My son and I spent this afternoon canvassing in our neighborhood. A local Sanders supporter has a campaign operation running from his house, and the national campaign uses a web-based canvassing system to manage the process. For someone who associates clipboards with canvassing, it is a technically sophisticated operation. On the ground level, it still relies on the likes of the local supporter with blown up pictures of Bernie in his front yard.
I played significant roles in the Paul Simon FL campaign in 1987-88 and in the Tom Harkin FL campaign in 1991-92. Those operations had field offices and paid staff and candidate visits. It’s my understanding that the Sanders campaign has no field offices here, and he will make his initial forays to FL after Super Tuesday. As per today’s Miami Herald, it does have a dedicated core of volunteers utilizing technological tools.
As I recently recounted here, I go back 4 decades with following Sanders. His becoming Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee is a far greater stature than I ever would’ve seen for him when he was the mayor of city that I would’ve struggled to find on a map in the 1980’s. I didn’t take his presidential prospects seriously when he announced in 2015. When he suffered his heart attack and was eclipsed in the polls by Elizabeth Warren last fall, I had serious doubts about his prospects this time.
Even after last night’s drubbing in SC, he remains the front-runner. I agree with Kos that it currently appears that Sanders is in a 2-person race with Joe Biden. Five Thirty Eight reaches a similar conclusion. There's still a part of me that wishes that Warren had made a stronger showing, as she would’ve faced less intense animus. I respect the fact that she did more than anyone else to puncture the Bloomberg balloon. Reality is, however, that Five Thirty Eight gives her a .01% of getting nominated, and her NH showing and her current struggles in MA reinforce that perception.
If, indeed, it’s a 2 candidate race, it’s an easy choice for me between 2 candidates whom I’ve known about since Reagan’s time. My wife and I heard Biden speak at the FL Jefferson-Jackson Dinner when we were stumping for Simon in 1987. My recollection is that he was long on emotional appeals and short on specifics then. Events of the ensuing 3 decades are beyond the scope of this diary, but his handling of the Thomas hearings as Judiciary Chair in 1991 and his support of the IWR as Foreign Relations Chair in 2002 still rankle. More recently, his support for Fred Upton in a tight House race in 2018 and his bestowing of a Liberty Medal to George W. Bush in 2018 rankle even more. With all due respect to the former VP, we do NOT need the Republican Party. We sure as hell don’t need the GOP of Moscow Mitch, Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, Gym Jordan, Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh, and so many others like them. While it might be nice to see a GOP of the likes of Rockefeller, Javits, and Brooke, that GOP is as dead as those former officeholders.
I still believe in the Democratic Party of FDR’s Second Bill of Rights:
I still believe in the Democratic Party of Harry Truman’s 1948 campaign speech:
Well, I have been studying the Republican Party for over 12 years at close hand in the Capital of the United States. And by this time, I have discovered where the Republicans stand on most of the major issues.
Since they won’t tell you themselves, I am going to tell you.
They approve of the American farmer—but they are willing to help him go broke.
They stand four-square for the American home—but not for housing.
They are strong for labor—but they are stronger for restricting labor’s rights.
They favor a minimum wage—the smaller the minimum the better.
They endorse educational opportunity for all—but they won’t spend money for teachers or for schools.
They think modern medical care and hospitals are fine—for people who can afford them.
They approve of social security benefits—so much so that they took them away from almost a million people.
For better or for worse, there’s one viable candidate remaining in this race who has stood foursquare behind those core party principles for decades. I have been proud to contribute to his past campaigns. I was proud to canvass for him today. I will be proud to continue to support him in the coming weeks of this campaign.