AP Changes Story on Joe Biden Refusal to Back Nominee

Updated - The Associated Press reported a story by Bill Barrow in Iowa yesterday with the headline, "Biden won't commit to backing Sanders if he's the nominee."

Today, the same AP piece's headline reads: "Biden won’t say whether Sanders could unify Dems as nominee."

The new formulation in the headline changes the meaning from Joe Biden committing a 'unity' foul to Bernie Sanders generating disunity.

The lead graf also has been changed from "Former Vice President Joe Biden stopped short Tuesday of saying he’d support Bernie Sanders if the progressive Vermont senator wins the Democratic presidential nomination," to "Former Vice President Joe Biden wouldn’t say Tuesday whether he thinks Bernie Sanders could effectively unify the Democrats if the Vermont senator wins the party’s presidential nomination."

The AP explains: "This story has been corrected to show that Biden was questioned on whether Sanders could unite the party as the nominee, not whether Biden would support Sanders if he’s the nominee."

Biden said,  "I just think that it depends upon how we treat one another between now and the time we have a nominee." It is Biden's support.

"The Biden campaign said [later] Tuesday afternoon that the former vice president would support the eventual nominee," reported the AP.

Who needs the Biden campaign to clean up Joe's mess when they have corporate press?

This AP fronting for the Democratic Party establishment exemplifies the desperation to stop the Bernie Sanders campaign.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — Former Vice President Joe Biden stopped short Tuesday of saying he’d support Bernie Sanders if the progressive Vermont senator wins the Democratic presidential nomination....

apnews.com

Biden won't commit to backing Sanders if he's the nominee

The corporate media and Democrats live in a small world. As Glenn Greenwald laughs off the latest round of ridiculousness:

It's absolutely vital that the Democrats nominate someone acceptable to David Frum, Jen Rubin, and the 9 other Never-Trump Republicans who exist nowhere other than on cable news & op-ed pages.

They have demonstrated great moral fibre and we must take heed of their guidance: https://t.co/7g0KJiC1Cb

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 29, 2020

Democrat Attack on Bernie Sanders Tells Voters: 'Stay away from Party'

The Democratic Party establishment wants Hillary Clinton as the nominee in 2020, but without Hillary Clinton.

Make no mistake, the Democratic presidential primary campaign of 2020 is not about America or the American people.

The Primary campaign is about protecting elite power in the swamp, and preventing the perceived usurpers from gaining a foothold on our country through the Bernie Sanders campaign.

The attacks launched against Sanders today — incoherent and splatter-shot though they are — mimic the assault of January 2016 in which Democratic hysteria and corruption gave us Donald Trump.

Today's attacks are character assassination against the Sanders campaign. I won't review them here.

As Bernie Sanders' campaign challenges the pro-war, pro-special interests racket that the Democrats have become, the establishment is longer pretending to care about the people.

The blob is simply looking for allies to stop Sanders.

And in Trumpian fashion, campaign rules are for Bernie Sanders, and not for Joe Biden and other Democrats.

Consider this dispatch from Iowa, which the AP quickly changed to reflect poorly on Sanders from refelcting poorly on Joe Biden.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — Former Vice President Joe Biden stopped short Tuesday of saying he’d support Bernie Sanders if the rogressive Vermont senator wins the Democratic presidential nomination....

apnews.com

Biden won't commit to backing Sanders if he's the nominee

 --

The Associated Press reported the story yesterday with the headline, "Biden won't commit to backing Sanders if he's the nominee."

Today, the same AP piece headline reads: "Biden won’t say whether Sanders could unify Dems as nominee."

The new formulation in the headline changes the meaning from Joe Biden committing a 'unity' foul to Bernie Sanders generating doubt.

The lead also has been changed from "Former Vice President Joe Biden stopped short Tuesday of saying he’d support Bernie Sanders if the progressive Vermont senator wins the Democratic presidential nomination," to "Former Vice President Joe Biden wouldn’t say Tuesday whether he thinks Bernie Sanders could effectively unify the Democrats if the Vermont senator wins the party’s presidential nomination."

Democrats and the corporate media are a scam.

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For analysis of the broader war of elites against Bernie Sanders, see:

From Krystal Ball at Rising.

Bernie Sanders Surges as Party and Special Interests Wince

The Bernie Sanders campaign has generated appeal in precisely the demographics needed to beat Donald Trump — white, rural voters.

So, naturally the can-do-little-right Democratic Party establishment is desperate to stop Sanders in rural Iowa.

From the Associated Press:

[S]simmering tensions within the Democratic Party are apparent. Establishment officials are struggling to mask their concern about Bernie Sanders’ strength with polls showing the self-described democratic socialist running strong in both Iowa and New Hampshire. 

Anecdotal reports from Iowa shows the Sanders field operation finding significant support in the field one week out from the Feb 3 caucuses.

The number of "Commit to Caucus cards" field reps are filling out with Iowa folks shows caucus voters want an authentic, candid contact that Bernie Sanders delivers.

Combined with the field operation's sheer numbers, Sanders seems to be finding casual-voter support ripe for whichever campaign has the best-organized and best-staffed field operations.

It's no good to run up contact numbers, we need good contacts to win, appears an ethic of many Sanders field operatives. It better be.

"Convincing Iowans to support a candidate requires a field organizer to forge genuine relationships; the caucus process takes hours and is conducted in full public view, so voters need to believe in a campaign to subject themselves to it," notes 538.

Many Iowans make up their mind in the last 10 days, notes Dan Guild at Bleeding Heartland.

The question remains: In the sprint to the Iowa Caucuses, can the Democratic Party stop caucus voters from casting their preferences?