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jeff weaver
Biden, DNC Urged to Make Diverse Swing State--Not South Carolina--First Primary Contest
"Our first priority must be to select states early in the process that help produce the strongest Democratic nominee consistent with our working-class values and agenda," says a new petition from More Perfect Union.
Dec 08, 2022
Progressive criticism of President Joe Biden's move to make South Carolina the first-in-the-nation Democratic presidential primary was given a boost Wednesday when More Perfect Union launched a petition imploring the Democratic National Committee to pick a diverse swing state instead.
"If we really want to pick a diverse primary electorate, look to South Carolina's neighbor to the north--an actual battleground state."
Biden's proposal to raise South Carolina to the first spot on the party's presidential primary calendar was approved by the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee last Friday but is still months away from receiving a green light from the entire panel. If Biden's plan is rubber-stamped by the full DNC, voters in New Hampshire--currently home to the nation's first primary contest following the Iowa caucuses--would be second in line, casting ballots on the same day as their counterparts in Nevada.
In its petition, More Perfect Union applauded other changes sought by Biden, including his proposed elevation of Nevada, Georgia, and Michigan--three general election battleground states that were among the 10 closest races in his 2020 victory over then-President Donald Trump.
The biggest flaw in the president's plan is that he "chose South Carolina to go first and ahead of all those battleground states," said the progressive media outlet. "Biden's proposal to elevate South Carolina to the front gives it incredible power to shape the race."
Doing so would be problematic, More Perfect Union contended, because:
South Carolina is not a battleground state: Donald Trump carried it by double digits in 2020. It is way more ideologically and culturally conservative than the Democratic Party and the rest of the nation. It's also one of the fiercest anti-union, anti-labor states in the country. In fact, South Carolina is already first in the nation with the terrible distinction of being the lowest-density union state in America.
If Democrats are serious about winning the working-class vote, South Carolina isn't the state to get it done.
While Biden has portrayed his preferred reshuffling of the Democratic Party's presidential primary calendar as an attempt to foreground voters of color, the progressive advocacy group RootsAction recently characterized the president's move as "an inappropriate, self-serving intervention dressed up in noble rhetoric."
Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) 2016 presidential campaign manager Jeff Weaver, meanwhile, warned Thursday in The Nation that "the schedule put forward by the White House empirically and dramatically diminishes the influence of Latinos on the Democratic presidential nominating process."
"In doing so, this proposed gerrymander will give Republicans more fodder for convincing Latino voters that the Democratic Party is not a home for them," Weaver argued. "Given the erosion of Democratic Party support among the fastest-growing segment of the American population, that's a problem."
Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign manager and current adviser Faiz Shakir--the founder of More Perfect Union and a DNC delegate--has vowed to reject Biden's effort to promote South Carolina, which he sees as a transparent attempt by the White House to reward Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) for his influential endorsement in the last presidential contest.
While Shakir agrees that Iowa should no longer go first, he argued in a New York Timesopinion piece published Monday that pushing South Carolina, a GOP stronghold, to the front of the line "would be comical if it weren't tragic."
"We all know why South Carolina got the nod," wrote Shakir. "President Biden, Rep. Jim Clyburn, and many of his top supporters were buoyed by their campaign's comeback in February 2020 when the state delivered Mr. Biden his first victory of the season--and a big one at that."
"The media attention from that victory, and the consolidation of the Democratic field that it yielded, helped catapult him to winning a majority of the following Super Tuesday states," Shakir continued. "And when Covid spread through the nation shortly after, the rest of the primary contests were effectively quarantined, and Mr. Biden iced his victory. None of that story is a reason to put South Carolina first, however."
Soon after the piece was published, DNC Chair Jamie Harrison appeared to baselessly accuse Shakir of disrespecting Black voters. In an ensuing interview with Politico, Shakir said that "it's a very insulting approach to suggest that somehow we don't care about Black voters because we think South Carolina shouldn't go first."
In his essay, Shakir wrote that "if we really want to pick a diverse primary electorate, look to South Carolina's neighbor to the north--an actual battleground state."
More Perfect Union's petition also advocates for prioritizing racially diverse swing states: "As one of the strongest voting blocks in the Democratic coalition, it is essential Black voters get their say early and often throughout the nominating process. Yet Georgia has significantly more Black voters than South Carolina. So do Florida and North Carolina, two more battleground states. In fact, 14 states have larger Black populations than South Carolina."
"Our first priority must be to select states early in the process that help produce the strongest Democratic nominee consistent with our working-class values and agenda," says the petition. "South Carolina isn't even trending in any way toward the Democratic Party."
"Just two years ago, Jaime Harrison--now the chair of the Democratic National Committee--spent the eye-popping sum of $130 million to try to defeat [Republican] Sen. Lindsey Graham. After out-raising and outspending Mr. Graham, Mr. Harrison still lost the 2020 Senate race decisively," the petition adds. "Let's not compel all other Democratic campaigns to waste more money that could be better spent building coalitions in states Democrats need to win."
Adolph Reed Jr., professor emeritus of political science at the University of Pennsylvania and an organizer with the Debs-Jones-Douglass Institute's Medicare for All campaign in South Carolina, told Common Dreams that the notion that the South Carolina primary serves as corporate Democrats' so-called "firewall" has "only worked that way because Democratic elites have interpreted it that way when it's been in their interest to do so and because the news media have colluded with them in that view."
"It's just as important to note that South Carolina is a state no Democrat is going to win in November," said Reed, "and that Black voters in South Carolina are not identical to Black voters in Michigan, Illinois, or New York, that there's no such thing as 'the Black vote,' and that South Carolina Black voters' inclinations are shaped significantly by political dynamics within the state as are those of those voters in other states."
Shakir, for his part, called it a "special honor" to go first. "The state chosen for the task is rewarded in myriad ways. Iowa's economy has benefited greatly over the years from the high level of campaign spending and travel. Aware of the process' economic power, many of our Democratic campaigns employed union-friendly hotels, restaurants, and vendors when we were active in Iowa. Good luck finding that in South Carolina."
\u201cSouth Carolina has the lowest unionization rate in the country. Democrats haven\u2019t won it in a presidential election since 1976. Actually shameful how much priority personal favors take over party wellbeing under Biden, who\u2019s willing to let Clyburn run this thing into the ground.\u201d— Alex Sammon (@Alex Sammon) 1670016701
As RootsAction's Don't Run Joe campaign--an effort to dissuade the incumbent from seeking reelection in 2024--noted last week in a statement:
Biden received a mere 8% of the vote in the 2020 Democratic primary in New Hampshire, finishing fifth. Now he wants to dislodge New Hampshire from its long-standing first-in-the-nation primary role. On the other hand, Biden was the big winner of the South Carolina primary in 2020. Now he wants that state to go first.
Biden's decision to intrude into the Democratic National Committee's painstaking process for setting the 2024 presidential primary schedule appears to be a sign of anxiety in the White House about potential obstacles to his winning renomination. The president has indicated repeatedly that he plans to run again, so how ethical would it be for the DNC to allow a contestant to determine key rules of the game before the race begins?
South Carolina is a state that Biden obviously sees as vital to a renomination bid, but--unlike all other states under consideration for early primaries--it is not a battleground state. Everyone knows that the Democratic ticket will not win the deep-red state of South Carolina in 2024. Georgia, on the other hand, is one of the most important battleground states, and is more racially diverse than South Carolina. If Biden's proposal to supplant the New Hampshire primary as first-in-the-nation were truly about diversity and not about improving his own prospects for renomination, he would be promoting a state other than South Carolina to be first.
The group called on Biden to stop trying "to manipulate the Democratic primary schedule for his own narrow political purposes."
That message is echoed in More Perfect Union's petition, which tells Biden and the DNC: "Don't make South Carolina the first state to vote in the 2024 Democratic primary. Make diverse, battleground states that Democrats need to win in the general election, like Georgia, Nevada, and Michigan, first instead."
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'The Revolution Has Begun': After Super Tuesday Wins, Sanders Looks Ahead
'We are going to take our fight for economic justice, for social justice, for environmental sanity, for a world of peace' to all 50 states, says Sanders
Mar 02, 2016
Having notched Super Tuesday victories in Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Vermont, the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign says it's "going all the way to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia and beyond."
The results in the 11 states that voted on March 1, seven of which went to Hillary Clinton, widened the former secretary of state's delegate lead against Sanders and reinforced her support among minority voters. Some even suggested that Clinton's solid Super Tuesday performance would increase pressure on Sanders to drop out of the race.
But at a rally Tuesday night with more than 4,000 supporters in his home state of Vermont--where he won resoundingly with 86 percent of the vote--and in a statement Wednesday morning, Sanders stressed his determination to carry his message to voters in all 50 states.
"At the end of tonight, 15 states will have voted, 35 states remain," he told the crowd in Burlington, where he once served as mayor. "And let me assure you, we are going to take our fight for economic justice, social justice, environmental sanity, and a world of peace to every one of those states."
"People should not underestimate us," Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver added in an email to supporters late Tuesday night.
"By winning four states last night, including the general election swing state of Colorado, and many delegates, Bernie Sanders has shown that this campaign to take on a rigged political system and economy is gaining momentum," declared Ilya Sheyman, executive director of MoveOn.org Political Action. "There are still more than forty primaries and caucuses to go and MoveOn members are excited to continue to mobilize to support Bernie and turn out the progressive vote. Your zip code should not determine if your primary vote matters or not."
Meanwhile, even Clinton's narrow victory in Massachusetts was painted as a partial win for Sanders.
Clinton "was made a better candidate thanks to Bernie Sanders engaging her in a race to the top on popular economic populism issues like debt-free college, expanding Social Security, and jailing Wall Street bankers who break the law," said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), in a statement Wednesday.
There's no denying that Sanders faces an uphill climb. "Democrats award delegates proportionally, which means Sanders would need to win by big margins in the remaining states to catch up," Harry Enten wrote at FiveThirtyEight.
Still, John Nichols wrote at The Nation on Wednesday, "Sanders won more states from Clinton in the Democratic contests on Super Tuesday than the combined efforts of Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio won from Donald Trump in the far more intensely covered Republican contest."
"That," he continued, "to borrow a phrase from Sanders, was 'pretty good'--especially because the Super Tuesday map was always seen as favoring Clinton."
Nichols continued:
If he hopes to level things out, Sanders must broaden his appeal to African-American and Latino voters, who will be a factor in many of the states where he must win in the weeks to come. He must also recognize that Clinton's pivot to a focus on fighting Trump is an example of not just smart but necessary, politics. Democratic primary and caucus voters want to hear about issues - especially the economic-and-social justice issues that have animated the Sanders campaign -- but they also want to be reassured that their party's nominee will have a message and a strategy that is sufficient to see off Donald Trump. Right now, Clinton is doing a very good job of providing that assurance - and it is helping her to have some very super Tuesdays.
To that very end, top Sanders strategists reportedly held a press briefing Wednesday morning highlighting Sanders' electability against Trump.
\u201cTop @BernieSanders strategists holding press conference, arguing Sanders is strongest to take on @realDonaldTrump, say "Integrity" key.\u201d— Jeff Zeleny (@Jeff Zeleny) 1456928291
"The political revolution has begun," Sanders himself said Wednesday. "I look forward to a contest this fall between democracy and demagoguery, between ordinary Americans and the oligarchs. I look forward to the chance for our people-powered campaign to show Donald Trump that the United States of America belongs to all of us and not just billionaire bullies."
The Democrats will face off in two debates over the next 10 days, including one Sunday in Flint, Michigan. Earlier this year, Sanders called on Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to resign for his administration's failure to deal with a lead-poisoning crisis that has sickened thousands of children in that city.
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Thumb on the Scale? DNC Backs Off Bernie But Questions of Neutrality Linger
Data breach controversy erupts as Democratic candidates prepare for the third primary debate Saturday night
Dec 19, 2015
Though the Democratic National Committee (DNC) reversed its controversial decision late Friday to prevent the Bernie Sanders campaign from accessing important voter information, the skirmish raised questions about the organization's neutrality in the presidential contest.
Hours after the Sanders campaign filed (pdf) a lawsuit against the party, chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fl.) issued a statement saying that the DNC will restore campaign access to the voter file. At the same time, the group continues to investigate the alleged data breach.
"Clearly, they were very concerned about their prospects in court," said Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver. The suit charges that the campaign would suffer "sustaining irreparable injury and financial losses" exceeding $600,000 each day if unable to retrieve essential voter information.
Further, organizers argue that the security lapse was the DNC's fault. "Now what we need to restore confidence in the DNC's ability to secure data is an independent audit that encompasses the DNC's record this entire campaign," Weaver added. "Transparency at the DNC is essential. We trust they have nothing to hide."
After the DNC leaked the news to the press, the national party was barraged with messages from supporters of Sanders accusing the group of placing "its thumb on the scales in support of Hillary Clinton's campaign," as Weaver wrote in a campaign email.
Over 214,800 people signed an online petition to the DNC circulated by Sanders' campaign. MoveOn.org collected another 250,000 signatures, while Democracy for America, which announced it was endorsing the Vermont Senator's presidential bid just Thursday, collected 100,000.
\u201cW/out evidence that his hierarchy knew about data-poaching, harsh penalty v. @BernieSanders looks like @DNC is putting finger on scale.\u201d— David Axelrod (@David Axelrod) 1450481235
DFA executive director Charles Chamberlain issued a strong statement against the DNC, saying its "decision to attack the campaign that figured out the problem, rather than go after the vendor that made the mistake, is profoundly damaging to the party's Democratic process."
Sanders' campaign maintains that the employee accused of penetrating the confidential files gathered by Hillary Clinton's rival campaign was trying to understand the extent of the software error.
Further, Chamberlain alluded to the mounting critique of the national party, saying it must restore equity "before the committee does even more to bring its neutrality in the race for President into question."
The controversy erupted as Democratic candidates geared up for their third debate, which will be held in New Hampshire on Saturday evening and aired on ABC News. The DNC has also faced criticism over the number and timing of the primary debates, including this latest one, which is expected to have a low viewer turnout due to its scheduling on Saturday before Christmas. Critics argue that this is a boost to frontrunner Clinton.
Indeed, Weaver also said it was "disconcerting" that the move to limit the campaign's actions came on the same day it "reached two million individual contributions and received two of our most prominent endorsements."
Sanders' campaign and supporters will comment on the debate live under the hashtag #DebateWithBernie.
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