TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Brad Woodhouse, President of Correct The Record
DATE: March 8, 2016
SUBJECT: Bernie Sanders’ 48 Hours from Hell
It’s only Tuesday, but Bernie Sanders has already had the worst week in Washington and the worst 48 hours of his campaign. In fact, it’s been 48 hours from hell for the Senator who has managed in the course of just two days to have his judgment and temperament to be president called into serious question. All this has occurred, mind you, as Hillary Clinton’s nearly insurmountable delegate lead has continued to grow. Sanders’ situation has gotten so dire that his top political operative and adviser has all but thrown in the towel – holding out hope that Sanders would be considered as Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential pick.
This disastrous period in his campaign started with Sanders touting the endorsement of a corporate lobbyist, former Senator and member of the Keating 5 scandal Don Riegle, and his week has only gotten worse from there. Beginning with his visibly frustrated “excuse me, I’m talking” Lazio moment, Sunday’s debate was full of questionable explanations about troubling policy positions and capped off with his downright offensive comment that “when you’re white, you don’t know what it’s like to be living in a ghetto. You don’t know what it’s like to be poor.”
And, if that wasn’t bad enough, yesterday afternoon Senator Sanders attempted to commemorate the anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday” voting rights march in Selma by tweeting out a photo. But instead of using a photo from the actual march, Sanders tweeted a picture from the movie “Selma,” effectively epitomizing his lack of vision or thoughtfulness on anything other than Wall Street or “millionaires and billionaires.” [Sanders’ struggle to appreciate the concerns of various constituencies – most notably African Americans – should not be at all surprising given that Sanders believes that issues of race, gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation can all be corrected if the economic playing field was more level – ignoring discrimination and prejudices that have existed for centuries that have nothing to do with income inequality.]
Sanders’ defense of gun manufacturers in the debate and of his vote to provide them immunity – a vote that today will likely deprive the parents of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre the opportunity to hold the manufacturer of the weapon used to kill small children accountable – received the immediate approval of the National Rifle Association. No, most Democrats are not looking to nominate a candidate for president who parrots NRA talking points and accuses those who want common sense laws to reduce gun violence, including allowing lawsuits against manufacturers, of being against the Second Amendment as Senator Sanders did on Sunday night.
And the bad news continued piling on for Sanders: he was named most partisan senator of 2015, which clearly indicates that he will put ideology over compromise and would get next to nothing done in the Oval Office.
And if receiving aid and comfort from the NRA wasn’t bad enough, Heritage Action and the Koch brothers endorsed Sanders’ opposition to the Export-Import Bank, which helps American businesses compete in the global market place and supports tens of thousands of American jobs. And who else did Bernie Sanders stand with in opposing the Ex-Im Bank? Ted Cruz. Some progressive, huh?
Bernie Sanders’ week has been filled with missteps, temper tantrums, wacky defenses of dangerous policy positions, and tone-deafness on issues that are deeply important to voters. He is not ready to be the leader of the Democratic Party, let alone the leader of the free world, and his candidacy collapses when put under real scrutiny.
Sanders’ “Rick Lazio moment”:
Washington Post: What Bernie Sanders still doesn’t get about interrupting Hillary Clinton
Vox: Bernie Sanders awkwardly shushes Hillary Clinton during CNN’s Democratic debate
Salon: Sanders slips during debate: Bernie needed a good showing in Michigan, but instead came across as condescending and short-sighted
Yahoo: Bernie Sanders’ feisty debate: ‘Excuse me, I’m talking!’
CNN: Sanders to Clinton: ‘Excuse me, I’m talking’
Buzzfeed: Sanders Snaps At Clinton “Excuse Me, I’m Talking”
Sanders’ abysmal record on guns:
Connecticut Post: Sanders upsets families in wrongful-death gun lawsuit
Huffington Post: Bernie Sanders: Don’t Hold Gunmakers Accountable After Mass Shootings
POLITICO: Clinton puts Sanders on the defensive over gun votes
Washington Post: The NRA just praised Bernie Sanders — and did him no favors in doing so
The Hill: NRA tweets support for Bernie Sanders
Daily Caller: NRA Backs Bernie Sanders On Gun Manufacturer Liability
New York Times: First Draft: N.R.A. Praises Bernie Sanders for Debate Comments on Gunmakers
New York Daily News: NRA praises Bernie Sanders for stance on not holding weapons manufacturers liable for gun violence
Talking Points Memo: NRA Praises Sanders’ Comments On Gun Manufacturer Liability
NRA @NRA: Sen. Sanders was spot-on in his comments about gun manufacturer liability/PLCAA cnsnews.com/news/article/s…#DemDebate pic.twitter.com/jEScbMDFt4 [3/7/16, 10:11 a.m. EDT]
Igorvolsky [email protected]
: igorvolsky Retweeted NRA
Sanders echoed @NRA‘s talking points at last night’s #DemDebate… and now @NRA is praising him [3/7/16, 10:53 a.m. EDT]
Cameron Joseph [email protected]
_joseph: Cameron Joseph Retweeted NRA
Welp, that’s about the least helpful praise in American political history… [3/7/16, 11:31 a.m. EDT]
Rebecca Leber[email protected]
: Rebecca Leber Retweeted NRA
This is a headline Sanders didn’t want [3/7/16, 10:31 a.m. EDT]
Gabriel Debenedetti[email protected]
: Gabriel Debenedetti Retweeted NRA
Not exactly what Sanders was going for… [3/7/16, 10:16 a.m. EDT]
Tal Kopan[email protected]
: Tal Kopan Retweeted NRA
Can’t imagine Sanders likes this… [3/7/16, 11:27 a.m. EDT]
Matea Gold @mateagold: Not sure this is going to help Sanders. [3/7/16, 10:36 a.m. EDT]
Sahil Kapur Verified account @sahilkapur: Sahil Kapur Retweeted NRA
In which the @NRA praises @BernieSanders: [3/7/16, 11:24 a.m. EDT]
Sanders’ views on trade deals hurt American workers:
“In short, a Senator or congressman could not vote to rescue GM and Chrysler without voting to provide the money to keep the nation’s largest investment banks from failing. Sen. Clinton voted yes. Sen. Sanders voted no.” [Detroit Free Press, 3/7/16]
Seattlepi.com: State leaders slam Sanders for criticism of export bank
Politico: That time Bernie Sanders agreed with the Koch brothers
U.S. News Opinion: Bernie’s Bailout Cop-Out
Washington Post: Bernie Sanders’s two big lies about the global economy
Politifact: Sanders overshoots on NAFTA job losses
Sanders’ claim, “When you’re white, you don’t know what it’s like to be living in a ghetto”
CNN: Mothers of slain men knock Sanders for ‘ghetto’ comment
“Never mind that most Americans in poverty are white, or that the word ‘ghetto’ sounded dated back when Elvis Presley sang about it. Sanders showed again that he equates ‘black’ with ‘poor’ and racism with economic inequality, and that’s not a message that’s winning over African American voters to date.” [The Nation, 3/7/16]
Washington Post Blog: Post Partisan: ‘Excuse me!’ Bernie Sanders doesn’t know how to talk about black people
MSNBC: ‘Ghetto’ gaffe highlights Bernie Sanders campaign’s struggle with race
MLive.com: Bernie Sanders’ ghetto remark during Flint Democratic debate draws social media criticism
Washington Post: Bernie Sanders says white people don’t know what it’s like to live in a ‘ghetto.’ About that…
Sanders’ joke about mental illness in poor taste:
Vox: Sanders meant to insult Republicans. He insulted people with mental illness instead.
Washington Post: Mental health patients to Bernie Sanders: Don’t compare us to the GOP candidates
Huffington Post: No Bernie Sanders, Don’t Compare the Republican Debate to People With Mental Illness
Troubling Don Riegle endorsement
Ryan Lizza @RyanLizza: Don‘t mean to be a jerk, but former Michigan Senator Donald W. Riegle, Jr., who is endorsing Bernie right now, is a corporate lobbyist. [3/6/16, 6:43 p.m. EDT]
Doug Adams @DougNBC: Isn’t it problematic for Bernie Sanders that Don Riegle was one of the Keating Five? And that the Sen Ethics Cmte did find him guilty? [3/6/16, 7:16 p.m. EDT]
But Riegle’s statements and support of Sanders hit many in the media as unusual, considering Riegle is chairman of APCO Worldwide’s government relations team and was a member of the “Keating Five”—a group of Senators who were the subject of a lengthy Senate ethics investigation in 1991 for possibly intervening on behalf of a bank executive whose bank collapse cost taxpayers billions of dollars. [POLITICO, 3/6/16]
Tone-Deaf “Bloody Sunday” Commemoration
Jamil Smith @JamilSmith: Jamil Smith Retweeted
This is a screenshot from the movie SELMA. And not from the “Bloody Sunday” part. https://twitter.com/berniesanders/status/706903864952356864 … [3/7/16, 1:31 p.m. EDT]
Al.com: Bloody Sunday anniversary: Bernie Sanders accidentally tweets scene from ‘Selma’ movie instead of actual incident
POLITICO: Sanders deletes Selma tweet featuring movie image
Jezebel: Twitter Account for Bernie Sanders Confuses the Movie Selma for the Actual March on Selma
Mashable: No, Bernie Sanders, that is NOT the real Selma in that photo
Mediaite: Oops: Bernie Sanders Tweet Featured Photo from the Movie Selma, Not the Actual March
Most Partisan Senator Award
Washington Post: And the most partisan senator of 2015 is … Bernie Sanders!
POLITICO: Sanders, Cruz top list of most partisan senators
TIME: Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz Are the Most Partisan Senators, Report Says