Sanders, Warren Shift to New Hampshire: Campaign Update

(Bloomberg) -- After several days of campaigning in Iowa, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are shifting over to New Hampshire, where the Democratic presidential primary next February is set to play a crucial in their bids for the party’s nomination.

Both candidates have scheduled events in the northern part of the state this week, with a progressive pitch to ideologically similar voters and a regional appeal as senators from the neighboring states of Vermont and Massachusetts.

New Hampshire’s primary is a week after the Iowa caucuses and will serve as a major test for the top candidates in a crowded field.

Sanders, who handily won the state in 2016 over Hilary Clinton, will spend Monday and Tuesday hosting an ice cream social and town halls, one of which will take place in the affluent lake-side summer destination of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, which is buzzing with summer vacationers.

Warren also is in Wolfeboro Wednesday. She’s hosting a house party at the home of New Hampshire State Representative Edie DesMarais and a town hall in Fraconia. President Donald Trump is also scheduled to appear in New Hampshire this week, holding a campaign rally in Manchester Thursday.

A Suffolk University-Boston Globe poll conducted Aug. 1-4 found Sanders ahead Warren in New Hampshire 17% to 14%, though both candidates trailed front-runner Joe Biden’s 21%.

Sanders Aide Challenges 2020 Media ‘Narrative’ (1:50 p.m.)

The Sanders campaign complained Monday that the media has focused too much on his dropping poll numbers and has downplayed surveys that show strength for him.

“We’re on a good track and in position to win in Iowa,” said Jeff Weaver, top strategist to Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders.

He said the campaign has clocked in 850,000 donors and is approaching 2.5 million overall donations.

Weaver declined to address whether Joe Biden is electable but insisted that Sanders would defeat President Donald Trump if he’s the nominee.

“There is no question from all of the data that Bernie Sanders beats Donald Trump head to head,” he said. “He would’ve won in 2016 and he’ll win in 2020.”

Bernie Sanders Strategist Punts on Public Option (11:56 A.M.)

A top strategist for Bernie Sanders said Monday he’s committed to passing “Medicare for all” legislation, and wouldn’t say if Sanders would sign a more modest proposal like a public option into law if Congress can’t pass a single payer bill.

“When you have first and goal from the 5, you don’t kick a field goal,” Sanders adviser Jeff Weaver told reporters on a conference call. “There are too many candidates in the race who are ready to take the 3 points.”

Sanders has worked to define the debate on transforming the U.S. health insurance system into a single government-run plan that covers everybody and all but ends private coverage. He argues that it’s the most cost-effective way to cover everybody, a goal on which Democrats agree, though many of his rivals in the 2020 presidential primary prefer less disruptive solutions.

“It’s a bit premature to talk about hypotheticals like that. Bernie Sanders is committed to passing Medicare for all,” Weaver said, adding that voters know he’ll fight for it.

Even if Sanders is elected president with Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, Medicare for all will be enormously difficult to pass as it faces unanimous opposition from congressional Republicans and skepticism from many Democrats that it would be too costly, disruptive, and politically dangerous.

Democrats Wary of Hardball Tactics on Trump (5:30 A.M.)

Democratic candidates aren’t necessarily all on board with the tactics being used to oppose President Donald Trump and other Republicans, amid criticism they’re guilty of turning up the heat -- rather than helping to cool it -- following mass shootings in Texas and Ohio.

Democrats shouldn’t “play into” Trump’s strategy “to divide the country so he can win,” Michael Bennet, a Colorado senator seeking the 2020 presidential nomination, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “We have to unify this country.”

Several Democratic 2020 hopefuls have tied Trump’s rhetoric to violent behavior, with Beto O’Rourke saying the president bears responsibility for the El Paso massacre by encouraging “open racism” and Joe Biden saying Trump “has fanned the flames of white supremacy.”

Last week, as protesters gathered outside the Louisville, Kentucky, home of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, one was caught on video saying someone should “just stab” the Republican. Representative Joaquin Castro of Texas, whose twin brother Julian Castro is running for president, tweeted the names and businesses of 44 San Antonio donors who have contributed to Trump’s campaign. Such information is publicly available, but the list was criticized for potentially endangering the donors.

Asked on “Face the Nation” if Castro’s tweet was helpful or dangerous, presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York senator, replied: “Those are his choices, not mine.”

And candidate Tim Ryan, an Ohio congressman, said he didn’t support the protests outside McConnell’s home. “There’s no place for that in the United States of America. You keep it civil. You keep it in the public discourse,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.” “I do not condone it, and I think we do need to lower the temperature.” -- Jennifer Dlouhy and Mark Niquette

COMING UP

* Kamala Harris continues her bus tour of Iowa
* The Democratic National Committee holds its meeting Aug. 22-24. All Democratic presidential candidates are expected to speak.
* Trump holds a “Keep America Great” rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Thursday.

--With assistance from Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Mark Niquette and Sahil Kapur.

To contact the reporter on this story: Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou in Washington at megkolfopoul@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Joe Sobczyk, Anna Edgerton

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