Monday, June 27, 2016
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
It seemed like a surprising party of two.
There was Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton’s top campaign aide, known for his calm temperament and fiercely disciplined ways, and Jeff Weaver, a combative political fighter often called Bernie Sanders’ alter ego, sharing a Friday night dinner at The Farmhouse Tap & Grill in Burlington, Vt.
But over the long months of a frequently contentious primary, the two rival Democratic campaign managers struck up an unusually friendly relationship, founded on exhaustion, goofy jokes and a shared affection for their home state of Vermont.
They talk almost daily, text frequently and email often.
Now, as Sanders lingers in the presidential race, refusing to concede the nomination to Clinton even as he says he’ll vote for her on Election Day, the competing campaign managers have become a powerful political odd couple, responsible for engineering a graceful conclusion to a hard-fought Democratic contest.
“I’ve really come to respect him,” Mook said. “There were some tense moments, but he was always honest, straightforward and very easy to work with.”
Weaver is equally effusive in his praise.
“I think he’s the kind of guy who is doing what he does for the right reasons,” Weaver said about Mook. “He believes in the cause, and he believes in making the world a better place.”
After Clinton and Sanders met at Washington hotel this month, their managers stayed until almost midnight, attempting to hammer out an agreement that would give Sanders some of the changes he wants to make to the party’s platform. During his Friday trip to Vermont, Mook made sure to meet with Sanders supporters.
Some of the communication hints at far closer cooperation to come.
The two camps are increasingly comparing notes on how best to attack presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump. Clinton’s campaign and state Democratic parties have hired some Sanders staffers, and there is chatter about joint events to come.
Though Clinton largely has unified Democratic leadership around her bid, she’s struggling to win over the young and liberal voters who supported Sanders, a Vermont senator.
Sanders is pushing for ways of addressing key economic issues in the Democratic platform, including trade, providing free college tuition and expanding Medicare and Social Security.
“Right now, what we are doing is trying to say to the Clinton campaign, stand up, be bolder than you have been. And then many of those voters in fact may come on board,” Sanders told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
He also wants procedural changes, such as allowing independents to participate in primaries and curtailing the role of superdelegates – the party leaders who help determine the party’s nominee.