Hello #Risers! Welcome to our newsletter. If you haven’t already, tell your friends to sign up by sharing the link to this post!
As promised every week we’ll tell you what our favorite segments of the week are, give you a written and expanded version of #RisingQs, and give you our weekly takeaways. If there’s anything you love, like, dislike, or hate don’t hesitate to reply to this email with your thoughts!
Book Q&A:
Many of you have asked us questions about our forthcoming book ‘The Populist’s Guide To 2020,’ SO here is everything you need to know:
1) It will be available on February 8th, 2020. Make sure you are subscribed to this newsletter for exclusive previews, to get notified first on how to pre-order, and more.
2) We’re launching the book in Los Angeles on February 8th with special guest Jimmy Dore! VIP Tickets are already sold out but general admission seats are still available. Come meet us!
3) We’re coming to NYC on March 6th with special guests Michael Brooks and Kyle Kulinski for a special live book show. VIP Tickets have sold out for this one as well and general admission seats are selling out fast!
TICKETS: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/risings-krystal-ball-and-saagar-enjeti-live-tickets-88550184987
Favorite Segments Of The Week
1) LIVE Post Debate Show:
Why: The LIVE post-debate shows are always one of our favorite things to do. This time we had Sanders National Press Secretary Briahna Joy Gray in studio to react to Elizabeth Warren’s ‘sexism’ attack on Bernie. The panel reacted to Warren’s refusal to shake Bernie’s hand and the media’s outrageous bias.
2) Nina Turner:
Why: Sanders national co-chair Nina Turner joined us ahead of the debate to emphasize that the campaign is ready to take the gloves off against Joe Biden. Nina had just written an op-ed about Biden’s record on race in South Carolina and previewed what the two-person race is likely to hinge on.
3) Cenk Ugyur:
Why: Cenk joined us live from Iowa after the debate to give us his take on the Bernie-Warren spat. He accurately predicted that Bernie would go up in the polls afterwards and that her attack wouldn’t land.
Weekly Takeaways:
Krystal’s Takeaway:
This week Elizabeth Warren’s campaign launched the most vicious and personal attack of the cycle by alleging that Bernie Sanders said a woman couldn’t win the presidency. CNN leapt to take Warren’s side in the dispute in such an outrageous way that even Mika Brzezinski was stunned by the outrageous bias they displayed at Tuesday night’s debate.
The most charitable interpretation of the situation is that it’s a he said/she said. In reality, given Sanders’ consistent record of telling the truth and Warren’s consistent record of misrepresentation when it serves to make her look more aggrieved or victimized, it should be clear to all who is most likely the honest broker in this situation.
To any fair minded observer, the truth was obvious. Elizabeth Warren had slid in the polls, was being written off by the media, and needed a game changer to get herself back into contention with the Iowa Caucus rapidly approaching. Rather than aiming for her longtime ideological nemesis Joe Biden, she decided to launch a scurrilous attack on her “friend” Bernie Sanders, rightly understanding that the media has much more interest in covering this kind of political gossip and manufactured drama than actual policy disputes.
It’s still early but it sure looks like the attempt to throw the race into chaos backfired. A new poll of New Hampshire has Sanders in first. A new Reuters/Ipsos national poll shows a Sanders surge into first. Additional data gives us a hint as to why the attack didn’t land. While the media and the Democratic establishment may irrationally despise Sanders and paint him with all sorts of nefarious motives, in the real world he is well liked. Polling this week found Sanders to be the most popular Senator in the entire country. Elizabeth Warren on the other hand rated among the least popular.
Warren and the media decided to get into a credibility battle with Sanders and so far, it looks to have been a tremendous miscalculation.
Saagar’s Takeaway:
I remain mystified as to why the progressive left is conducting itself so tepidly ahead of an election that they tell us is existential. I outlined Friday how I believe that Bernie Sanders does not appear to actually want to win given his lack of ability to call Elizabeth Warren a liar to her face, lash out at CNN during the debate, and generally display a killer instinct for his opponent.
One of the most stunning pieces of my monologue Friday was demonstrating how vicious the 2008 Democratic primary between Obama and Hillary was. Obama called out Hillary for her Iraq war vote, he called out her vote for NAFTA, and ruthlessly attacked her on the airwaves in South Carolina during the election. Bernie Sanders aside from a view moments on national TV and the debate stage has not once attacked Joe Biden with the same level of vitriol.
The same thing applies to the media. On the right, when the media lies or is biased against you then the best thing to do is simply call them out to their face. Bernie sat there as the CNN moderators openly sided with Elizabeth Warren in a move so transparent that even the audience laughed. His general reticence to draw contrasts between himself, Warren, and Biden in a more hard edged way shows to me that he doesn’t believe some of his own rhetoric about how high the stakes of the election really are.
When you’re anti-establishment you have to fight tooth and nail in order to overcome obstacles that your opponents never will. Only a fighting spirit can do it for you, and Bernie doesn’t seem to have what it takes.