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[Dalek]

Democrats Are Desperate for Bernie Sanders' Email List

As the Democratic Party struggles to regain its footing following its disastrous November election, one vestige of the 2016 campaign has taken on much importance: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' email list. Sanders, who raised $218 million online from a record 2.8 million donors, rewrote the rules of email fundraising during his campaign by relentlessly courting small-dollar contributors. For many of those donors, Sanders was the first Democratic presidential candidate they had supported—or the first politician they had ever helped.

In an interview with the Huffington Post in December, former Labor Secretary Tom Perez, a front-runner in the election for Democratic National Committee chair, said he wants "to learn from Senator Sanders about how he did it." At a DNC chair debate in January, another candidate, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), whom Sanders has endorsed for the DNC job and who is widely seen as someone who can heal the party's Sanders-Clinton divisions, pledged to try to obtain the email list for the party if he wins. "We're gonna call on everybody to give all the resources they have," Ellison said. "We're in an emergency situation."

Democrats have made no secret they covet Sanders' list, which Sanders controls through his Senate campaign and the political nonprofit he founded, Our Revolution. The decision on what to do with it rests with Sanders. "Our Revolution won't be giving over the list," says the group's president, Jeff Weaver, who was Sanders' presidential campaign manager. Sanders, for his part, has mostly stayed quiet about the future of the list, which one Democratic consultant referred to as his "precious." He told the Washington Post in January that he would "cross that bridge" when he comes to it. "There has been no discussion with the DNC about use of the list," says Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs.

Campaigns and political action committees regularly purchase supporter lists from other organizations, as a shortcut to raise money and recruit volunteers. Large, lucrative lists can become valuable commodities in the campaign marketplace. (President Barack Obama's presidential campaign rented his list to Organizing for Action for $1.2 million in 2015.) But former Sanders staffers and consultants scoff at the demand for the list. The way they see it, clamoring for access misses the point. The list wasn't the campaign's secret weapon; Sanders was.

"They keep thinking it's the list," says Becky Bond, who as a senior adviser to Sanders helped build the candidate's national organizing operation. "It's so crazy. It's like someone who buys a $12,000 bicycle and thinks they can win the Tour de France."

"At the end of the day, it's not like there's something magical about Bernie's email list—anyone can build an email list with the right investments, and you can also get millions of people on an email list," says Michael Whitney, who was an architect of Sanders' digital fundraising operation while working for the progressive consulting firm Revolution Messaging. "The thing that differentiates Bernie's from any other email list has been that there is a message of people being in this together, and there was a message of empowerment."

The fear among Sanders alums isn't just that the DNC can't recreate the magic. It's that the party will sap his supporters' energy with the kinds of gimmicky pitches the Sanders campaign swore off. Democrats often "treat their email lists as Chicken Little, 'sky is falling,' trying to con money out of people, whereas Bernie took steps to actually bring people together and have messaging that they were a part of it and treat people with respect," Whitney says. As an example of what he and other Sanders supporters are afraid of, he points to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which peppers its email list at the end of each month with passive-aggressive "final notice" emails, warning them that their "membership" in the party will expire if they don't donate immediately.

"They're straight up lying to people to get money," says Melissa Byrne, the digital director for Sanders' New Hampshire primary campaign, who is now running for vice chair of the DNC. She opposes renting the Sanders list to the party because she fears doing so will deepen the cynicism with which many Sanders supporters view the party establishment. The list is "not something you just say, 'hey, hit export,' and then upload. People would feel like they were being disrespected. They would feel like they weren't being valued."

 

[PBY]

Every time I read behind-the-scenes stuff about the DNC, I'm shocked at the level of sheer incompetence.

 

[Polioliolio]

5 times a day, I get an email from the DNC or even Barack Obama himself, apparently. It's always asking for money. I was going to 'unsubscribe' but it wanted me to enter the email again.. it just didn't feel right. So I tossed it into spam and now it's the only thing in my spam box.

 

[jtb]

I'm shocked he didn't hand it over in June when he lost. What the fuck.

Also, I'm sorry, but we're in the middle of a fucking existential threat. If "Sanders is the secret ingredient, not the list" (no shit), then why not give the list to the party that you are now a member of?

And yes, we all know Sanders invented email lists and small money fundraising. No lamestream, establishment democrat ever ran for office with a message of change and a big-ass email list, and ever accomplished anything.

-

This is a lot of shitting on Sanders, but on that same token, Hillary camp was insane for not asking Sanders to send his supporters emails asking for them to support Hillary and recognize Trump as the crazy threat that he was. And, um, not to stay home.

This whole thing is just dumb, endless internecine bickering. Over a fucking email list.

 

[smurfx]

fuck you democrats. how about trying to appeal to people instead of just wanting to glom on to somebody else's success.

 

[Xe4]

I don't subscribe to any parties or candidates emails, and often leave that section blank when I donate, given they just ignore the do not email box.

If I want to give you money, I will, stop fucking harassing me to. I never subscribed to Sanders email list, but knowing the ones I did used to be a part of, I doubt it was all that different.

I'm shocked he didn't hand it over in June when he lost. What the fuck.

Also, I'm sorry, but we're in the middle of a fucking existential threat. If "Sanders is the secret ingredient, not the list" (no shit), then why not give the list to the party that you are now a member of?

And yes, we all know Sanders invented email lists and small money fundraising. No lamestream, establishment democrat ever ran for office with a message of change and a big-ass email list, and ever accomplished anything.

Sanders isn't a member of the DNC. He's an independent.

 

[eqqsquizitine]

I'm shocked he didn't hand it over in June when he lost. What the fuck.

Also, I'm sorry, but we're in the middle of a fucking existential threat. If "Sanders is the secret ingredient, not the list" (no shit), then why not give the list to the party that you are now a member of?

And yes, we all know Sanders invented email lists and small money fundraising. No lamestream, establishment democrat ever ran for office with a message of change and a big-ass email list, and ever accomplished anything.

-

This is a lot of shitting on Sanders, but on that same token, Hillary camp was insane for not asking Sanders to send his supporters emails asking for them to support Hillary and recognize Trump as the crazy threat that he was. And, um, not to stay home.

This whole thing is just dumb, endless internecine bickering. Over a fucking email list.

Handing over the email list is a bad fucking idea and I'm surprised that the DNC doesn't comprehend this.

 

[kirblar]

Every time I read behind-the-scenes stuff about the DNC, I'm shocked at the level of sheer incompetence.

Obama ignored it for 8 years, the real investment was in OFA. They got the dregs and 0 vision.

 

[jtb]

I don't subscribe to any parties or candidates emails, and often leave that section blank when I donate, given they just ignore the do not email box.

If I want to give you money, I will, stop fucking harassing me to. I never subscribed to Sanders email list, but knowing the ones I did used to be a part of, I doubt it was all that different.


Sanders isn't a member of the DNC. He's an independent.

He ran for President as a Democrat. He caucuses with the Dems. The Dems give him committee assignments. He will run for re-election as a Democrat.

Sorry, but he's a Dem now. Really happy to have him on board fighting the good fight, but politics a team sport.

Handing over the email list is a bad fucking idea and I'm surprised that the DNC doesn't comprehend this.

It's not an all or nothing deal. They can...... work with Sanders?!?! Craft a progressive message that's targeted at the list members!

And I totally get that it takes two to tango. Which is why I'm so fucking tired of this stupid primary being re-litigated over and over and over again.

 

[disappeared]

And Bernie will whisper,

"No."

 

[jacob armitage]

Also, I'm sorry, but we're in the middle of a fucking existential threat. If "Sanders is the secret ingredient, not the list" (no shit), then why not give the list to the party that you are now a member of?

Sanders isn't a member of the democratic party though.

fuck you democrats. how about trying to appeal to people instead of just wanting to glom on to somebody else's success.

This, only not really fuck you democrats, more so fuck the DNC and people that ran it.

 

[Elchele]

I'm shocked he didn't hand it over in June when he lost. What the fuck.

Also, I'm sorry, but we're in the middle of a fucking existential threat. If "Sanders is the secret ingredient, not the list" (no shit), then why not give the list to the party that you are now a member of?

the party that played against him in the primaries? lol
He will give the list if he thinks the Democratic Party is going in the same lines as his political candidate movement was.

 

[water_wendi]

Saw this on The Jimmy Dore Show today. That people think the email list is some kind of magic is laughable.

 

[Septimus Prime]

I was on both his and Hillary's mailing lists. They really weren't all that different.

 

[Tomohawk]

I think handing over the email list to dems would be seen as a betrayal to his base, who I assume are more independent then dems. It would be better if he allowed access to those he felt wouldn't poison the well.

 

[jack_package_200]

Every time I read behind-the-scenes stuff about the DNC, I'm shocked at the level of sheer incompetence.

And yet some people still think they somehow are smart enough to successfully rig a primary under the insanely incompentent DWS.

Saw this on The Jimmy Dore Show today. That people think the email list is some kind of magic is laughable.

Don't watch Jimmy Dore. He is an idiot.

 

[Carpe Libertatem]

ITT: people who conviently forget that Bernie's campaign accessed Clinton voter data during the campaign

 

[Rentahamster]

For many of those donors, Sanders was the first Democratic presidential candidate they had supported—or the first politician they had ever helped.

In an interview with the Huffington Post in December, former Labor Secretary Tom Perez, a front-runner in the election for Democratic National Committee chair, said he wants "to learn from Senator Sanders about how he did it."

Sanders needed small-dollar donors because he was campaigning against the politics of big money, and supporters opened up their wallets in response to his assault on the well-heeled corporate and political establishment. His fundraising pitch and policy platform were in sync in a way that most campaigns can't match.

As long as the DNC maintains their status quo, this list ain't gonna do shit. Bernie's list only works with Bernie, or a candidate who matches his message, energy, passion, and authenticity.

 

[water_wendi]

Don't watch Jimmy Dore. He is an idiot.

Thank you for the advice but ill continue watching him.

 

[Rentahamster]

As one former Sanders digital staffer joked in an email, noting that Sanders, via email appeals, had raised more money directly for Democratic candidates than any other politician in 2016, "Maybe the DNC should turn their list over to Bernie?"

This is funny too.

 

[platakul]

Lol pelosi with the list sending out mommy emails saying sorry honey capitalism is the name of the game pay me plz

 

[PatThePassive]

If they wanted to sign up wouldn't they sign up.

I don't sign petitions out of fear of them giving my info and email away, political figures doing the same sounds shitty.

 

[jtb]

As long as the DNC maintains their status quo, this list ain't gonna do shit. Bernie's list only works with Bernie, or a candidate who matches his message, energy, passion, and authenticity.

How about Elizabeth Warren? Or is she now a tainted dirty establishment traitor?

 

[TyphoonStruggle]

Bernie created thing. DNC want thing. DNC don't want Bernie. Bernie says no. DNC cries.

queue outrage

lol

 

[Ominym]

I wonder if the DNC is aware that gaining access and spamming out literature would in many instances just poison the well? I get wanting to have the list as an asset, but if the underlying assumption is eyes = votes then I think they're pretty clearly mistaken.

 

[Rentahamster]

Don't watch Jimmy Dore. He is an idiot.

How so? The Young Turks are a good channel for info and analysis.

 

[Xe4]

He ran for President as a Democrat. He caucuses with the Dems. The Dems give him committee assignments. He will run for re-election as a Democrat.

Sorry, but he's a Dem now. Really happy to have him on board fighting the good fight, but politics a team sport.

There is no indication he will run for reelection as a democrat. At best, right now he's not a democrat, which means his relationship with them is a bit more complicated than the average DNC member. I agree he should share the list, but not because he's a democrat.

 

[CrispyBoar]

Thank you for the advice but ill continue watching him.

Believing him is like believing that everything that you see on wrestling, Jerry Springer & Fox News are real.

 

[TyphoonStruggle]

Don't watch Jimmy Dore. He is an idiot.

Translation: Keep head in sand.

 

[a very cute dog]

inb4 purity test

 

[Dubbedinenglish]

There is no indication he will run for reelection as a democrat. At best, right now he's not a democrat, which means his relationship with them is a bit more complicated than the average DNC member. I agree he should share the list, but not because he's a democrat.

He said he will finish out his term as I, then re-up as Dem. He is a Dem, by every other measure.

 

[royalan]

The fear among Sanders alums isn't just that the DNC can't recreate the magic. It's that the party will sap his supporters' energy with the kinds of gimmicky pitches the Sanders campaign swore off. Democrats often "treat their email lists as Chicken Little, 'sky is falling,' trying to con money out of people, whereas Bernie took steps to actually bring people together and have messaging that they were a part of it and treat people with respect," Whitney says. As an example of what he and other Sanders supporters are afraid of, he points to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which peppers its email list at the end of each month with passive-aggressive "final notice" emails, warning them that their "membership" in the party will expire if they don't donate immediately.

HA!!!

As someone on that email list, I can say THIS is a fat ass lie.

Those emails got thirsty as fuck around April...

 

[Capitan]

I think his secret is that he has some integrity. they should try that.

 

[jack_package_200]

How so? The Young Turks are a good channel for info and analysis.

*side eye*

The man has absolutely no business talking politics. He moronically claimed Donald Trump would be better than Hilary Clinton as president. A Hilary Clinton beholden to Wall Street interests (she never was) would be sooooooo much better than current shit show thats in the white house now.

 

[Netherscourge]

Emails are what got us into this mess.

 

[Herr Schwarz]

What the fuck is with the DNC. Jesus Christ.

You get money the same way fucking Kickstarters get money, you offer the public something they want and can get excited about, to inspire to hope and to dream

Kinda like Star Citizen. It's a premise that your imagination can run wild with. Or like the pre no man's sky hype.

Co-opting an email list will do fucking nothing if you aren't offering a product that does the above.

How do they not get it lol? Aren't they all Harvard grads?

 

[Knuckle Sandwich]

So Bernie's guy Ellison wants it too as well as the horrible awful establishment hack Perez?

Give it up, Bernie. Write a nice e-mail to your followers explaining why you're doing it and what's at stake. Some will feel BETRAYED but if they wouldn't even listen to you then what good are they anyway.

Don't watch Jimmy Dore. He is an idiot.

He's not an idiot.

He's just unfunny and annoying.

 

[ant_]

Emails are still the most powerful form of digital marketing. It's amazing how much money email can bring in.

 

[The Adder]

ITT: people who conviently forget that Bernie's campaign accessed Clinton voter data during the campaign

Signal boost.

 

[Plinko]

Every time I read behind-the-scenes stuff about the DNC, I'm shocked at the level of sheer incompetence.

Seriously. Completely, ridiculously incompetent.

 

[royalan]

There is no indication he will run for reelection as a democrat. At best, right now he's not a democrat, which means his relationship with them is a bit more complicated than the average DNC member. I agree he should share the list, but not because he's a democrat.

So is Bernie going to pay back all the DSCC money he happily accepted until last year?

 

[God Dayumm]

ITT: people who conviently forget that Bernie's campaign accessed Clinton voter data during the campaign

Everybody had access to Clinton's data during the campaign 😆

 

[Carpe Libertatem]

Everybody had access to Clinton's data during the campaign 😆

Oh yeah? Care to point me where I can find the Clinton voter data Bernie's campaign accessed through exploiting a bug in NGP VAN?

 

[Zyae]

Obama ignored it for 8 years, the real investment was in OFA. They got the dregs and 0 vision.

You love blaming Obama for all the failings of the DNC.



and one of the comments from the reddit thread

I know we don't mind hearing this, but the right wing Washington Times wrote this to turn mainstream dems against Bernie.

 

[Tomohawk]

*side eye*

The man has absolutely no business talking politics. He moronically claimed Donald Trump would be better than Hilary Clinton as president. A Hilary Clinton beholden to Wall Street interests (she never was) would be sooooooo much better than current shit show thats in the white house now.

Ya that's kind of Jimmy Dore's thing where he tries to pretend corporate democrats are as bad as republicans. The rest of TYT at least doesn't believe that, but they get carried away sometimes too. Honestly if they cut Jimmy, TYT would be a lot better, though he does represent a certain segment.

 

[Rentahamster]

*side eye*

The man has absolutely no business talking politics. He moronically claimed Donald Trump would be better than Hilary Clinton as president. A Hilary Clinton beholden to Wall Street interests (she never was) would be sooooooo much better than current shit show thats in the white house now.

Do you have a link to that?

IIRC, I think his point was that the silver lining of a Trump presidency would be that Democrats would actually get fired up over the shitty things that the USA has been doing under the Obama administration anyway, which is something that wouldn't happen nearly as strongly (if at all) under a Clinton administration.

 

[rjinaz]

Shrug. Just share the list Bernie. I guess I'm just tired of the bickering anymore when we have a fascist wanna be as president. That goes both ways though and with voters as well.

 

[jack_package_200]

Do you have a link to that?

.

Here

 

[jtb]

Bernie is a democrat. Bernie endorsed Hillary. Bernie wants to stop Donald Trump. Bernie wants to get progressive things done.

We can have progressive Dems. We can have conservative Dems. You know how you're going to stop Donald Trump? Pass universal healthcare? With coalitions. With a 50 state strategy. Not with minority-of-the-minority Hastert rule purity bullshit.

If his zealous supporters really have a problem with any of those things, they need to look at themselves in the mirror and ask why they're supporting Bernie in the first place.

 

[dave is ok]

DNC stays losing