Can the DNC hijack Elizabeth Warren to best Bernie Sanders?

That is what Bold Progressives, liberal Democrats, progressive members of Congress, Republicans for Bernie, labor union members (including the CIO-AFL), and pro-Bernie Independents have been very concerned about lately. The Democratic Party Machine has been playing hardball to marginalize Bernie Sanders, to depict him as a non-candidate (despite what polls are showing).

A new NBC/Marist poll shows that in New Hampshire, Bernie Sanders gets the support of 41 percent of Democratic voters, Hillary Clinton gets 32 percent and Vice President Joe Biden gets 16 percent. Without Biden in the race, Sanders' lead rises (49 percent for Bernie to 38 percent for Hillary).

It also appears that the "Third Way/Centrist" Democrats (the Democratic Party Machine) have an accomplice in the corporate media (excluding Fox News), who are working on behalf of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). So before we get to the Elizabeth Warren angle, let's review what's been playing out in the media.

[Editor's note: Bookmark this post when you have 1 hour of free time — because this post contains 5 inter-related videos totaling almost 45 minutes. It would take me too long to transcribe and post the full text (even with editing), and this post would have been too long to read if I had not also included the videos. But it's very important for context that these unedited videos be included to show the corporate media's angle — and how they are not just reporting "news", but are actively engaged in attempting to influence the political landscape — such as when one cable TV news host has on another cable TV news host as a "guest" on the show when discussing a particular topic, but without having any other opposing points-of-view being equally presented. This happens a lot on both left-leaning and right-leaning news shows, but then we're told this is only "commentary and opinion". Yes, the carefully scripted opinions of the corporate media.]

On July 30, 2015 MSNBC President Phil Griffin announced that The Ed Show had been cancelled in an effort to transition to more "breaking news and less political commentary and opinion". Officially, The Ed Show last aired the very next day on Friday July 31, 2015 — but not with Ed Schultz (but with a guest host).

Ed Schultz's very last actual appearance on the show was on Wednesday, July 29, 2015 — the day before Phil Griffin's announcement — when Ed had Senator Bernie Sanders on as a guest. They had discussed Hillary Clinton's reluctance to offer a clear and concise opinion on the TPP trade deal and the Keystone pipeline.

Below is that particular segment from Ed Schultz's very last show on MSNBC (length 14:14) The full one-hour episode with commercials is also here.

Now, a month later, a short clip further below shows an example of "more breaking news and less political commentary and opinion" on MSNBC in a recent episode of "All in with Chris Hayes", where he and a "guest" (another MSNBC host named Joy Reid) are discussing Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton (length 4:20) The full one-hour episode is here.

CHRIS HAYES: "So, we have got this strange situation, it strikes me, where Sanders has this momentum. He's got this tremendous grassroots support. There he is. You can see him. That's a guy who has been campaigning all day. And if you -- can we listen to him for second. Just listen to him on the stump. "

Pay very close attention to the nuance in their conversation — and also notice the video clip that Chris Hayes plays of Bernie Sanders.

Of all the video clips available in the MSNBC archives, and of all the videos abundantly posted on the internet, why did Chris Hayes chose that particular video of Bernie Sanders?

Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton

And just to show you how Chris Hayes can be a real weasel: On 9/4/2015 he had Bill Clinton's former Secretary of Labor (Robert Reich) as a guest on his show. He had tried to paint Mister Reich into a corner by first "reminding" him that Reich has known Hillary Clinton for a long time, was a friend of the Clintons, and had worked for the Clinton administration; and then he asked Reich who he'd be supporting for President in 2016 — Hillary or Bernie Sanders. (length 1:53)

It appears that Robert Reich probably takes the view the Bernie has much better ideas than Hillary (and he might privately support Bernie); but it seemed as though Chris Hayes may have wanted to paint Mister Reich as a traitor to a friend and former employer if he (Reich) had publicly said that he supported Hillary's political rival (Bernie Sanders). IMHO, Robert Reich should have just came out and publicly endorsed Bernie right there on the spot. And if Bernie wins the White House, he should make Robert Reich our Secretary of Labor again.

Katrina vanden Heuvel - Editor, publisher and part-owner of the magazine The Nation

It seems pretty obvious that the corporate media (such as MSNBC) is backing Hillary and not Bernie. Now, for some very good contrast: Here is Katrina vanden Heuvel of "The Nation" magazine who recently appeared on an Ed Schultz podcast to discuss Joe Biden’s viability and Bernie Sanders’s continued surge in the polls (and the Elizabeth Warren angle). There's an audio clip played where Warren was asked about her recent meeting with Joe Biden:

"Was there any talk with the Vice President about a joint ticket, even jokingly?

Warren: [Laughs] "It was ah ... ah ...it was a long conversation."

Now here comes the very powerful stuff! Listen very carefully to everything that Katrina vanden Heuvel has to say here is the video below. It's all very insightful, and most likely, all perfectly accurate. I was surprised that there was no transcript available at The Nation — or that nothing else was posted about this conversation between her and Ed. Great stuff!!! (length 14.:55)

FYI: Here' the article at The Nation that Katrina vanden Heuvel had referenced in her conversation with Ed: Bernie Sanders Lays Down 2016’s New Electoral Math (An excellent post with a lot of thoughtful insight about the electoral process.)

The very next day after (having Katrina vanden Heuvel on his podacst) Ed Schultz had Senator Bernie Sanders on his show as his next guest. (length 11:38)

Since Ed Schultz's last appearance on MSNBC a little over a month ago, the numbers for Hillary Clinton have sank, while Bernie's numbers have climbed. The HuffPost pollster is currently tracking 120 polls from 22 pollsters for the 2016 National Democratic Primary. The chart combines the latest opinion polls and is updated whenever a new poll is released. Every week Bernie gets stronger...

Bernie: Up again since last week...


The Elizabeth Warren Angle

It's become pretty obvious what the Democratic Party Machine (and their corporate media outlets) have been trying to do — to play down the very popular Bernie Sanders (by not always showing him in the most favorable light), while the DNC is trying to woe the very popular Senator Elizabeth Warren. They want to marginalize Bernie while co-opting Warren — trying to win her over in their bid keep their long-standing "Third Way/Centrist" policies alive in the White House (Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden are all three peas in a pod with their pro-corporate stance on trade and tax issues — especially when compared to Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren — who take a more progressive stance on those, and many other issues — including racial issues. (Huffington Post: Hillary Clinton Has A 'White Liberal' Problem That Will Help Bernie Sanders Become Democratic Nominee)

Click image for full poster


The Democratic Party Machine has become so desperate, their candidates (Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden) are stealing ideas from Warren and Sanders (like on college tuition, etc.) and proposing them as though they were brand new and original ideas.

The big problem is, the American people want REAL change (not just more B.S. Clinton-speak); real change meaning not "hope and change". That is what Bernie Sanders advocates for, but something the Democratic Party Machine does NOT want. Let's be very clear about that. The DNC wants to maintain the status quo inside their longstanding establishment party machine — and they have been desperately trying to put Bernie out to pasture — all while promoting their own political insider darlings (Hillary Clinton — or Joe Biden if Hillary can't pull it off).

The DNC plan is so plain for all the world to see, but the mainstream media keeps putting on this big act. They keep comparing Hillary to Joe (or Hillary to Trump), instead of Hillary to Bernie. They don't want to acknowledge the fact that Bernie has been a very serious contender, and that he's on track to beat Hillary by very wide margins in a popular vote (That's why the DNC wants to limit the number of debates during the primaries, because they think this benefits Hillary).

Think of an ostrich with its head in the sand; or an emperor who wears no cloths. That's the DNC and corporate media today. But "the people" see through their old and tired charade, and it insults their intelligence and makes them even more angry — pushing them farther away from their "establishment politics" (and why even Donald Trump has been so popular, despite his lack of details on the real issues.)

So the Democratic Party Machine will only make themselves look like fools by trying to ignore the obvious. There is a REAL movement in America (it's not just a mere anomaly), and they are genuinely Feeling the Bern — and so the Democratic Party Machine is running scared. The Democrat's super-delegates can not continue to be more beholden to past political friendships and alliances within the party machine. They have to look to what "the people" have been clamoring for, and vote in THEIR best interests, not their own or their biggest campaign donor's best interests.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the DNC chairperson, on behalf of the Democratic Party Machine (those who are mostly Third Way/Centrist Democrats, and who are more like "moderate" Republicans) — are very worried that a candidate who caucuses with "progressive" Democrats (Senator Bernie Sanders) because he is getting more and more popular — while their preferred candidate (Hillary Clinton) is usually most often thought of as "a liar".

So now they (the Third Way Democratic Party Machine) are thinking about a late bid for VP Joe Biden (who is almost exactly the same as Hillary Clinton — just another Third Way/Centrist Democrat).

The Democratic Party Machine has already tried to influence the outcome by having Hillary summon Elizabeth Warren to her mansion late last year to possibly neutralize Warren so she wouldn't run against Hillary, and maybe to try and convince her to either endorse her and/or to be her running mate as VP. Or maybe Hillary offered Liz another great job in the White House. But of course, that part is just speculation. And Warren isn't talking, to confirm or deny anything.

So to strengthen a possible presidential ticket against Bernie Sanders in lieu of a weak Hillary campaign (we'll call it their Plan B), Joe Biden has also met with Senator Elizabeth Warren — who is very popular among "progressive" Democrats — and whose supporters are currently backing Bernie Sanders.

Now this is about as dirty as politics gets, because Uncle Joe Biden can't run on issues like the TPP trade agreement, so the DNC wants to steal Bernie's supporters (his "thunder") by enlisting Elizabeth Warren to the Third Way/Centrist Democratic cause.

And what's just as infuriating and frustrating is, Elizabeth Warren (if she were really a true "progressive") would have already publicly endorsed Bernie Sanders a long time ago — especially after Warren had flatly rejected running for President, and after Bernie announced his intentions to run (Maybe Bernie had first waited to see what Warren was going to do — and is only running now because Warren isn't).

Now it seems as though Senator Elizabeth Warren (who is not listed on the Progressive Democrats website) is now playing political games and being very "coy" about her political support, endorsements and intentions of running on a Biden/Warren ticket. (Could Warren end up being like most other politicians, and is now only considering her own personal future within the Democratic Party Machine? Or is she just being very politically very strategic in her public omissions?)

If not, this is troubling for progressives, because a chance to be a less powerless VP under Joe Biden; or settling for a cozy job within a Clinton administration, would be a total sell out to the American people who support more progressive causes — as Warren herself said, "The American people are progressives" (just like FDR was progressive) — because they don't want another cookie-cutter politician in the White House like Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden (or Obama for a third term, because he wouldn't win.)

Senator Elizabeth Warren will eventually have to publicly endorse Senator Bernie Sanders (before the official nomination), or she'll forever lose all her "progressive" credibility and bonafides. In which case, she might as well just become another corporate lobbyist.