“America has a rigged economy held in place by a corrupt system of campaign finance.” — the message Tad Devine developed for Bernie Sanders, which tested highest in Iowa and New Hampshire in 2015

How the Democrats Screwed Bernie. It could have been coined by Donald Trump. That was Tad Devine’s first objection when his editor floated it. But as Devine, Bernie Sanders’ chief strategist on his 2016 Presidential campaign, worked on the book about the 2016 campaign, he realised it most accurately expressed how he felt about what actually happened. And so the new tell-all — the inside account of the historic Sanders campaign — is, indeed, entitled How the Democrats Screwed Bernie.

Devine was never an outsider. He worked on Al Gore’s 2000 and John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaigns. He first met Bernie Sanders in 1996, when Peter DeFazio — the Oregon congressman for whom Devine and his partner Mike Donilon had just run a near-miraculous campaign — suggested they meet. Sanders had almost lost his House seat in 1994. Devine’s campaign won it back by 26 points. Ten years later, Devine ran Sanders’ successful Senate campaign against a free-spending billionaire. They won by 30 points. Devine schooled Bernie in the insider-politics of the Democratic party. But he didn’t transform him into an insider. Bernie was and is always Bernie. The consummate outsider.

So how, exactly, did the Dems screw Bernie? According to Devine, it was a coordinated campaign by the Clinton Machine, the DNC, and a network of Super PACs to stop a wildly popular outsider through dark money, dirty tricks, and deliberately structured primary rules. The unHillary candidate who, Devine argues, may well have been the people’s choice — and could have beaten Donald Trump in November 2016.

But Bernie’s real legacy, Devine insists, is not what was done to him. It’s his campaign message. “America has a rigged economy held in place by a corrupt system of campaign finance.” That outsider language — which Devine developed with pollster Ben Tulchin — captures how America is screwing itself. The consummate insider Trump stole Bernie’s language. And if the Democrats want to screw the MAGA crowd in 2028, they need to seize back this outsider message.

Five Takeaways

• The Title That Sounded Like Trump. Devine initially resisted: I don’t want to be anything like him. But it most accurately expressed how he felt. The Clinton Machine, the DNC, Super PACs, and deliberately structured primary rules stopped a wildly popular outsider. A candidate who may well have defeated Donald Trump.

• How Devine Met Bernie. 1996. Peter DeFazio introduced them. Sanders had almost lost his House seat. Devine won it back by 26 points. Ten years later, won the Senate race against a billionaire by 30 points. Bernie: Tad, you’re my link to the establishment. Devine: Bernie, you’re a United States senator.

• The Rigged Economy Message. Devine and pollster Ben Tulchin combined two arguments into one sentence: “America has a rigged economy held in place by a corrupt system of campaign finance.” Highest-testing message in Iowa and New Hampshire. That is Bernie’s real legacy: the structural diagnosis.

• The Real Populist vs the Phony One. Trump grabbed Bernie’s diagnosis and added xenophobia, racism, and pathological lying. Bernie represents government serving people. Trump represents government serving rich people in the language of the working class. The fight for 2028 is between the real and the phony.

• AOC, Ro Khanna, and 2028. Bernie won’t run. But one or more Bernie-style candidates will. At this point in 2006, Obama was a state senator. The 2028 nominee may not yet be on the radar. The base is desperate for new leadership. The only way to stop Trump is to beat him in elections.

About the Guest

Tad Devine is a Democratic political strategist and chief strategist for Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign. He is the author of How the Democrats Screwed Bernie (Simon & Schuster, July 7, 2026).

References

How the Democrats Screwed Bernie by Tad Devine (Simon & Schuster, July 7, 2026): simonandschuster.com/books/How-the-Democrats-Screwed-Bernie/Tad-Devine/9781668232286

About Keen On America

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Chapters:

00:00:31 Tad Devine, Gore, Kerry, Bernie
00:02:34 The title: sounds like Trump
00:03:46 How Devine met Bernie: 1996
00:04:32 Bernie, you’re my link to the establishment
00:35:00 The rigged economy message
00:39:50 The real populist vs the phony one
00:40:59 AOC, Ro Khanna, and 2028
00:42:39 Will there be a fair election in 2028?