Sanders Supporters Condemn Former Campaign Aides’ New Super PAC Supporting Biden

TOPLINE

Bernie Sanders’ 2016 campaign manager Jeff Weaver, and several other former Sanders advisors, have started a new super PAC to try to persuade Sanders supporters to turn out for Joe Biden in November, the New York Times reported Tuesday, prompting strong reactions from some former Sanders campaign workers and supporters.

KEY FACTS

Key Background

Weaver’s history with Sanders goes back to 1986, when he worked as a driver for the gubernatorial campaign of the then-mayor of Burlington, Vermont. Following Sanders’ presidential run in 2016, he was appointed president and chairman of Our Revolution, a 501(c)4 non-profit organization set up to continue Sanders’ progressive movement. His ascension to that role precipitated a mass resignation from staffers over concerns about the organization’s dark money fundraising.

Weaver served as a senior advisor to Sanders’ 2020 campaign, and in early April, the Washington Post, reported that Weaver was pushing Sanders to withdraw from the race. But Weaver was still working for Sanders as recently as Monday, writing a statement in response to the cancellation of the New York primary in which he condemned the decision and called for New York to lose its delegates.

Tangent

The names of the 501(c)4, “Our Revolution,” and the new Super PAC, “A Future To Believe In,” are drawn from the title of Sanders’ 2016 book “Our Revolution: a Future To Believe In.”

What To Look Out For

While the voices online are loud, they may not be representative. A Morning Consult poll found that while Joe Biden is unpopular with the young voters who constitute Sanders’ base, Donald Trump evokes far more passionate hatred. Whether that disdain translates to votes for Biden is far from certain, but it gives Weaver an opening to potentially persuade some voters who are on the fence to turn out for Biden.