Everybody I read agrees he should be fired

Did I miss somebody standing up for him? The point is the DNC shot that idea down

[think]

82. The person is STILL there. Is he not?

[Recursion]

87. So, to be clear, the problem is that the CFO wasn't fired for an internal email

Furthermore, we pretty much all agree that's a problem, right?

So... yeah.

[think]

88. Brad Marshall suggested using Sanders religion against him as a supposed NEUTRAL member of the DNC

Let that sink in....

[Recursion]

89. It has. Don't really care. My candidate was *completely* shut out by the DNC

Whereas the DNC helped Sanders on several occasions.

That's the game.

[think]

93. You don't care. Well. That explains a lot.

[jalan48]

40. Right.

[BobbyDrake]

43. Keep replying; I won't see it.

[uponit7771]

91. A few slanted emails = conspiracy is why I'm upset with 72 recs of stupid shit

[jalan48]

101. Good for you.

[colsohlibgal]

22. Love Taibbi

He is the closest thing going to the late great Hunter Thompson.

It is hard not to agree with that last paragraph in bold. That said it is over and for now it is important to keep the orange megalomaniac away from the nuclear codes and everything else. That this clown got the republican nomination is scary and strong evidence of the burgeoning dumbing down of this country.

[randome]

24. Virtually no one in Congress endorsed Sanders from the start.

He had bigger problems than a few emails expressing distaste for him. But it's always easier to find an excuse for that.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"The whole world is a circus if you know how to look at it."
Tony Randall, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)[/center][/font][hr]

[babylonsister]

25. Well, you just found an excuse

to justify why it's no big deal if the DNC and DWS cheated.

[randome]

54. Their 'cheating' consisted of a handful of emails.

Stolen and leaked in order to embarrass the DNC. There is absolutely no evidence that anything beyond this occurred. It's pathetic to hear yet another excuse for why Sanders' campaign failed to catch on. And it's just another excuse to resurrect the Primary War. And some are only too eager to latch onto it.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"The whole world is a circus if you know how to look at it."
Tony Randall, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)[/center][/font][hr]

[Demsrule86]

26. Primary is over.

How is this post helpful? Sanders lost. I don't see anything in the emails (some are fakes too) that would have changed one thing for Sanders. More people voted for Hillary Clinton.

[FighttheFuture]

60. It's not just about Sanders loosing. It's about a process that is bent toward insiders with a

untrustworthy primary process. Exposing this and talkign about it allows the Democratic Party to start addressing these inequities and become stronger for it.

The real danger is ignoring it and sweeping it under the rug so that nothing changes. I can guranteee you one thing that will change with that actions (or inaction), the party base will further shrink and shit like Trump, or any Republican, will be able to burrow even deeper like the poisonous ticks they are.

So, DWS and the DNC screwed up. That much is apparent, regardless of who leaked these emails. What will the party do? It looks like it is doing what it needs to, and should do: DWS resigned; sure, Hillary is taking care of her, but while I dislike DWS I can understand loyalty and being rewarded for it. There is something to say for that. There are plans to reduce the number of super-delegates. A real look at the voting process and those ridiculous caucuses. A real look at the registration process. So, good is coming from this, but it will only happen if it's not swept under the rug out of FEAR of Trump.

The real danger is ignoring this and not addressing people's valid concerns. That will loose voters, for sure. While they may not vote for Trump, they may just stay home and in this election, that will likely be devastating

[Rose Siding]

27. Oh boo hoo

The DNC wanted a Democrat to win. Just one of the things I love about them.

[AlbertCat]

33. The DNC wanted a Democrat to win.

A corporate democrat.

Sanders ran as and is a democrat...and more importantly, a liberal.

[JRLeft]

37. ^ This

[fun n serious]

59. He railed against dems and sued them for a data breach that...YIKES was done by him

Yes, there was division and picking on both sides. DNC felt the wrath of Sanders as did Hillary.

[DirkGently]

28. Best article on the leaks so far. n/t

[Scalded Nun]

32. Like Taibbi said...

'What does it all mean? If you're a Clinton fan, probably nothing.'

Evidenced by the replies to the post.

[AlbertCat]

44. Evidenced by the replies to the post.

Yes.

It's like they think we weren't there. There was much cronyism in every dept. The only reason this story has traction is it seems to fit in with what went on.

But in all seriousness, the media's attitude toward Sanders was a huge factor. I remember Amy Goodman pointing out that, when a Trump speech was delayed like 15 or 20 minutes, the talking heads on ...was it MSNBC or CNN? can't remember....anyway, she pointed out that Sanders was giving a speech at the time, but they didn't cut to or even acknowledge his speech, but instead just chit chatted for 20 minutes about what Trump might say. That incident illustrates it perfectly.

[uponit7771]

92. It means people aren't willing to give Clinton her due if a claim with no facts behind it other...

... than a few slanted emails is proof positive of anything.

People want to believe it was stolen cause Clinton just couldn't have wone

[SidDithers]

39. Hey Taibbi. It wasn't a leak. It was theft...nt

Sid

[truebluegreen]

61. So It's all good then. Got it.

[workinclasszero]

86. By Putin no less

Have fun being manipulated by Vladimir Putin guys while his pal Trump sits back and laughs at you!

[Ford_Prefect]

41. The real scandal is that DNC bent the rules against ANYONE who was not pledged to HRC prior to.

The DNC went well out of their way to rig more than the Sanders equation. They rigged it against Martin O'Malley and anyone who even gave a whiff of opposing HRC or running in primaries against establishment Democrats like DWS. They bribed and cajoled countless party officials in a number state parties to look the other way and in some cases worse during caucus meetings and state primaries. They not only wanted HRC to win, they wanted to select the Congressional and Senate candidates according to the DNC playbook, bypassing the voters in each case.

[redqueen]

57. Shhhh, you're not following the script

If you look at the larger picture the issues can't be dismissed with a handwave and an "oh grow up you whiny Bernie supporters!"

[fun n serious]

63. Can you prove this?

It sounds like a Turner hyperbole

[uponit7771]

94. Another claim with no proof just like this article

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

42. Whether or not the actions of DWC and the DNC affected the outcome

of these primaries isn't important at this point - they probably didn't. What is important is being able to trust the process. If in four years or eight years there's another contested primary and there's so little confidence in the process, good people (especially if outside the "establishment&quot will be discouraged from becoming candidates because they'll assume they either won't get much support from the DNC, or they'll even be actively sabotaged. Potential supporters will be discouraged from getting involved because they'll think their candidate might get kneecapped by the organization that's supposed to help. It's essential that the DNC really is reformed to be truly fair and impartial, and that everyone can trust and believe that it is.

[AlbertCat]

45. What is important is being able to trust the process.

This....

This is what has people moaning and cat calling.

[Ford_Prefect]

47. It has already had an effect on local, state and congressional runs. 2 years from now it will again.

The lead time involved in getting an off year campaign going is longer than you may think. Congress members, their staff and family members routinely complain that it seems like they are constantly running the financial, public relations, and ground strategy functions WHILE they are also trying to do the job they were elected for.

[Chimichurri]

48. This is more evidence that the rot must be

Cleaned out. It was stuff like this that killed the DLC

[cstanleytech]

50. Actually down the road what it will actually likely cause is for the DNC to change its rules and

and make it harder for someone to suddenly decide that they want to register as a Democrat to run on the Democratic ticket and its something the DNC needs to do otherwise down the road the GOP is likely to try and exploit the system to try and ruin future elections for Democratic candidates.

[TheKentuckian]

66. Spoken like someone who wants the party to go the way of the Whigs.

SHRINK THE TENT UNLESS IT IS A REPUBLICAN SWITCHEROO THEN WE ARE "BIG TENT".

[cstanleytech]

76. Not at all. The tent can be as large as needed they just need to

make sure no idiot tries to open the animal cages and lets the lions run loose into the crowd.

[Historic NY]

52. Forced to fund his operations.............WTF

that was his decision to stay away from the DNC.

[FighttheFuture]

65. Disengenuous. It was pretty apparent how lacking impartiality the DNC was.

What would you expect him to do?

[Cryptoad]

56. Stirring the Shit Pot!

[Florencenj2point0]

58. BULLSHIT

DWS didn't schedule the debates the networks did, that is a fact.
DWS didn't write those emails, she didn't even know about them.

[truebluegreen]

64. .

The networks decided when and how many debates to have? That doesn't even pass a smell test.

[rocktivity]

73. Bottom line: Having helped manage Hillary's 2008 presidential campaign

it was a conflict of interest for DWS to manage the 2016 Dem presidential election process with Hillary in it. The very fact that she could be ACCUSED of putting the DNC in the tank for Hillary -- whether she actually did so or not -- should have disqualified her.


rocktivity

[uponit7771]

96. Facts matter little to none for some. At this point some people are willing to grab ahold of...

At this point some people are willing to grab ahold of anything that supports their thinking of the person they put their heart into not losing.

Facts mean little on this subject now

[rocktivity]

62. Candidate for this year's "You Call This NEWS?" Award

Why expect a fair fight when the referee once coached one of the contenders? Would Jerry Jones or Bill Belachik be allowed to referee an NFL game?


rocktivity

[Hekate]

72. Hey Matt, where the hell are the RNC emails? Where's the attack on their campaign?

Oh, I know, false equivalency is all the outrage. But this stinks to high heaven of sabotage, and the Democratic party has lost at least one president to espionage and sabotage.

[uponit7771]

98. I've lost respect if he's saying there's anything other than a couple of emails... people are

... grasping at straws on this one

[stuffmatters]

74. Seems to me The Victory Fund stuff is serious & election fraud. This isn't going to go away.

Circumventing donor limitations (3500) to one candidate by multiplying it by all 50 states then rerouting all that money back to one candidate ...that seems pretty evident and deliberate fraud. Blaming this all on "the Russians/Putin trying to elect Trump" etc will not make this go away. There are bank transfer records, testimonials by well meaning down ticket aiming donors (like Clooney's) and state party members whose coffers were flooded then drained by this ploy. Nope this is not going away.

This is getting kind of CREEP-y. A campaign with a shoo in candidate yet indulges (out of paranoia, greed, insecurity or just zealotry) in unnecessary (and illegal) dirty tricks.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

75. For me, this whole thing is MUCH bigger than Sanders --

and about the Democratic Party and now the DNC. This is becoming about Power hanging on to Power at whatever cost.

[Scuba]

77. No, no, Matt, it was just some idle gossip. At least that's what I'm being told by the same ...

... people who say we must cut ties with Alan Grayson because he was accused of domestic violence.

Never mind that Debbie resigned, that Ed Rendell called it a serious violation, that Snopes called it an unquestionable bias.

Just idle gossip, Matt. Now get on message.

[uponit7771]

97. De you have any proof of the opposite or just willing to believe any little thing that supports this

... notion?

NO ONE... NOT ONE PERSON has shown there was anything other than just idle gossip...

NOTHING

[Scuba]

99. None so blind as those who refuse to see.

[uponit7771]

100. So I'll take that as a no, you have nothing and neither does this shit article from Taibbi...

... your response by the way is what conservatives are saying on this matter too.

Typical, when have nothing throw ad homs...

[LexVegas]

80. That loss still hurts, huh? nt

[Hekate]

102. Have you seen this vid from ABC News yet?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12512306746