Elizabeth Warren Attacks Pete Buttigieg's Private Fund-Raisers: 'Open Up the Doors'

[JoeOtterbein]

[link:https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/05/us/politics/elizabeth-warren-pete-buttigieg.html|

Ms. Warren has previously avoided attacking most of her top-tier rivals by name. Her remarks came as Mr. Buttigieg has taken a lead in some Iowa polls.

By Shane Goldmacher and Astead W. Herndon

BOSTON — Senator Elizabeth Warren on Thursday called on Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, to open his campaign fund-raising events to the news media and to release a full accounting of the wealthy donors who are gathering contributions for him.

The remarks represented a departure from Ms. Warren’s previous unwillingness to publicly chide most of her top-tier primary opponents, and came as Mr. Buttigieg has overtaken Ms. Warren in some polls in Iowa, the first state to hold a nominating contest next year.

“I think that Mayor Pete should open up the doors so that anyone can come in and report on what’s being said,” Ms. Warren told reporters in Boston. “Those doors shouldn’t be closed, and no one should be left to wonder what kind of promises are being made to the people that then pony up big bucks to be in the room.”

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more at link

[MineralMan]

1. Dear Senator Warren: Don't attack Democratic candidates.

Attack Trump. This sort of thing should be beneath you. Don't do it. It will cost you support.

[JoeOtterbein]

2. Attack hecklers instead of Trump?

You mean like Joe?

[MineralMan]

3. I'm sorry. What?

That's completely unrelated to what I wrote. It's pure whataboutism. Hmph!

[JoeOtterbein]

5. Ha!

I love the hurumphhh!

[nini]

15. Biden does both

Pay closer attention then you'd know that.

[delisen]

17. I want transparency from democrats on money

Democrats in congress are working hard to get trump facts plus i already know enough to work against him. Tbe bank bailout was a disaster fo me and millions of others. It was backed by both parties.
I am dealing with the results of that bailout everyday-men,women and children living on the streets of my city. Some even die there.

I never want to see democrats backing a big bank bailout again.

I need to demand transparency from every democratic candidate.

We are demanding it of trump by backing the impeachment investigations and taking the fight to the courts.

[George II]

4. Two thirds of her contributions ($32M) are unitemized - 'Open Up the Doors', who are they?

[mr_lebowski]

6. We need the list of names of 3.2M people who donated $10?

Obviously an exaggeration, but just because some donations don't have names by them doesn't really mean anything. I presume she has proper documentation as to why the names aren't disclosed. Liz is a good person.

[George II]

8. We don't know how many of those "$10" contributions were made by the same person.

[mr_lebowski]

9. If there's anyone in this election I trust to obey every Campaign Finance law, and NOT

hide large donations from rich people by pretending they're small donations from random people, it's Liz Warren.

I'm not even a tiny bit concerned, personally. Speaking for myself only ...

It's also NOT the concern she's expressing about Mayor Pete ... though, as I mentioned below, I don't think this was the best way to raise the issue, so there's that.

[George II]

12. I'm sure she's obeying campaign finance law, but she's bashing another candidate for not being....

..."open" about his fund raisers/contributions/contributors. What Buttigieg and other candidates are doing obeys campaign finance law, too.

It really bothers me when candidates criticize the manner in which other candidates raise funds, as though it's illegal.

[mr_lebowski]

13. I DO think she should've made the statement generically, so I get your point ...

But I do agree with her overall point that nobody really should be allowed to do 'private' fundraisers where candidates can make promises in secret to big-money donors.

[George II]

14. Every penny of the money raised at those private fundraisers is reported in detail....

This thing about candidates "making promises in secret to big-money donors" is simply not true. If you were running for President would you make a promise to someone who only contributes $2800?

I've asked this on this site many times, no one ever responds, is a person that give over 800 contributions to equal $2800 any better than a person who makes one single contribution of $2800? The first comes off as a "small donor" the other a "big-money donor", even though they've given exactly the same amount.

[mr_lebowski]

7. I don't disagree, in theory, with what she's saying, but it would be smarter to make it generic ...

Include all Dem candidates, and more importantly, include Trump as I'm sure he's 1000x more guilty of this than anyone on our side.

[SaschaHM]

10. I don't mind having Liz on the offense.

She's been a target for months. It's great to see her pushing back on firmer ground.

[Politicub]

11. This line of attack will not help her gain more voters.

Nor will it cause people to peel away from Buttigieg.

Though I support Warren, I do not appreciate her criticisms of Mayor Pete.

[theaocp]

16. Pete gets to choose his level of transparency.

Shouldn't be a difficult decision.