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A4 U.S. NEWS
Saturday 2 March 2019
It's Bernie 2.0: More professional, more personal this time

By STEVE PEOPLES and play politics with this.'"
JUANA SUMMERS Shakir and a team that fea-
Associated Press tures women and minorities
NEW YORK (AP) — A young in at least five senior roles so
civil rights activist named far replaces an overwhelm-
Bernard Sanders was arrest- ingly white, male team
ed and dragged off to jail previously led by former
for protesting school segre- campaign manager Jeff
gation on the South Side of Weaver, who will stay on as
Chicago in the summer of a senior adviser.
1963. Sanders parted ways with
Most voters didn't learn three longtime media con-
about that episode un- sultants who cited "creative
til photos surfaced in late differences" in deciding to
February 2016, almost 10 leave the campaign.
months into the Vermont To address past concerns
senator's first presidential about sexual harassment
campaign. Sanders had and pay inequity, the new
been struggling to win over campaign will feature
African-American voters, mandatory training high-
but his topsy-turvy cam- lighting an independent
paign team didn't know phone line to report issues
such powerful evidence of and a fixed pay scale for
his civil rights bona fides ex- virtually every position. By
isted until five days before In this Nov. 27, 2018, file photo, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks about his new book, 'Where We the end of the next week,
Go From Here: Two Years in the Resistance', at a George Washington University/Politics and Prose
South Carolina's primary. event in Washington. the campaign expects to
Sanders lost the Southern Associated Press have roughly 35 people on
contest, which is heav- the payroll, Shakir said. By
ily influenced by the black socialist will hold high-pro- this time is we're built to win more professional cam- comparison, Sanders' cam-
vote, by almost 50 points. file rallies in Brooklyn and and planning to win from paign based in Washing- paign had only around two
As he launches his second Chicago, where he'll open the very beginning," said ton with a team that is em- dozen people on the pay-
presidential campaign this up about his working-class Faiz Shakir, Sanders' cam- bracing a more personal roll in June 2015.
weekend, Sanders and roots and early activism — paign manager, who last message, a more diverse Weaver said Sanders' prov-
his team are determined including the arrest — as he week became the first Mus- staff and a much more or- en ability to raise money
not to repeat the same tries to prove he's learned lim hired to lead a major ganized nationwide opera- allows his second presiden-
mistake. The 77-year-old from his 2016 stumbles. U.S. presidential effort. tion. It's all backed by the tial campaign to be much
self-described democratic "What is different of course Welcome to Bernie 2.0, a strongest fundraising op- more organized and delib-
eration in the 2020 Demo- erate with its resources.
cratic field. Beyond Washington,
For this candidate, more they're actively assem-
than others, the new ap- bling paid teams in the first
proach has risks. states on the primary cal-
Turning to a more typical endar: Iowa, New Hamp-
presidential campaign, in- shire, South Carolina and
cluding an appealing per- Nevada — in addition to
sonal story, could help in California, where the team
some areas. But it also could plans to compete aggres-
threaten to alienate voters sively against home state
who have been drawn to Sen. Kamala Harris.
Sanders' aggressive policies "We don't talk about the
and no-frills speeches. And first four states, we talk
while he won over millions about the first five," Weaver
of Democrats three years said, noting that Sanders is
ago as the unpolished anti- in the process of schedul-
establishment alternative ing a California rally.
to Hillary Clinton, he faces Sanders can afford to be
a much more complicated aggressive.
and crowded path to the He has dwarfed his early
nomination in 2020. competition in fundraising
But as the only repeat can- so far, raking in roughly $10
didate, Sanders joins the million in his first week as an
2020 Democratic field not announced candidate.
an outlier, but a front-run- That gives him the time and
ner. The decision to shift resources to try new ap-
his headquarters from Ver- proaches, including talking
mont to Washington, Shakir about himself more often.
said, "is the sign of a confi- In 2016, Sanders was laser-
dent candidate that's just focused on liberal policies
like, 'Hey, we're going to to address income inequal-
base this where it's func- ity in his first run, barely
tionally attractive for me to mentioning his own person-
be based. I'm not trying to al story.q