Nevada by the Numbers & Why -- PolitiFact & Much More

This is a complete update from 4 days ago. It provides a much stronger case for a new (improved) petition (apologies and thank-yous to those who already signed).

May 21, 2016. Bernie has changed his game. In the past, he’s played the “poor little  guy” card for sympathy. But in Nevada he used it to induce a near riot. A volunteer party chairwoman, employed at a modest local restaurant, was pilloried, as a vicious 1% establishment elitist, with shouted obscenities and implicit threats of violence.

Remarkably, Sanders has not disowned any of this behavior or even acknowledged that it took place. Instead, he has doubled down on the misinformation that caused the damage. PolitiFact rates his campaign’s description of events as completely false. In reality:

♦ The final outcome was fair and no rules were changed. ♦ Bernie had nowhere near the votes to change the rules. ♦ The Credentialing Committee was fairly composed: Sanders/Clinton. ♦ He lost only 2 delegates to disqualification. ♦ Bernie and Jeff misled his followers, and he’s still doing so.

Let’s take a close look to see what’s going on and what can be done about it. (Listen to voicemails on zFacts. Sign the MoveOn Petition.)

The Final Outcome Was Fair

As this table shows, the final, May 14 results are exactly what you would expect (and what the press expected in February—see USA Today), given Clinton’s popular-vote victory.

 

The Nevada Primary Outcome	Clinton	Sanders
Feb. 20	Popular Vote:	53%	47%
Feb. 20	Local Delegates:	13	10
May 14	At-large Delegates:	4	3
May 14	Official Delegates:	3	2
May 14	Total Pledged Delegates:	20	15

Back on February 20, Clinton won 13 district delegates (to the July national convention) and Sanders won 10. That left Seven at-large delegates and five “Official” delegates to fight over at the May 14 State convention. (Wash Po)

But, a huge chunk of Clinton’s delegates didn’t show up at the April 2 county conventions where Bernie won extra delegates for the May 14 state convention. But then 460 of Sander’s delegates didn’t show up on May 14, so in the end, she got what was originally expected and proportional.

Bernie’s Two False Charges of “Fraud” 

1.  64 of his 2,124 delegates to the state convention were unfairly disqualified. 2.  His people were cheated out of last-minute amendments to the rules.

1. Disqualified.  The Credentialing Committee had five Clinton people and five Sanders people and two equal co-chairs, one from each camp. They unanimously agreed on the rules for qualifying delegates.

Initially the Committee disqualified 64 Sanders delegates and 8 Clinton delegates. Of Sanders’ 64, only eight attempted to register at the convention, and six of those were seated. So only two Sanders delegates were actually turned away. Disqualifications were for failure to register as a Democrat by May 1 (a month after the Feb Primary).

 

May 14, NV State Convention	Clinton	Sanders
Delegate slots	1,722	2,124
No shows, but eligible	−19	−404
No shows, but ineligible	−8	−56
Showed up, but ineligible	−0	−2
Total qualified & seated	1,695	1,662

2. Amendments to the Rules.  You can read this on page 4 of the convention rules: “e. Motions to amend the Convention Agenda, the Temporary Convention Rules, or the Convention Rules shall only be adopted upon a two-thirds (2/3) vote of all delegates.” That’s plenty clear and Sanders’ team knew these rules.

Moreover, any amendment must be proposed before the temporary rules are adopted. None of the three Sanders supporters who spoke at that time made a motion to amend the rules. But their mistake didn’t matter. They needed a 2/3 (67%) majority and had less than 50%.

Why Were Bernie’s Delegates so Upset?

Bernie’s delegates were misinformed by his team, which is still not mentioning the no-show problem or that there was a 2/3 requirement for changing the rules. At the convention, his national staff wrote an inflammatory and misleading “Minority Report” and got it read to the convention.

And the misinformation continues. Bernie’s first complaint in his public statement three days later was:

BS1: The chair of the convention announced that the convention rules passed on voice vote, when the vote was a clear no-vote. At the very least, the Chair should have allowed for a headcount.

Bullshit. In fact, the whole reason Bernie is upset is because Clinton had more delegates eligible to vote (see BS2). So he knows there could not have been more voices on his (no) side. (What he “clearly” heard was likely recorded from his “no” side of the room.)

And what is the point of demanding (“at the very least”) a count of 3,300 agitated heads, when you know there are more Hillary supporters. That would take hours and simply cause more contention about who’s head was not counted. His next point was equally screwball:

BS2: The chair allowed its Credentials Committee to en mass rule that 64 delegates were ineligible without offering an opportunity for 58 of them to be heard.

The evenly-structured Committee checked each case individually, not “en mass.” And you cannot “offer an opportunity” to those who don’t show up. Not one “falsely-ineligible” person has been named or presented to the press (many reporters were present).

The clear intention is to make his supporters angry at the Democratic party.

Share this: Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Email What Happened: 1,000+ phone calls and texts

Bernie’s strategy worked. His supporters were deceived and got Berned up. PolitiFact was there and reported that many of them “rushed the dais and started screaming insults and obscenities directly at the volunteer chairwoman, Roberta Lange.” They managed to post Lange’s cell phone # on the web, and she received over 1,000 calls and texts. One said “Hey bitch. … We know where you live. … Where your kids go to school/grandkids. … Prepare for hell. Calls won’t stop.” And listen to these:

Sorry, you will have to go here if you want to hear the voiceMails.

Most Sanders’ Supporters Are Nicer than Sanders

Anna Merlan, an openly pro-Bernie reporter was upset upon finding that:

“In these voicemails, she is called a cunt and a bitch, and many callers express hopes that she’s seriously harmed. ‘Praying to god someone shoots you in the FACE,’ one says, ‘and blows your democracy-stealing head off!’ Another called for her to be ‘hung in a public execution.’

So Anna decided to call some who had left messages. One seemed sad and said “I wouldn’t have done it had I not been hyped up and angry.” Another said his purpose was to represent angry people, not to express his own views. These people have been manipulated.

What Is the Danger?

Bernie has just signaled the Democratic party that he’s willing to ruin the Party’s chance at the White House. And every right-wing news source is fanning the flames of his supporters’ hatred.

This threat will not get him the nomination. People now realize that if he is the nominee, the “political revolution” in the Democratic party will look more like the Chinese cultural revolution. People like Roberta Lange, who have given so much to a party they believe in, will not hand it over to someone who will incite mobs to attack them.

Bernie has won only 42% of the popular vote—but been given 46% of the elected delegates. “The system” has treated him more than fairly. But he is a sore loser, and if he thinks his sabotage is working, it will continue.

Still Some Hope: A Massive MoveOn Petition

Bernie doesn’t apologize in public—ever. But, given a firm push, he just might repudiate specific behavior by the worst of his followers. This would cause such followers to change their ways or leave (either is fine). And that would spoil Bernie’s hate-the-Democrats game.

Here’s how repudiations works. In 2008, a John McCain supporter called on the media to “peel the bark off Barack Hussein Obama.” Within hours, McCain said “I absolutely repudiate such comments.” Later that day, the offender said “I’ve had it with McCain,” and stopped supporting him. (Bernie’s vague statements that violence is bad, count for nothing.)

The press would be fascinated by a petition from MoveOn (Bernie’s basecamp) — If we get the signatures.

I’ve just created a MoveOn Petition (you don’t need to be a member to sign). It is modest in order to attract the broadest audience. It asks Bernie to do something he should do automatically, but that he finds nearly impossible. Doing this will be painful enough to get him to change — for his own good and ours.

Candidates must, at a minimum, publicly and explicitly repudiate any supporters who engage in or suggest violence, or engage in physical disruption or obscene insults.

Click here and see what other signers are saying: pac.petitions.moveon.org/.... It’s time to stand up for ourselves, and protect the Democratic convention. Thanks for any sharing, tweeting, signing, or passing on of the petition. These are the keys to success.

—Steve