A PROGRESSIVE ONE AND A WALL ST. ONE,
THE LATTER SHOULD JOIN WITH DISAFFECTED REPUBLICANS
TO FORM THEIR OWN PARTY OF THE 1%
Just plain wrong’: DNC blistered for letting billionaire Mike Bloomberg onto the debate stage
January 31, 2020 By Bob Brigham
THIS IS WHAT A LABOR FAKIR LOOKS LIKE
The Democratic National Committee was blasted online on Friday after changing the rules for 2020 debates in a manner that could allow billionaire Michael Bloomberg to essentially buy his way onto the stage.
“The Democratic National Committee is drastically revising its criteria to participate in primary debates after New Hampshire, doubling the polling threshold and eliminating the individual donor requirement, which could pave the way for former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg to make the stage beginning in mid-February,” Politico reported Friday.
“The new criteria eliminate the individual-donor threshold, which was used for the first eight debates, including next week’s debate in New Hampshire. Bloomberg, the self-funding billionaire, has refused to take donations from other individuals, which has thus far precluded his participation in any of the debates since he joined the race late last year,” Politico explained.
The decision was harshly criticized by current and former candidates.
Let’s make one thing clear: @TheDemocrats decision to change the rules now to accommodate Mike Bloomberg and not changing them in the past to ensure a more diverse debate stage is just plain wrong.https://t.co/BoCVpahWpx
— Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) January 31, 2020
Billionaire Bloomberg just bought the @DNC. #PayToPlay #StandWithTulsi
— Tulsi Gabbard
Just plain wrong’: DNC blistered for letting billionaire Mike Bloomberg onto the debate stage
January 31, 2020 By Bob Brigham
THIS IS WHAT A LABOR FAKIR LOOKS LIKE
The Democratic National Committee was blasted online on Friday after changing the rules for 2020 debates in a manner that could allow billionaire Michael Bloomberg to essentially buy his way onto the stage.
“The Democratic National Committee is drastically revising its criteria to participate in primary debates after New Hampshire, doubling the polling threshold and eliminating the individual donor requirement, which could pave the way for former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg to make the stage beginning in mid-February,” Politico reported Friday.
“The new criteria eliminate the individual-donor threshold, which was used for the first eight debates, including next week’s debate in New Hampshire. Bloomberg, the self-funding billionaire, has refused to take donations from other individuals, which has thus far precluded his participation in any of the debates since he joined the race late last year,” Politico explained.
The decision was harshly criticized by current and former candidates.
Let’s make one thing clear: @TheDemocrats decision to change the rules now to accommodate Mike Bloomberg and not changing them in the past to ensure a more diverse debate stage is just plain wrong.https://t.co/BoCVpahWpx
— Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) January 31, 2020
Billionaire Bloomberg just bought the @DNC. #PayToPlay #StandWithTulsi
— Tulsi Gabbard
(@TulsiGabbard) January 31, 2020
Democrats should not be connecting the ability to be heard to money. Period.
DNC did that in setting debate requirements & in removing them. You link money & politics, process gets corrupted. Dems should be rejecting money’s influence, not letting it guide our primary.
— Steve Bullock (@GovernorBullock) January 31, 2020
Here’s what others were saying:
Mike Gravel qualified for the Democratic debate with a grassroots surge that gave him 67,000 donors. The DNC shut him out.
Mike Bloomberg spent $180 million on a massive ad campaign, donated $250,000 to the DNC, and has exactly 1 donor. The DNC let him debate.
Fuck the DNC.
— The Gravel Institute (@GravelInstitute) January 31, 2020
DNC really waited for the Black and Brown candidates to drop out and then changed up the rules so a billionaire could stop and frisk his way to the debate stage.
You expect to see it. https://t.co/82T30qhy8p
— blackness everdeen
Democrats should not be connecting the ability to be heard to money. Period.
DNC did that in setting debate requirements & in removing them. You link money & politics, process gets corrupted. Dems should be rejecting money’s influence, not letting it guide our primary.
— Steve Bullock (@GovernorBullock) January 31, 2020
Here’s what others were saying:
Mike Gravel qualified for the Democratic debate with a grassroots surge that gave him 67,000 donors. The DNC shut him out.
Mike Bloomberg spent $180 million on a massive ad campaign, donated $250,000 to the DNC, and has exactly 1 donor. The DNC let him debate.
Fuck the DNC.
— The Gravel Institute (@GravelInstitute) January 31, 2020
DNC really waited for the Black and Brown candidates to drop out and then changed up the rules so a billionaire could stop and frisk his way to the debate stage.
You expect to see it. https://t.co/82T30qhy8p
— blackness everdeen
(@traceyecorder) January 31, 2020
Fewer things better encapsulate just how beholden to big money the @DNC is than rewriting the rules to let billionaire Michael Bloomberg buy his way onto the debate stage.
The Democratic establishment does not care about you and will sell you out in a heartbeat.
— jordan (@JordanUhl) January 31, 2020
Fuck Tom Perez and fuck Mike Bloomberg. That's it. That's the tweet.https://t.co/1bBoZlTlQ0
Fewer things better encapsulate just how beholden to big money the @DNC is than rewriting the rules to let billionaire Michael Bloomberg buy his way onto the debate stage.
The Democratic establishment does not care about you and will sell you out in a heartbeat.
— jordan (@JordanUhl) January 31, 2020
Fuck Tom Perez and fuck Mike Bloomberg. That's it. That's the tweet.https://t.co/1bBoZlTlQ0
Darren Wong (@darrenmwong) January 31, 2020
1. DNC members didn’t vote on this, or any of the debate rules.
2. Every candidate and every donor who gave to that candidate who played by the rules (to date) should voice outrage at Tom Perez.
3. Perez will never be Governor of MD by doing this https://t.co/p0HEXmoukR
— Nomiki Konst (@NomikiKonst) January 31, 2020
If you look at the new DNC debate thresholds as anything other than "Get Andrew Yang off stage and put Mike Bloomberg on," Then you are high.
— Brad Bauman (@bradbaumn) January 31, 2020
EVEN A JANEY CANUCK CAN SEE THE CRIME THIS IS
DNC changes debate rules so Bloomberg can buy his way in, that's how scared they are of #Bernie2020. Also: Bloomberg's bump has has zero to do with popular support – the same thing would happen to a russet potato with $150-million of TV ads behinds it. https://t.co/9MMHtnFFbf
— Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) January 31, 2020
Make no mistake about it: the @DNC changing its debates rules to open the door for @MikeBloomberg is Dem elite waving white flag on @JoeBiden. They see the writing on the wall and are now moving beyond hedging their bets to propping up Bloomberg https://t.co/OdzXn6KTUj
— Jordan (@JordanChariton) January 31, 2020
Nothing to see here… just Bloomberg buying the DNC… everyone move along.https://t.co/JKRqSE9s4H
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) January 31, 2020
No wonder @TomPerez was thinking abt his exit pay package: this is “$ buys access” Nice job—elbow out ppl of color/ppl w ideas but give a certain billionaire a ticket in. #dnc https://t.co/h7URt7U7Nk
— Jonathan Tasini (@jonathantasini) January 31, 2020
I thought the rules were set?!?! That is what they told us when we demanded a climate debate. https://t.co/l5FV6Z60te
— Brianna Westbrook (@BWestbrookAZ8) January 31, 2020
Bloomberg should NOT be on the debate stage. It's the DNC, not the DLC. The debate stage should only feature characters that people actually want. Elections should not be pay to win.
— Ace Watkins (@GamerPres2020) January 31, 2020
So now that Bernie Sanders is the frontrunner, the DNC is changing its debate rules mid-primary, eliminating the small donor threshold to let Bloomberg buy his way onto the stage.
Bloomberg’s surrogates are openly admitting he’s running as a Sanders spoiler.
Here we go again. https://t.co/WqGTuQijKo
— Emma Vigeland (@EmmaVigeland) January 31, 2020
DNC: climate debate? Nah
Bloomberg debate? Yah https://t.co/R7H7xmSq3t
— Jamal Raad (@jamalraad) January 31, 2020
this is an extremely bad call by the dnc imo, esp when this kind of bar kept cory booker and julian castro out of debates https://t.co/59lB7Kibxc
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) January 31, 2020
Congratulations to the DNC & its chair, Tom Perez, for altering the rules to let the world's 8th-richest person who spent $200 million of his own money on the election in 5 weeks & just happens to be big DNC donor onto the debate stage. https://t.co/7lk6Bk1l5W
— Alex Kotch (@alexkotch) January 31, 2020
1. DNC members didn’t vote on this, or any of the debate rules.
2. Every candidate and every donor who gave to that candidate who played by the rules (to date) should voice outrage at Tom Perez.
3. Perez will never be Governor of MD by doing this https://t.co/p0HEXmoukR
— Nomiki Konst (@NomikiKonst) January 31, 2020
If you look at the new DNC debate thresholds as anything other than "Get Andrew Yang off stage and put Mike Bloomberg on," Then you are high.
— Brad Bauman (@bradbaumn) January 31, 2020
EVEN A JANEY CANUCK CAN SEE THE CRIME THIS IS
DNC changes debate rules so Bloomberg can buy his way in, that's how scared they are of #Bernie2020. Also: Bloomberg's bump has has zero to do with popular support – the same thing would happen to a russet potato with $150-million of TV ads behinds it. https://t.co/9MMHtnFFbf
— Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) January 31, 2020
Make no mistake about it: the @DNC changing its debates rules to open the door for @MikeBloomberg is Dem elite waving white flag on @JoeBiden. They see the writing on the wall and are now moving beyond hedging their bets to propping up Bloomberg https://t.co/OdzXn6KTUj
— Jordan (@JordanChariton) January 31, 2020
Nothing to see here… just Bloomberg buying the DNC… everyone move along.https://t.co/JKRqSE9s4H
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) January 31, 2020
No wonder @TomPerez was thinking abt his exit pay package: this is “$ buys access” Nice job—elbow out ppl of color/ppl w ideas but give a certain billionaire a ticket in. #dnc https://t.co/h7URt7U7Nk
— Jonathan Tasini (@jonathantasini) January 31, 2020
I thought the rules were set?!?! That is what they told us when we demanded a climate debate. https://t.co/l5FV6Z60te
— Brianna Westbrook (@BWestbrookAZ8) January 31, 2020
Bloomberg should NOT be on the debate stage. It's the DNC, not the DLC. The debate stage should only feature characters that people actually want. Elections should not be pay to win.
— Ace Watkins (@GamerPres2020) January 31, 2020
So now that Bernie Sanders is the frontrunner, the DNC is changing its debate rules mid-primary, eliminating the small donor threshold to let Bloomberg buy his way onto the stage.
Bloomberg’s surrogates are openly admitting he’s running as a Sanders spoiler.
Here we go again. https://t.co/WqGTuQijKo
— Emma Vigeland (@EmmaVigeland) January 31, 2020
DNC: climate debate? Nah
Bloomberg debate? Yah https://t.co/R7H7xmSq3t
— Jamal Raad (@jamalraad) January 31, 2020
this is an extremely bad call by the dnc imo, esp when this kind of bar kept cory booker and julian castro out of debates https://t.co/59lB7Kibxc
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) January 31, 2020
Congratulations to the DNC & its chair, Tom Perez, for altering the rules to let the world's 8th-richest person who spent $200 million of his own money on the election in 5 weeks & just happens to be big DNC donor onto the debate stage. https://t.co/7lk6Bk1l5W
— Alex Kotch (@alexkotch) January 31, 2020
January 31, 2020 By Common Dreams
“DNC changing the rules to benefit a billionaire.”
After debate rules were changed in favor of allowing billionaire Mike Bloomberg to join the candidates onstage vying for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination on Friday, Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign hit back, calling the decision emblematic of the corrupt political system the Vermont senator has centered his run for the White House on defeating.
“To now change the rules in the middle of the game to accommodate Mike Bloomberg, who is trying to buy his way into the Democratic nomination, is wrong,” Sanders senior adviser Jeff Weaver told Politico. “That’s the definition of a rigged system.”
New statement from Bernie Sanders senior adviser Jeff Weaver on DNC debate rules: “To now change the rules in the middle of the game to accommodate Mike Bloomberg, who is trying to buy his way into the Democratic nomination, is wrong. That’s the definition of a rigged system.”
— Holly Otterbein (@hollyotterbein) January 31, 2020
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced Friday afternoon that the criteria for making the debate stage will no longer include a requirement about individual donors—allowing Bloomberg, whose campaign is largely self-funded, to join the candidates if his polling numbers reach the new threshold.
“DNC changing the rules to benefit a billionaire,” tweeted Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir. “I much prefer Democrats being a grassroots party. And under Bernie Sanders, that’s the way it will be.”
According to Politico:
Candidates will need to earn at least 10% in four polls released from Jan. 15 to Feb. 18, or 12% in two polls conducted in Nevada or South Carolina, in order to participate in the Feb. 19 debate in Las Vegas. Any candidate who earns at least one delegate to the national convention in either the Iowa caucuses or New Hampshire primary will also qualify for the Nevada debate.
The rules change caught Democrats by surprise.
Some observers noted the timing of the change and wondered if it was part of a coordinated attack on Sanders from both the DNC and Bloomberg.
The DNC & Bloomberg ready to try & defeat Bernie!
pic.twitter.com/aHZ5OgAuVQ— Anthony Clark for Congress (@anthonyvclark20) January 31, 2020
The Intercept‘s Ryan Grim, citing Federal Elections Commission data, noted Bloomberg donated $325,000 to the DNC in November 2019.
“Totally normal system,” said Grim.
Just before jumping into the race, @MikeBloomberg gave $325,000 to the DNC, on top of the gobs he spent on ads this month. Totally normal system. pic.twitter.com/u4JDelWb7H
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) January 31, 2020
The debate rules have been a source of contention throughout the primary process, with some former hopefuls like Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro questioning the restrictions on polling and donors as prohibitive to their campaigns.
Progressive strategist Tim Tagaris wondered what could have been different if not for the qualifications.
“How much money did candidates like Julián Castro and Cory Booker have to spend chasing donor thresholds that could have been spent building organizations in early states?” said Tagaris.
Comedian and writer Jack Allison took a wry look at the changes and what they mean about the party.
“Remember when they wouldn’t even think of changing them for like Cory Booker,” Allison tweeted. “This is what we mean when we talk about the DNC cheating, obviously and out in the open.”
“Thankfully seeing Bloomberg speak can only hurt his standing,” Allison added, “but still.”
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