I volunteered in Bernie Sanders campaign by working the phones and canvassing locally. I encountered no sexism from any men working with me - and the young men who helped me deal with some minor, annoying tech issues were polite and respectful. The campaign was fun and hopeful, and its diversity lent an excitement very similar to Obama’s campaigns- I have been slogging for progressive Democrats since McGovern. The rancor towards Bernie by some of my friends who were Clinton supporters was noteworthy- it was as though he had no right to challenge her for a nomination, and any of his talking points were dismissed as ridiculous and unworkable. Sanders and Senator Clinton had voting records on legislation that were over 90 percent coincident but when he articulated a plan for a more progressive future, he lost too many supporters from the traditional Democrats and, of course, the monied elites. In the end most Sanders supporters voted for Hillary Clinton ( I did), but a complex of negative forces led us to the catastrophe of Trump.The bitterness over the last election and the horrible Trump lingers and endangers our unity for the next one.
8
@Kate So, are you saying the women are lying because you didn't witness any sexism?
@Jackie,
Where did she say they lied?
Why put words into her script?
She didn't even imply such.
She gave a testimonial of first hand experience.
Just as the letter writers gave theirs.
Except the NYT didn't follow thru as the letter signees stated. They didn't wish to construe that the Sanders Campaign was the ONLY campaign with said issues. It was and is rampant in ALL campaigns. The NYT and its sycophantic readers fail to point this out. Always. Sanders staff and volunteers are working to make a difference. Is any other campaign doing the same? We don't know do we. Because this is JUST about kneecapping another possible run by the most liked and trusted candidate today.
6
“Mr. Sanders plans to attend in person for a portion of the meeting.”
If I were him I’d attend the whole meeting. Might be a good idea to take his serious or his campaign is not going anywhere.
2
Sexual harassment is a terrible problem, and Sanders should be held accountable for his 2016 campaign. That said--and I am not trying to defend Sanders, but only to explain--presidential campaigns are loosely-organized, far-flung operations, and the Sanders campaign grew so rapidly in 2015 and 2016 that I doubt that anyone could have overseen it and managed it closely. The Sanders volunteers with whom I worked were all very nice, earnest, well-intentioned people who just wanted to see the U.S. become a bit more just and equal. I never met a single "Bernie bro."
I don't know whether I share the view of those comments here that accuse the Times of engaging in a pre-emptive hit on the prospect of a Sanders 2020 campaign, but it is indisputably true that in 2016 the Times's reporting and every one of its columnists backed Hillary Clinton. Frankly, the Times in 2016 treated Sanders as though his campaign was little more than an oddity. Even if the Times is not trying to stop Sanders 2020, it is doubtless just as centrist now as it was in 2016, and this centrism undermines the paper's reputation for objectivity. So perhaps these articles are a deliberate shot across Sanders's bow.
14
@Chris Rasmussen NYT has used the report to insinuate that the issue of sexual harrassment was unique to the Sanders campaign... and "a cloud hanging over 2020..."
I had read the original reporting back in December from Politico, wherein they published the letter from the staffers, who themselves made it clear they didn't want their statement and concerns to be misused publicly to stoke unfair attacks by loud and well placed political opponents Judge for yourself what the NYT has done with this.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/30/bernie-sanders-campaign-harassment-1077014
3
The 2016 campaign was the first time Sanders had administrative responsibility for a large group of people.
He didn’t do a good job.
12
He was mayor of the largest city in Vermont, and they love him there.
5
@Yeah,
Dang, I could have sworn Sen. Sanders was Mayor of Burlington for 8 years.
The people loved him and the state elevated him to representative office for the next 30+.
Don't let hate blind you to facts.
6
@Tim Kane Maybe he should have stuck to that, then.
1
I won't support a campaign where sexism runs rampant and abuse goes unchecked. Bernie needs to get his house in order if he wants half a chance.
6
@Casey Penk A more important question: will you support a candidate who is willing to let big donors call the shots and run our government? I doubt that Bernie will run as long as Elizabeth, Alexandria and Tulsi are unable to carry the torch he has initiated.
1
I recall Sanders being interviewed by Chris Matthews during the 2016 campaign, and the subject of abortion and Roe v Wade came up. A Sanders supporter during the primaries (who did vote for Hillary in the general election), I was taken aback at how cavalier his response was. He said he didn't want to "waste time" discussing this, and wanted to focus, in his words, "on the real issues."
Any woman of childbearing age can tell you that control of her body and the right to make her own decisions about her body is a "real issue". Sanders was just so cavalier and dismissive about the subject, as if it weren't worth talking about. And he totally blew off the ugly behavior of his "Bernie Bros" that was demonstrated against Barbara Boxer, and other senior Democratic women in Nevada. His lack of concern is telling.
My concern is that his views toward women color his perceptions of other serious issues facing women, such as sexual harassment and assault, sexism in the workplace regarding hiring and firing decisions, and the extent he would take these very important issues seriously should he be our next president. He seems to believe they're just distractions. And now he's going on the obligatory "tour" to try to rehabilitate his image before the primaries, but the article states that he isn't even going to attend the entire meeting. Clearly this stunt is for photo op purposes only.
I, for one, am tired of candidates from any party devaluing women like this. It needs to stop. Now.
18
@Nicholas Rush - Have you read the "issues" pages on Sanders' website? He discusses his views. In short, it is a given that he is adamantly committed to maintaining women's right to make their own choices. For that reason he wants to spend his time talking about the issues over which there is more to debate.
From his website:
"We are not going back to the days when women had to risk their lives to end an unwanted pregnancy. The decision about abortion must remain a decision for the woman and her doctor to make, not the government."
He is adamant. "We are NOT going back..."
https://berniesanders.com/issues/fighting-for-womens-rights/
13
@J Jencks,
Give me a break. I'm sure the women who worked on his campaign, and who were sexually harassed, feel much better now, knowing what is on Sanders' website...
11
Is the Press supposed to ignore this story, LIKE IT DID IN 2016?
Yes, Bernie’s a great guy. Yes, he has done some great stuff. But he clearly had staffers, including maybe his Campaign Manager, behave really badly toward women.
Times have changed, guys. The Bernie Bros must grasp that point.
13
Another hit job and personal attack on Bernie Sanders, whose message remains consistent, even if the ones entrusted with communicating and realizing it are seriously flawed.
17
In response to a question about WHAT policies the campaign has put in place to ensure that people feel "welcome and empowered and respected," Ms. Healy offered platitudes and empty assurances about "accountability" and "professionalism."
Sounds like Bernie's campaign.
11
Please do not run, Bernie. We need to start fresh with a candidate who will beat Trump. Put your ego away and help that candidate, please.
22
@RP Bernie should be President right now. And would be if the Democrats had nominated a candidate willing to discuss the issues rather than play identity politics.
13
@Fred McTaggart,
Had Bernie been the nominee instead of Hillary, tRump would have won both the popular vote and the electoral college. It would have been a drubbing not seen since Nixon vs. McGovern in 1972.
Bernie was the dream opponent of the Republicant party.
I found this interesting reading in November, 2016.
https://www.newsweek.com/myths-cost-democrats-presidential-election-521044
5
The senator, who is not a Democrat, used the party to advance his election hopes and never paid a dime for it. He's a grifter.
22
@Ed Sanders caucuses with Senate Democrats, who are quite happy to have his vote. In fact, they appointed him to a leadership post.
9
Ed,
If by grifter you mean politician, then sure...maybe. (could be time to get over it don't cha think?!)
Would you have preferred Sen. Sanders ran as a 3rd party candidate? Then that would have surely decimated the Dems. chances. As it was, he campaigned as a Dem. and backed the nominee.
The record amount of small donor money raised, avg. $27., means an awful lot of D's and I's didn't have a problem with Sen. Sanders affiliation.
Did you prefer the way Ms. Clinton handled the Dem. State money?!
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/clinton-fundraising-leaves-little-for-state-parties-222670
9
@Ed I am not a Democrat, either, but you sure would like to use my vote to get your person elected. You already used the money I wanted to donate to Bernie. Please give it back!
4
This is such a hit job.
He was horrified by the allegations and is taking serious action to make sure they don't happen again.
The main woman who made the accusation also decried articles like this as "weaponizing" her story to shoot down Sanders.
Making this a Sanders issue, rather than a national issue, is misleading at best.
40
@TMC
Hear, hear. Where's the front page story on Bernie's recent campaign to lower prescription drug prices?
The guy has helped raise wages for Amazon, Disney and other American workers ... he's lead the fight in the Senate against the U.S. backed Saudi carnage in Yemen ... he's almost singlehandedly made Medicare for All politically possible ...
but here we are inundated with still more corporate media hit pieces against the most honest and decent politician in American politics.
18
@Michael It's really disheartening to read men who simply refuse to get it, and dismiss women's complaints of harassment. You'd be more believable if your list of Bernie Sanders platitudes included something he'd done to advance women toward equal pay, securing rights of free choice, etc. Instead, with a hand wave, you and other Bernie Sanders die-hards continue to shrug off women's concerns with cries of "hit piece."
14
@Lorri,
Your right Lorri. Maybe if women needed prescription drugs, like birth control pills, or worked in Amazon, Disney, or any other min. wage jobs that Sen. Sanders has helped get raises for. No women in Yemen huh. Good thing women don't need M4A. The only Medicare plan written expressly repealing the Hyde Amendment. But that wouldn't affect women at all. Right?!
Hatred blinds all doesn't it.
6
He lost to Hillary by 4 million votes. What makes him think he'd do any better when he's 4 years older, still not a Dem, and still hiding his tax returns? Stay in Vermont and do your job as a Senator.
40
@Emily To
Yeah, that's what they said about Reagan in 1980.
8
@Emily To
wow ... actually citing the rigged 2016 primaries as some kind of indication that Bernie lacks popular support.
The guy came from nowhere and almost defeated the Clinton machine despite DNC/Clinton corruption, purged voting rolls, primary rules barring millions of progressives from voting (NY for example), and vicious propaganda from the corporate media (the same media that gave Donald Trump nonstop coverage, for free).
"Still not a Dem" ... um, Bernie (like millions of progressives across the country) isn't a Dem because since Bill Clinton a Dem has meant subservience to Wall Street, solicitation of corporate $, and weak corporatist public policy.
I have a dream that one day Bernie will be not be judged by his party affiliation but by the content of his character and the justice of his policies.
30
Well said, Emily. Bernie needs to bow out now, right after he releases his tax returns that he hid in the last campaign. Trump should have thanked Bernie and his Bros for helping him get elected. I'm sure Trump and the Russians will assist his campaign if he doesn't have the sense to bow out gracefully.
12
For the love of Goddess Bernie, get out!
30
This is a real issue but is not a Bernie issue. These are real problems that need to be addressed but I fail to see why some things that happened in campaign offices would taint Bernie Sanders unless he looked the other way when informed about it.
14
I campaigned for Bernie, so I am biased, but I'm mostly surprised that the huge grassroots organization that he had wasn't able to create a safe space for people being harassed. Is there an organizational template for a campaign that Bernie's team didn't implement?
As horrible as the outcome for those being harassed, there will always be some bad things that happen in any organization. Were the results here statistically that much out of the norm or are we making up a news story because we know some misbehavior is inevitable and Bernie is a good target right now?
6
@Steve M,
The original signee's stated it is an issue amongst all political campaigns.
They specifically didn't want their letter to be used, or to be conjectured as an only Sen. Sanders issue.
The NYT always seems to fail at addressing that.
Hmmm...one wonders why they slant their stories that way.
Again.
6
New York Times again with a full frontal attack on Sanders. I do believe that if it had not been for a very biased coverage of Sanders in 2016, we might have Sanders in the White House. I considered many of the articles more damaging than those about Trump. In my opinion, it is not that Sanders damaged Clinton, it is that Clinton supporters including many NYtimes reporters, damaged Sanders' chances for election.
48
@Sven I keep hearing about mythical Bernie Bots, but I have never encountered them. At some point, I realized that the construction of the term was a way of deflating the energy of such his supporters like myself.
3
Here’s what this is all about:
The 2nd graph in this Econ Policy Inst study-
https://goo.gl/w2btYa
Shows that from 1945 to 1972 GNP grew 100% & the median wage in lockstep with it. Further each segment grew in lockstep: poor-working-middle & upper classes.
But from 1972 til now GNP has grown 150% but the median wage has remained flat: all those gains going to the 1%.
Since tech & health workers incomes have climbed that means white working class incomes have declined for 45 straight years while GNP has gone up.
This is not sustainable w/out complicity of establishment-elites in both parties being on the take, ie. Hillary’s wing
It created a seam in our society that sooner or later a monster like Trump (w/ Putin) or worse could exploit.
The NeoLibBig$ Dems hate the working class as much as the GOP. That's why they push minority-identity politics. They have a hand in the concentration of wealth & want it to continue. Progressives want to end this.
Hillary would have won if she would have broadened her base. The way to do that was attract progressives. The way to do that was to make Sanders her VP. Instead she picked Kaine who's a good man but brought no new voters to the ticket. Its as if she'd rather Trump win then give progressives a seat at the table. In selecting Kaine she was whistling past the grave yard.
The Times kept a blackout on Sanders until late December 2015. The Times backs Big$NeoLib Dems.
28
@Tim Kane..Does it occur to you there's something misogynistic about addressing a highly capable, influential former secretary as "Hillary" -- first name only! while Kaine and Sanders are given the gravitas of using their last names.
9
Well usually i refer to him as Bernie. I only refer to Ms. Cinton as Hillary to help distinguish her from Bill while using minimum key strokes. I voted for Hillary btw but I am a progressive. Concentrated wealth destroyed Ancient Egypt’s New Kingdom, Western Roman Empire (6 Senators owned half of North Africa at the time of the collapse - Per Nobel Laureate Doug North’s “Structure and Change in Economic History”), Byzantium, Medieval Japan, Hapsburg Spain, Bourbon France, Romanov Russia, and Coolidge-Hoover America (triggering the Great Depression, Nazi’s, WWII and the Holocost) and Bush Jr America, triggering the Great Recession. In short, the concentration of wealth is a destroyer of Great Empires, Societies and States. It’s a process called “The Catastrophe Continuum” and we are well on it.
The median wage has been flat since 1972. The 30 years before 1972 it rose in lockstep with GNP. Since 1972 the GNP has risen 150% while wages remained flat. This trend was not sustainable without complicity from elites in both parties. In the Democratic Party that’s BigMoneyNeoLiberals, i.e. Hillary’s wing of the party. They hate the working class as much as the GOP. Hillary couldn’t bring herself to campaign in some rust belt states.
The Catastrophe Continuum is especially hard on ordinary working class people. It is the result of concentrations in bargaining power. Bernie was the 1st candidate to take this on head on. That’s why I am for him. I don’t understand how non-GOP aren’t.
3
I guess I should start counting The Times hit pieces on Sanders. This is a very distorted report on the whole incident. But the most remarkable part of the piece is the notion that other campaigns are being rolled out with strong, positive messaging, while somehow Sanders is supposed to only be concerned with damage control over an issue that is, unfortunately, common to political campaigns, and that has already been largely addressed in his 2018 senatorial campaign. Bernie Sanders' entire political life is about strong, positive action, not just messaging. Last week he introduced legislation to control pharmaceutical prices. This week he is introducing legislation to raise the federal minimum wage. For over a year, he has led the charge against our continuing to ally ourselves with Saudi Arabia in their assault on Yemen. And that's just some of his positive action. Perhaps not as impressive as Beto O'Rourke filming himself at the dentist, but, hey, you can't have everything.
45
@Kathryn Levy - My take is like this.
In 76 Gerald Ford representing the old guard of the GOP lost to Carter. That left an opening for the radical-reactionary movement-conservatives represented by Reagan toattempt to move forward. In 1980 the old Guard's guy, GHW Bush lost to Reagan. Reagan was smart enough to put Bush on his ticket to ensure that the Old Guard had reason enough to show up on election day. PoliSci 101-he was broadening his base. Reagan won, then Bush, but the reactionaries took over.
Since 1972 the median wage has stayed flat while GNP has gone up 150%. The prior 30 years the median wage & all segments went up in lockstep w/ GNP - a rise of 100% -that's fair, reasonable & stable.
For the median wage to stay flat for 45 year & counting-is not fair, reasonable or stable & requires complicity from elites in both parties, this was the NeoLibs in the Dem party & their candidate was Hillary in 2016.
Their candidate lost bc she was odious to working class people. She could have broadened her base like Reagan did by making Bernie her VP, but she didn't. Shockingly She'd rather lose to Trump than give progressives a seat at the table.
Now the NeoLib elites r in the position the GOP OldGuard was in 1980. Their guy lost in the last cycle. They're about to be muscled out in the next by Progs and their lashing out, wincing & smearing @ Progs.
Bernies done the hard work out in the field. People now know him. He's the real deal. Smears will be ugly but he'll win.
18
@Tim Kane
I hope your analysis is correct. The Democratic Party is the moderate Republican Party of old. Bernie would be considered a centrist politician in many European countries in Europe. The average wage earner is pinched badly - many in that category voted for Trump with fingers crossed, while - as he has been for years - Bernie is the real deal and can win in 2020.
18
This story is so obviously a preemptive "hit piece" on Sanders. An attempt to wound him, put him in his place, ahead of the 2020 campaign season.
I wonder who might be behind such reports? Who might stand to benefit? Those are the real questions we should be asking.
Stepping back, I'm ashamed of how cynical I've become of U.S. politics today. But I'm afraid I can't interet this story any other way.
36
@Dan
Big$Money.
11
Right about now would be a good moment for Senator Sanders to move into his next stage as the grandpa of the progressive movement, providing guidance and support to the next generation. And stepping away from the national spotlight, what with several other newcomers ready to carry the torch.
20
@Andrew
They are all Johnny come latlies. Bernie's the real deal.
Our system thrives on name recognition. Bernie didn't have that in 2016. He's got it now. He's done the hard work putting what Hillary thought was unthinkable on the table for discussion: $15/hr min wage, medicare for all, tuition free higher-ed. By election day 2016 roughly 25% of Americans lived in a jurisdiction that had passed legislation with $15/hr minimum wage.
Given the choice of voting for the real deal or a johnny come lately, they'll vote for Sanders.
Sophisticated people will, perhaps rightly be able to identify better younger candidates. But Bernie earned his authenticity by advocating for these things before anyone else. He's done the hard work out in the field. He's earned that. People will vote for him anyway, just like they did with Reagan in 1980 even though he was older than anyone had ever been who had run for office in the past.
History is repeating itself accept the pendulum is moving in the opposite direction.
17
Why is this still news? Why isn’t Bernie’s rebuttal of Trump’s fake wall crisis speech in here? Why aren’t real, important issues being covered here, instead of printing personality hit pieces? The more I read stuff like this in the NYT, the more I realize that they have already made your Dem Presidential candidate choice for you. Like Hillary in the run up to the Dem convention in 2016.
30
Sexism, discrimination and harassment aren’t “real” enough for you? Wish I lived your life.
5
Mr. Sanders needs to acknowledge he was weaponized by Russia against Mrs. Clinton in 2016. This is not a accusation against him. But awareness and admission of reality is something we desperately need at the highest levels of government these days.
To deny or ignore his role in putting Donald Trump into the White House is a disqualifying white wash.
29
Thank you!
11
@Dr. B
according to the Clintonites, there are 379 asserted reasons Clinton lost and funny that not a single one is about her policies and the abandonment of working people by her version of the party.
13
This is at least the third multi-reporter article on this topic. And they have been very repetitive. Gender inequality is everywhere in American politics. I'm quite confident this article could have been written about Hillary Clinton's last campaign or that of the other contenders.
The real question is why the NYT day in, day out, without missing the slightest opportunity (relevant or not) is out to trash Sanders. Elsewhere today in the paper the suggestion that Sanders's endorsement of Gillum was responsible for Gillum's defeat, a ridiculous proposition to any of us Floridians who worked for Gillum and had to deal with Cuban-American hostility toward progressive candidates, Black ones especially, a topic more difficult for reporters to take on than the Sanders campaign.
Finally, the lame effort to vindicate the Clinton campaign by attacking Sanders would merit a chuckle were it not a way to cover up the awful things Clintonism stood for.
45
Bernie Sanders, the same person who "strongly supported" Hilary Clinton once she was the nominee? His support was lukewarm at best--so much for rallying around the candidate. Will he pay more than lip service to this commitment? Waiting to see.
To me, Bernie has turned out to be the Joe Lieberman of the Dem left wing: He's about himself, not about the party. If he was authentic, he left that alongside the road somewhere, because it's sure not part of his baggage now.
31
Spot on!
It’s all about Bernie and his babies and bullies.
20
@e w
Not True. Bernie campaigned tirelessly in the upper-MidWest for her: She never bothered to go to Wisconsin, he did.
Here’s what this is all about:
The 2nd graph in this Econ Policy Inst study-
https://goo.gl/w2btYa
Shows that from 1945 to 1972 GNP grew 100% & the median wage in lockstep with it. Further each segment grew in lockstep: poor-working-middle & upper classes.
But from 1972 til now GNP has grown 150% but the median wage has remained flat: all those gains going to the 1%.
Since tech & health workers incomes have climbed that means white working class incomes have declined for 45 straight years while GNP has gone up.
This is not sustainable w/out complicity of establishment-elites in both parties being on the take -ie. Hillary’s wing
It created a seam in our society that sooner or later a monster like Trump (w/ Putin) or worse could exploit. & Hillary was whistling past the grave yard.
The NeoLibBig$ Dems hate the working class as much as the GOP. That's why they push minority-identity politics. They have a hand in the concentration of wealth & want it to continue. Progressives want to end this.
Hillary would have won if she would have broadened her base. The way to do that was attract progressives. The way to do that was to make Sanders her VP. Instead she picked Kaine who's a good man but brought no new voters to the ticket. Its as if she'd rather Trump win then give progressives a seat at the table.
9
@e w - This is an unconscionable slur. After Bernie was sabotaged by the Democratic Party (this is now an indisputable fact), he kept to his word to support heir-Clinton. We all knew she was going to lose against Trump, but he gamely stuck to his word, to my great dismay.
I think you don't know what integrity is, e.w.
20
As a Democrat I ask myself how would the reaction be of these sexual harassment claims if the individual was a Republican candidate, like Marco Rubio or John Kasich or Jeff Flake. The easy answer is "the same". But we're so divided these days and the Republicans are always wrong about everything it seems, I think our minds are already made up.
No good answer but at least Sanders is reaching out to those affected.
5
Where is the outrage about the Trump fake men? Where is the outrage about Steven King and the other racist in this administration. Why didn't these women go up the chain of command and tell Bernie himself what was happening? 2016 and these women were being silent and three years later they have found their voices.
The tired slogan See something say something, we all have an obligation to say something and act on it.
Everyone wants fifteen minutes of fame so the time to say something is when it is happening. Sanders will address this the rest of his life, so it is up to us to make sure that it doesn't happen in any campaign. Sanders is far from the monster that people are making him out to be, we have a monster in the White House, we see something say something and act. Support our sisters and be forces of proactive change. Remember we are accountable to each other.
8
To rich people who hate Bernie Sanders and the corporate media who serve them, this story was manna from heaven. But the vast majority of people will be voting on actual issues, which is why Bernie's poll numbers haven't budged.
41
Great comment....and oh so true !
16
@Michael - Yes!
In December Sanders polled the highest approval rating of ALL senators, DEM and GOP alike, among their respective constituents. In 2017 he also polled the highest approval rating nationwide. I haven't been able to find a poll for that for 2018. If anyone reading this tracks one down, please let me know.
4
Let's get real: Bernie is really old, his accent grates with anyone living west of the Hudson River, and he's not even a Democrat. Please, Bernie--sit the next one out.
28
@gianna you are kidding right? His accent? Is everyone supposed to sound alike? Nothing else you say registers when you say something this petty.
4
Love the accent. But then I loved the Seinfeld show. As did most of America.
3
"Senator Bernie Sanders, accelerating his efforts to contain the damage from reports of sexism and harassment during his 2016 presidential campaign, plans to meet on Wednesday with a group of former staff members seeking assurances of better practices if he runs again in 2020."
What damage? So far the NY Times has documented any. He still vastly more respected than any other potential 2020 candidate.
29
So the only article the NYT finds space to write about Bernie Sanders is in addressing supposed "sexism" that happened from low level campaign aides in 2016 ? Therefore, according to the NYT and their well scripted hit pieces, Bernie Sanders is a sexist and therefore should not run for President?
It is so obvious the bias by the NYT against the only candidate that actually represents working people.
45
Is this all the NYT can come up with in the hope that it smears the only candidate who actually represents working people? Charges of sexism between low level staffers from his 2016 campaign while Bernie Sanders is out addressing the thousands who showed up to his rallies?
Does the NYT have any positive articles about Bernie Sanders such as his policy stances that drew thousands to his rallies in the first place?
No, I didn't think so. The bias against Bernie Sanders is pathetic and a great disservice to this country.
33
Sanders is pro-women but had harassment issues in his own campaign. Ortez wants Medicare for all but deprived her own workers of workers compensation. Pocahontas says she is a progressive but misappropriated racial identity and sold herself to Harvard as an Indian to get a career boost.
3
@Jay Holder You refer to US Senator Warren as "Pocahontas" so it is no surprise that you would make a false, not to mention ridiculous, assertion that she "sold herself to Harvard as an Indian to get a career boost." After Warren completed a term as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, she was recruited for a tenure track position. The head of the search committee, former Solicitor General Charles Fried has stated repeatedly that Warren was recruited "because she was preeminent in the fields of bankruptcy and commercial law." Note that Warren was a leading legal authority, she did not get "a career boost" by taking a faculty position at HLS. Jay Holder's scurrilous charge not only insults Warren, but also Charles Fried.
21
@Jay Holder
To attempt to insult a woman by calling her by another woman's name is . . . deplorable.
8
Please Mr. Sanders, just go crawl back under your rock. Try to accomplish something, anything, in the Senate, and quit helping Trump win elections.
23
The Sanders campaign was not the only one with sexual
complaints . kamala Harris's campaign paid out almost half
a million dollars . Why the media continues to paint Bernie
into a corner isn't surprising after witnessing the 2016
negativity and demonization .
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Kamala-Harris-aide-resigns-after-sex-harassment-13447386.php
23
@JLANEYRIE Her CAMPAIGN did not pay out half a million dollars to anyone. Her staffer resigned after it was revealed that HE settled a harassment claim for $400K while he was working the California attorney general's office.
That's some disingenuous deflection.
5
The NY Times is running negative story after story about Bernie Sanders. They are not gunning for any other potential candidate -- Bernie alone stands in their crosshairs.
THIS is how deeply the establishment, centrist corporatists fear a Bernie Sanders presidency. The prospect of actual change, of implementing policies that benefit the people rather than continuing to shovel profits to the elites, terrifies them.
The time for a political revolution is NOW.
#RunBernieRun
#Bernie2020
27
Sounds like a plan ! Bernie Sanders is being trashed by corporate media because he doesn't serve the interests of corporations and the wealthy.
13
If Bernie does not run, I will bet the next target will be Warren. Right now, they're sticking to concern trolling. It kills me to say it, because they've done such great investigative reporting on Trump, but the chipping away at Bernie Sanders brings up a lot of bad memories.
6
@Sarah Rose
You read it here first: when the 2020 campaign gets rolling and Bernie is kicking tush in the polls and wallowing in a tsunami of $27-average donations, the Times will find a way to grouse about alleged sexual harassment and discrimination in his 2016 campaign.
If the Sanders team has been "forced to play defense," it is in large part to your oh so helpful anti-working class hands, NYT.
25
Ignore or smear is the Times policy on Sanders from the very top down.... the establishment of the Democratic Party remains terrified of Bernie, and blantantly uses ink in these pages for their own ends.
29
He is a phony Democrat! Go away.
12
Everybody chill. Bernie's got this.
21
I wasn't involved with this campaign, but the Bernie Bros were some of the most obnoxious, sexist, narrow-minded, vituperative men I've ever encountered. Their rhetoric smacked of so much misogyny I didn't understand how women, of any age, were excited about the Sanders candidacy.
53
@Rita L. - How many have you met and actually talked to face to face? 1, 2, 10 ...?
7
@Rita L. Are you talking about what they said? or what they did? Since you weren't part of the campaign, you probably have no idea. You just accept the label "Bernie Bros" as a form of contempt.
6
Sen. Sanders should start by apologizing to Mrs. Clinton for calling her "the Secretary." Sanders did this intentionally. No surprises to hear his campaign was full sexism and pay differentials for female workers. Self-proclaimed "progressives" like Bernie "inspired" young people only to be a Donald Trump in disguise.
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@Benjamin https://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/bernie-sanderss-hard-fight-for-hillary-clinton
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@Benjamin Bernie Sanders always- always!- referred to Hillary Clinton as "Secretary Clinton," and he meant it respectfully, as Clinton was the Secretary of State for the United States.
This is the sort of falsehood and snark that so infuriated me and other Bernie Sanders supporters, and so turned us off to the Clinton candidacy. And it hasn't stopped.
This is why there will be no second act for Clinton. She's done, while Bernie Sanders has an excellent chance of being the Democratic nominee.
Sanders campaigned tirelessly for Clinton after he lost the nomination. I'm guessing that Clinton wouldn't lift a finger to help Sanders in 2020.
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@Benjamin People are addressed by their last position held in government. Should he have called her Mrs. Clinton? First Lady?
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Bernie is the worst kind of opportunist-he ran for the Democratic nomination in 2016 but doesn't identify himself as a true member of the Party. As for the charges of sexism in his campaign, it goes along with his patronizing attitude as displayed in the debates with Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primary run. He needs to step aside for the long list of qualified primary candidates, including those who have already announced they are running for the nomination.
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@Babette:
"Bernie is the worst kind of opportunist-he ran for the Democratic nomination in 2016 but doesn't identify himself as a true member of the Party."
Boo hoo, Sanders beat Hillary and she had to have her win rigged for her. Then she lost to the easy to beat Trump.
"patronizing"?
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@Babette
"Bernie is the worst kind of opportunist-he ran for the Democratic nomination in 2016 but doesn't identify himself as a true member of the Party."
Ah yes, prioritizing group loyalty at the expense of dissenting views. You know, I hear there is a president who values that sort of thing.
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@Babette There have also been charges of sexism in many other campaigns including Hillary herself and Kamala Harris. What's really important is to deal with this from here on in; at least Bernie appears to be doing so seriously.
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It seems to me that the NYT knows that Bernie Sanders could win and does anything to make him look bad. Why fear him? He stands for issues, and wants capitalism with a safety net and justice for all. That’s not dictator socialism, but is democratic socialism which is so widespread in Europe and don’t scare anymore.
By trashing Trump all the time the news helped elect Trump making him far bigger and more famous than he ever was. If the news had ignored Trump, he would have lost in a landslide.
Forgetimpeachment. The VP seems much worse. Vote him out by supporting a candidate and not trashing him.
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@Gallopinto. So “trashing” is publishing a story that Sanders and his supporters would rather not have published, even if it’s true?
Sorry, that’s not the way running for President works.
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@Gallopinto:
Right, it's the NY Times telling many to vote Trump or skip voting in 2020.
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The NYT, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC....all have been trashing Bernie Sanders from day one. It's not hard to know the reason why. His policies actually represent working people and not the moneyed elites they are in business to protect.
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It’s important to mention a few facts that made it into the Politico story about the letter but did not make it into this story about Bernie meeting with his staffers, because I can already anticipate how roughly 40% of the comments on this article are going to trend.
First, many of the letter’s signatories stated very clearly that they were trying to address "a pervasive culture of toxic masculinity in the campaign world" that was not unique or exclusive to Bernie’s campaign.
Second, the letter did not contain any specific allegations, either against Bernie or anyone on his staff.
Also, some observations: first, the staffers who signed the letter all appear intent on working for Bernie again should he run. This would indicate they hardly found the Bernie 2016 campaign a particularly horrible experience. Second, having volunteered for campaigns at the national, state, and local level, I’d like to endorse their overall point. Campaigns are intense, revolve around constant competition, and are often predominantly male-driven. I’m glad they wrote the letter and are addressing the issue, though I don’t deny being frustrated it almost immediately became weaponized as some sort of "Bernie is a sexist" smoking gun by those intent on misrepresenting the views of the people who wrote it. The signees are raising an issue that supersedes partisanship, and that should be respected.
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Also, where I wrote "supersedes," what I actually meant was "surpasses." My apologies.
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@Steve:
"First, many of the letter’s signatories stated very clearly that they were trying to address "a pervasive culture of toxic masculinity in the campaign world" that was not unique or exclusive to Bernie’s campaign."
Right, of course that's been ignored by the NY Times.
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@Steve
Thank you for the explanation. With the constant drip drip of stories about alleged sexism in Bernie's campaign, it's hard to imagine that other campaigns were completely blameless in their treatment of staff and volunteers. Maybe it's a tribute to Bernie that these women felt free to speak up without fear of retaliation that staffers might face from other candidates.
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Proud of Bernie for facing up to these problems and doing something about them! Believe me when I say that his is not the only campaign that grapples with sexist staff. We'll see if any of the other candidates have the courage to address the problem so openly, thoroughly and progressively.
That's the way Bernie does everything. His authenticity shines through at the podium and in the progressive positions he fights for and wins! He has already pushed the Democratic candidates to take up his positions on campaign finance (no corporate money!), $15 minimum wage, Medicare for All, free public colleges, fair immigration reform, criminal justice reform, restraints on big banks, big agra, big pharma and the military industrial complex. He is the only candidate who can be trusted to come through on these issues so important to all working people (the 99%). Thank you Bernie!
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I worked as a volunteer in the 2016 campaign and can only speak of what I saw. I did not see or hear of any problems with discrimination or harassment and in fact a significant portion of the leadership were women- and quite capable ones at that.
The Sanders campaign was heavily dependent upon volunteers and scaled up quickly with many people who had never worked on a national campaign before or even voted in some cases. Any organization that large and that quickly organized would likely have the full spectrum of human behavior or misbehavior. We had people from retired professionals to young students, blue collar and white collar, every gender identity and sexual orientation, every race and ethnicity one would be able to find in our area- it was wonderful.
I volunteered from the Summer 2015 meetups through the end of the primary/caucus season and worked both from home and with others. I cannot speak for others, but in our community there would not have been an effective, organized and energized Sanders campaign if it were not for the amazing women who made up so much of it.
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@David Gregory: A male volunteer didn't notice any sexism. What a surprise.
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@David Gregory. so women in his campaign were "quite capable?" Imagine that.
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