President
Bernie: The good men and women of 538 have, as they are wont to do, run some numbers, and they’re good for Bernie Sanders. The man who was once asked to leave a commune because he wouldn’t shut up about the revolution is leading the vanguard of the proletariat to victory in New Hampshire in 68% of Nate Silver’s scenarios. The buzz since Iowa has been mostly about Mayor Pete’s rise, but Sanders is still in the driver’s seat in the nation’s first primary.
Bernie-Continued: It isn’t just 538 that thinks Sanders is doing well. James Carville agrees, and it downright scares him. In this interview with Vox, Carville talks about how he thinks that the Democratic Party is going insane with factionalism. When pushed, though, he seems to be mostly concerned with the rising fortunes of a certain son of Brooklyn. This mirrors what John Kerry was caught saying on the phone the other day (though this time it’s in Carville’s style of freakout instead of Kerry’s style of delusions of grandeur). Rightly or wrongly, the party establishment really does seem to view Sanders as dangerous.
Biden: Joe Biden is panicking, or at least his people are. The Biden campaign is shifting resources from South Carolina to Nevada. That means that they think that even though they’re still winning in South Carolina, losing Nevada could cause the whole house of cards to tumble, and they’d lose the First in the South primary and have to drop out of the race. Biden can still recover, but if he really does come in fourth in New Hampshire, Nevada is going to be tough for him.
Biden-Continued: Uncle Joe isn’t just moving money around. He’s also attacking the man who has usurped most of his lane (at least among white voters). Pete Buttigieg has surged and given ‘electability Democrats’ another viable option. Biden can’t have that, so he’s attacked Pete with this somewhat bizarre ad. This is a Hail Mary, and could easily backfire.
Klobuchar: Well, another fallen candidate has endorsed someone who’s still in the race. This one is a bit underwhelming, though, as former Rep. Joes Sestak (D) has endorsed Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D). Who wants to bet that Sestak has some delusion about Klobuchar winning the nomination and then selecting him as her running mate?
Nevada: ‘It’s not an app! We swear!’ The Nevada Democratic Party has replaced the app that caused last week’s shitshow in Iowa with an iPad-based ‘tool’ to help precinct captains report results for the nation’s next caucus. It’s highly unlikely that two apps in a row will fail, but why can’t they just play it safe and use paper and phonebanks?
NeverTrump: The ever-desperate NeverTrump rump in the GOP has now abandoned backing Trump’s rivals in the Republican primary and switched to supporting the more electable Democrats in their primary. Well, now at least we’re clear on which side people really are.
Philly: Despite the efforts of generations of federal prosecutors, Father Time, and even a bit of gentrification, the Philadelphia Democratic machine is somehow still alive and stealing. However, for several cycles they’ve struggled to come up with ‘street money’ for Election Day turnout. Presidential campaigns have been more miserly than they were in the past, and they’ve had to fill the gaps themselves. Now it seems that they’ve managed to expand their efforts at fundraising and build an even bigger turnout effort. Never change, Philly. Never change.
Steyer: What is Tom Steyer’s strategy? At the moment, it would seem to be making friends with Bernie Sanders in the hopes that Sanders flames out and endorses him. That likely won’t happen, though. Sanders and his forces are so committed to the revolution that they want to get every last delegate they can to the convention, even if Bernie himself can’t win. That way, they can influence the platform. Bernie only leaves this race in Milwaukee or in a body bag. Someone should tell Tom Steyer that.
Walsh: After failing to get a single delegate in Iowa, former Rep. Joe Walsh (R) has ended his (very) long shot presidential bid to oust Trump in the Republican primary. All five of his supporters are reportedly heartbroken…..