Before I read long-time Democratic strategist Tad Devine’s new book, How the Democrats Screwed Bernie, I rolled my eyes at the prospect of yet another post-mortem on the 2016 election (which was admittedly also the first presidential election in which I was eligible to vote).
asserted
I → read → which
Not even halfway through his second term, President Trump has wreaked havoc on all the institutions that have sustained the United States, alienated our allies, started a pointless and dangerous war, and further divided Americans with his lies and dangerous policies.
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that → wreak → lies
Meanwhile, a complicit Congress completely controlled by Republicans seems incapable of acting like a responsible check on his assertion of power.
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Congress → control → power
Now, with all eyes on the 2026 midterms and the glimmer of accountability that may come from them, why relitigate a primary election that happened almost a decade ago?
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that → come → election
Devine, however, isn’t just some political pundit obsessing over the past, and his book isn’t some finger-wagging post-mortem
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book → obsess → past
on how the Democrats messed up
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Democrats → mess → ?
Instead, Devine, one of the Democratic Party’s most well-known media strategists and Senator Bernie Sanders’ chief campaign strategist in 2016, breaks down how the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign used superdelegates, dirty tricks, dark money, and the press to thwart Sanders’ 2016 presidential run.
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Committee → know → run
In other words, to paraphrase the title, “Bernie got screwed.”
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Bernie → paraphrase → title
To my surprise, I came away from the book more inspired than embittered or disheartened.
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I → come → book
Devine offers plenty of insightful lessons about how the Democrats can win elections if its establishment could only wean itself off dark money, push for campaign finance reform, and coalesce around younger Democratic Socialists without compromising the party’s values–assuming that it can come to some agreement about what those values are.
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values → offer → agreement
“This book isn’t about sour grapes, it’s really about what that election can mean for our future,” Devine says.
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Devine → ’ → future
“If we learned something from the 2016 campaign, I’ll be very happy about that.”
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I → learn → that
Spoiler alert: Devine may even hazard a guess or two on 2028 hopefuls during our interview.
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Devine → hazard → interview
We spoke by Zoom when he was at his home on Block Island, Rhode Island.
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he → speak → Island
Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
What are the two major ways that you think the Democrats screwed Bernie in 2016?
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Democrats → edit → 2016
It’s a system designed to keep outsiders out and give a tremendous advantage to insiders.
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It → ’ → insiders
All of that screwed Bernie in an established way.
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All → screw → way
But that’s not really how he got screwed.
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he → ’ → ?
The Clinton campaign ran the DNC.
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campaign → run → DNC
We know that because of millions of WikiLeaks pages revealed memos about the way money was being moved around inside the DNC.
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money → know → DNC
The tactics that the Clintons employed, like when and how many [Democratic primary] debates would be held, and using outside Super PACs highly funded by dark money, were all part of this underhanded campaign against Bernie.
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debates → employ → Bernie
So how did they screw Bernie?
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they → screw → Bernie
There was a system in place that was engineered to keep someone like him out, and I accept the reality of that.
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I → be → that
But Clinton’s control of the DNC, dark money super PACS, the way the press covered the race–all of those things that they did, which they should not have done, screwed Bernie.
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they → cover → Bernie
You unpack this in the book, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask: Should the Democratic establishment have felt any allegiance towards Bernie considering the fact that he wasn’t even a member of the Democratic Party?
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he → unpack → Party
I think they should have.
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they → think → ?
Number one, he caucused for them in Congress, in both the House and the Senate.
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he → caucus → House
This is a guy who has demonstrated his fidelity to the Democratic Party.
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who → demonstrate → Party
I think they owed him.
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they → think → him
First of all, he ran as a Democrat.
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he → run → Democrat
The fact that he didn’t [run as an Independent] should’ve been enough for the Democratic establishment to say, ‘We’ll have a fair process.
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We → run → process
We’re not going to screw him.”
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We → go → him
But they did.
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they → do → ?
When I started writing the book, I didn’t really think of it in those terms.
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I → start → terms
I rejected the title initially because I thought it sounded too much like Trump’s rhetoric.
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it → reject → rhetoric
But as I started doing my own research and started writing, I looked back and realized, ‘They really did screw Bernie!’
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They → start → Bernie
I have no doubt that it was an unfair process.
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it → have → doubt
The Democratic National Committee needs to be an independent body.
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Committee → need → ?
That didn’t happen in 2016.
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That → happen → 2016
Clinton controlled it from the very beginning.
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Clinton → control → beginning
…and 73 more, not listed.
The Aporia
