2016 Postmortem

RandySF

(58,875 posts) Thu Apr 21, 2016, 12:07 AM Apr 2016

Bernie faces Southern revolt

NEW YORK — An influential group of Democrats is piling on Bernie Sanders for portraying Hillary Clinton's Southern victories as a product of a conservative region that is out of step with the rest of the country’s thinking.

When asked about his delegate deficit against Clinton, Sanders has on several recent occasions tried to explain away her lead as the result of wide margins of victory in deep red Southern states that rarely vote for Democrats in general elections. Those dismissals have irritated Southern Democratic Party leaders who insist their region is a growth opportunity for the national party, especially in the age of Donald Trump. And some are acutely sensitive to the racial dimension of Sanders’ remarks, since Clinton’s victories in the Deep South have been powered by her landslide margins among African-American voters.

In a stern, roughly 800-word letter sent Wednesday via post to Sanders’ Burlington, Vermont, headquarters, a high-profile group that includes the Democratic Party chairs of South Carolina, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi expresses its concern about his characterizations of the South, which they contend “minimize the importance of the voices of a core constituency for our party”: African-Americans.

“We commend you on running a spirited campaign that has energized and mobilized a new generation of voters, but we are concerned about the way you and your campaign have characterized the South,” write South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jaime Harrison, Louisiana Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Carter Peterson, Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Allison Tant, Democratic Party of Georgia Chairman DuBose Porter, Mississippi Democratic Party Chairman Rickey Cole, former South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges, and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Don Fowler, each of whom now supports Clinton.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/bernie-sanders-south-black-voters-222220#ixzz46Ql7RlMg

10 replies

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Bernie faces Southern revolt (Original Post) RandySF Apr 2016 OP

Allison Tant was a lobbyist for the company that sold the purging software in Florida in 2000 think Apr 2016 #1

Disgusting.... haikugal Apr 2016 #5

Tant & DWS are pushing Murphy who switched to a Dem & STILL voted for the Benghazi hearings think Apr 2016 #7

These people aren't democrats, they are third way neocons...get them the hell away from me! haikugal Apr 2016 #10

Can't get away with disrespecting cities or regions. Ask Ted Cruz. oasis Apr 2016 #2

And Allison Tant can't hide that she's working with DWS to run Republicans as Dems in Florida think Apr 2016 #4

Bernie never bothered to mention Tant as he minimized "the importance oasis Apr 2016 #8

SENATE CANDIDATE PAM KEITH SOUNDS OFF ON “PATERNALISTIC” FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADERSHIP think Apr 2016 #9

Well, they can complain if they choose to, but Bernie's was right! I live in Ga. napi21 Apr 2016 #3

Thank you for this post. It's good to hear. nt haikugal Apr 2016 #6

think

(11,641 posts)

1. Allison Tant was a lobbyist for the company that sold the purging software in Florida in 2000

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Thu Apr 21, 2016, 12:17 AM

Apr 2016

that cost Al Gore the election. Her husband was a lawyer on the Bush team that fought the recount of the vote there..

DWS helped get Allison Tant appointed as the Democratic Florida Chair. They have been working hard to run former Republicans as Democrats like Charlie Crist and Patrick Murphy over long term progressive candidates.

Yes. Allison Tant is on that list...

Bill Nelson, DWS pick to lead FL Dems lobbied for firm tied to notorious 2000 voter purge

This could be a bombshell from The Political Hurricane blog:

Allison Tant, the insider's pick to be Democratic Party chair, was a lobbyist in 2000 for ChoicePoint, the parent company of a database firm hired by the state of Florida to purge its voter rolls of felons, many of whom happened to be Democrats and minorities.

Reached by phone, Tant tells us she didn't actually lobby for the subsidiary involved in the felon-purge work, called DBT. Instead, she said, she lobbied for ChoicePoint, a data-mining company. The company sought to ensure that the financial-services industry had adequate identity-theft protections in place so that the personal data was misused, she said.

Even though she didn't work for DBT (another lobbyist handled that line of work, she said) the mere association with the company can be politically toxic in some liberal circles.

Thousands, if not tens of thousands, of lawful voters might have been unfairly removed and blocked from voting in an election that George W. Bush won by just 537 votes. The voter purge has been part of Democratic lore ever since.

~Snip~

Tant withdrew from representing ChoicePoint in late January of 2001 -- about two months after the famed recount was halted by the Supreme Court in the Bush v. Gore decision.

One of Bush's lawyers: Barry Richard, a Democrat and longtime Obama supporter, who's married to Tant...

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2012/12/bill-nelson-dws-pick-to-lead-fl-dems-lobbied-for-firm-tied-to-notorious-2000-voter-purge.html

haikugal

(6,476 posts)

5. Disgusting....

Reply to think (Reply #1)

Thu Apr 21, 2016, 12:28 AM

Apr 2016

think

(11,641 posts)

7. Tant & DWS are pushing Murphy who switched to a Dem & STILL voted for the Benghazi hearings

Reply to haikugal (Reply #5)

Thu Apr 21, 2016, 12:35 AM

Apr 2016

Seven Democrats broke ranks and voted with Republicans to establish a select committee to investigate the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic annex in Benghazi, Libya.

Reps. Ron Barber (Ariz.), John Barrow (Ga.), Mike McIntyre (N.C.), Patrick Murphy (Fla.), Collin Peterson (Minn.), Nick Rahall (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) all voted for the resolution. Six of them face tough reelection races this year.

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/205661-seven-dems-vote-to-create-benghazi-panel

haikugal

(6,476 posts)

10. These people aren't democrats, they are third way neocons...get them the hell away from me!

Reply to think (Reply #7)

Thu Apr 21, 2016, 01:03 AM

Apr 2016

oasis

(49,388 posts)

2. Can't get away with disrespecting cities or regions. Ask Ted Cruz.

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Thu Apr 21, 2016, 12:21 AM

Apr 2016

think

(11,641 posts)

4. And Allison Tant can't hide that she's working with DWS to run Republicans as Dems in Florida

Reply to oasis (Reply #2)

Thu Apr 21, 2016, 12:24 AM

Apr 2016

That's after working for the company that sold the purge software that cost Al Gore the election. And then her husband was one of Bush's lawyers that fought the recount in.

Shady third way poliitics are really rearing their ugly head....

oasis

(49,388 posts)

8. Bernie never bothered to mention Tant as he minimized "the importance

Reply to think (Reply #4)

Thu Apr 21, 2016, 12:38 AM

Apr 2016

of a core constituency of the Party". Tant's past affiliation is an issue that can be taken up on another day.

think

(11,641 posts)

9. SENATE CANDIDATE PAM KEITH SOUNDS OFF ON “PATERNALISTIC” FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADERSHIP

Reply to oasis (Reply #8)

Thu Apr 21, 2016, 12:48 AM

Apr 2016

SENATE CANDIDATE PAM KEITH SOUNDS OFF ON “PATERNALISTIC” FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADERSHIP

~Snip~

Among those criticizing it is Pam Keith, a 46-year-old black attorney who previous served in the U.S. Navy and has lived in Palm Beach County for the past four years. She’s also a candidate for the Democratic nomination of Senate next year, but is a decided underdog in the early going in that contest. Jupiter Congressman Patrick Murphy entered the contest in March and has been fundraising heavily since then. Congressman Alan Grayson has been teasing the political establishment for months that he’ll join Murphy, but has yet to do so.

~Snip~

When asked for an example to back up those charges, she says that the party’s stance on protecting voting rights fits the bill. Currently, she claims, party leaders are actively working “to make sure the voters don’t who the candidates are,” a dichotomy she labels “inconsistent”.

“When you put out press releases, and you continue to make it sound like there’s only one candidate in the race, that is that sort of paternalistic kind of thinking,” she says.

When asked if she believes the Florida Democratic Party led by Chair Allison Tant is rallying around Murphy for the Senate nomination now, Keith said,”That’s beyond evident.”...

Read more:
http://floridapolitics.com/archives/185205-pam-keith-sounds-off-on-paternalistic-florida-democratic-party-leadership

napi21

(45,806 posts)

3. Well, they can complain if they choose to, but Bernie's was right! I live in Ga.

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Thu Apr 21, 2016, 12:23 AM

Apr 2016

and even though I always vote for the Dem candidate, very, very few ever win here. Even 2 years ago when Jimmy Carter's grandson Jason ran against Nathan Deal, and we all had high hopes that he would win because so many people loved his grandfather when He was Governor of Ga, the damn Rethugs voted in one of their own. Dems in Georgia, with the possible exception of Atlanta (and I'm not even sure about there), are sooo outnumbered by Rethugs I honestly don't think we have a chance to replace ANY of the Pubs with a Dem in my lifetime!

Even though I feel that was, I still vote in EVERY election. I've even wrote messages to the Dem Party in Ga. explaining my disgust that they rarely even RUN a Dem. against an incumbent Rethug in County and local races. Even some Reps in Washington are given an unopposed free ride.

IMO, they have no right to condemn Bernie for what he said. At least he TRIED to get some votes here. I'm actually surprised Hillary got as many as she did.

haikugal

(6,476 posts)

6. Thank you for this post. It's good to hear. nt

Reply to napi21 (Reply #3)

Thu Apr 21, 2016, 12:30 AM

Apr 2016

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