Bernie Sanders reinforces the direction of his campaign in New Hampshire

2020 elections

"The people who helped Bernie win here last time knew and felt that something was very different and not for the better," said a board member

MANCHESTER, NH – Senator Bernie Sanders has replaced the director of his presidential campaign in the state of New Hampshire after growing indignation from his most ferocious supporters, claiming that their concerns about the loss of the first primary states were ignored.

More than 50 members of Sanders' executive committee applauded Sunday afternoon when they learned that Joe Caiazzo had been reassigned to Massachusetts, according to those present in the room. The news was relayed by the new director, Shannon Jackson, who presided over Senator Sanders' re-election in 2018.

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"The people who helped Bernie win here last time knew and felt that something was very different and not for the better," said a steering committee member who attended the meeting. "We know our state, we know our counties and we see what other campaigns do in the field. We were not happy with what we saw. "

The upheaval comes as progressive voters in New Hampshire consider Senator Elizabeth Warren a better option to beat President Donald Trump. At a Democratic Congress here a little over a week ago, a notable number of delegates from states voted for Sanders in 2016 said that they had moved their support to Warren. Even members of the Sanders Steering Committee – his most ardent supporters – said that they were watching Warren.

Polls in this state reveal an extremely tight race, with Sanders at 22 percent, former vice president Joe Biden at 21.5 percent and Warren at 19.3 percent, according to the average Real Clear Politics polls.

A Sanders advisor suggested another reason for moving Caiazzo to Massachusetts, Warren's state of residence.

"Given Senator Warren's interest in Massachusetts, competitors have a tremendous opportunity," said the advisor. "Coupled with the fact [that] Massachusetts has a large number of delegates, so it is important to vigorously challenge the Commonwealth. Campaigns that are not wrong. "

This change is one of many staff reshuffles in recent weeks. The Sanders Campaign is also separated from Senior Advisor Kurt Ehrenberg, a respected local grassroots activist who was with Sanders since the beginning.

"From the beginning, there has been a fundamental disagreement about how to conduct a successful primary campaign in New Hampshire," Ehrenberg said. "There was a strong disagreement."

Ehrenberg was one of the driving forces behind Sanders' introduction to New Hampshire, helping him win important commitments to union groups for nearly 10 years. He served as New Hampshire's state director in Sanders' presidential campaign in 2016. Sanders beat Hillary Clinton by 22 points that year, helping to launch a nearly five-month-old primary battle nationwide.

Ben Collings also began working as Maine's state director for the Sanders campaign last week. An assistant to Sanders said state directors or officials had recently been added to Oklahoma, Colorado and Minnesota, as well as to Massachusetts. And some senior executives have been invited to caucus and primary states.

In addition, Mike Casca, Sanders 'Director of Rapid Response in 2016, was hired as Sanders' Senior Communications Advisor. Ari Rabin-Havt and Arianna Jones have been promoted to assistant campaign directors.

Hires and staff changes are aimed at strengthening the Sanders team in the early states, as well as those who will hold their presidential primaries next Tuesday, announced his campaign. Massachusetts is one of those states.

Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir said Sunday that things were going well in New Hampshire.

"We are really pleased with the situation in New Hampshire and where we are," Shakir said. "The campaign has a strong volunteer activity in this state, great staff, and participation in events with Bernie has been particularly strong lately as well. So we are very happy with where we are in New Hampshire.

"We are now trying to think around the corner and see where the next challenges will come from and put ourselves in a position to secure the appointment, and we are moving and recruiting staff in accordance with that."

Sanders' allies, however, said the campaign did not hold the key: listen to your followers and treat them with respect. At the Sunday meeting, some left northern New Hampshire for several hours to voice their concerns.

"The main problem is the lack of respect and wastage of the base of the campaign in 2016," said a member of the steering committee. "It's the people who are true believers that Bernie Sanders would be a great president."

All committee members interviewed spoke under cover of anonymity for fear of retaliation for the campaign. They said the campaign was planning to announce staff changes on Monday.

"People felt disused, like," God, how could they do that? "" Said another member. "They said our measures were pretty good. But it seems to me that something is wrong.