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Democracy Alliance Members Had to ‘Recover’ After Election
Spent 'unprecedented money' on youth vote, got less support
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during a campaign rally in Raleigh, N.C. / AP
BY: Elizabeth Harrington
November 16, 2016 4:59 am
Organizers for the dark money group Democracy Alliance told supporters about the need to “rest and recover” after a “hard day” on Nov. 8.
Anne Johnson, the managing principal at Grassroots Solutions, helped plan a panel at the George Soros-backed donor network on the youth vote in the 2016 election, according to an email obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
“Hi all – A hard day for sure,” Johnson wrote to organizers on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and leading supporters on Nov. 9. “But, so many thanks for the incredible work you’ve done over the past year (or more) to make sure young voters were engaged this year.”
“I think we can say the youth vote was one of the few bright [spots on] a tough night,” she said. “I hope folks get some time to rest and recover in the coming days.”
The email contained ideas for an agenda for youth panel at the Democracy Alliance conference, which ran from Sunday through Tuesday at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Washington, D.C. After spending tens of millions of dollars in support of Clinton’s candidacy, liberal donors were looking to pick up the pieces after the election of Donald Trump.
Johnson sent the email to Sarah Audelo, who was Hillary Clinton’s youth vote director on her campaign, and the director of the Youth Engagement Fund at the Democracy Alliance Austin Belali. Others on the email included Denise Feriozzi, the political director at the pro-abortion group EMILY’s List; Heather Hargreaves, a vice president of the Tom Steyer group NextGen Climate; and Ian Simmons, of Blue Haven Initiative.
Despite Johnson’s satisfaction with the youth vote, exit polls showed Clinton did not perform as well with millennials as President Barack Obama. Clinton failed to energize voters aged 18 to 34, as many decided to vote third party or stay home.
Johnson’s email also notes that Democrats spent “unprecedented money” on the youth vote during the 2016 election.
The Democracy Alliance Youth Engagement Fund held the panel on Monday afternoon, and discussed topics such as “investments made in youth engagement,” and “Show the importance (and success) of by the YEF/YEAF and the progressive movement as a whole.”
Under “goals,” Johnson said the panel should “Demonstrate the scale of youth work in 2016—unprecedented money and program.”
The panel agenda demonstrated some doubt among the group, as Johnson asked, “How do we deal with young people’s skepticism with institutions? What will make young people want to engage/vote/join??”
Johnson also suggested a topic for discussion could be to ask donors if they could “wave a magic wand” and change how the network approached the 2016 election.
“If you could go back to 2015 and do something different (wave a magic wand) to get ready for 2016 what would you do? Can we apply those lesson [sic] to 2017 and beyond?”
Soros group bands with mega-donors to resist Trump and 'take back power' for Democrats
- Democratic moneyman George Soros and his wealthy friends spent the last three days huddled in DC contemplating their missteps in the election
- Before the hush-hush meeting of the Soros-founded Democracy Alliance they were told 'to resist the assaults that are coming'
- Liberals must push forward with work, even as the group undergoes a reassessment, its president said
- DA's elite members must donate at least $200,000 a year to an approved list of left-wing organizations; dues alone are $30,000
- A panel on Trump's first 100 days his plans as a terrifying assault on President Obama’s achievements — and our progressive vision'
- A Tuesday morning session considered the possibility that the election was 'hacked' by the Russians
PUBLISHED: 12:28 EST, 16 November 2016 | UPDATED: 17:32 EST, 16 November 2016
Democratic moneyman George Soros and his wealthy friends spent the last three days huddled in Washington contemplating their missteps in the 2016 election.
Before the hush-hush meeting of the Soros-founded Democracy Alliance, megadonors to the Democratic Party who helped Hillary Clinton raise more than $1 billion for her White House bid were urged 'to resist the assaults that are coming' from Donald Trump and his allies and 'take back power' from Republicans.
'You don’t lose an election you were supposed to win, with so much at stake, without making some big mistakes, in assumptions, strategy and tactics,' Gara LaMarche, president of the Democracy Alliance, admitted in his opening statement.
Yet, LaMarche said the group must push forward with its work, according to Politico, even as it undergoes a reassessment.
Democratic moneyman George Soros and his wealthy friends spent the last three days huddled in Washington contemplating their missteps in the 2016 election
Self-reflection 'must take place without recrimination and finger-pointing, whatever frustration and anger some of us feel about our own allies in these efforts,' he told the group Sunday, per his prepared remarks.
'It is a process we should not rush, even as we gear up to resist the Trump administration.'
Soros and the late Peter Lewis formed Democracy Alliance in 2004 in the wake of John Kerry's disastrous electoral loss to George W. Bush. The group was determined to push Democrats to the left by putting pressure on them through outside groups.
DA's elite members must donate at least $200,000 a year to an approved list of left-wing organizations such as Media Matters and the Center for American Progress.
Politico estimates that DA members have given more than $500 million to leftist causes since 2005.
Their two-election streak ended last week when Clinton, a liberal who was yanked to the left by her primary opponent, Bernie Sanders, lost the White House to Trump, a billionaire businessman who centered his campaign on job creation.
Liberals who gave under the banner of the the Democracy Alliance in the last the election donated to Clinton's SuperPAC, Priorities USA, as well.
The Washington Post reviewed Clinton's fundraising in October and found that a fifth of the money that went to her campaign, joint fundraising committee, the nominating convention host committee, her PACs and the Democratic Party came from 100 individuals or unions.
Five mega-donors and their wives were responsible for one in every $17 dollars that have been spent on Clinton's campaign to that point.
Among them: Soros, a hedge fund manager, who donated $9.9 million and Donald Sussman, another hedge fund manager who bet $20.6 million on Clinton.
Sussman is also a member of the Democracy Alliance.
Hillary Clinton, a liberal who was yanked to the left by her primary opponent, Bernie Sanders, lost the White House to Trump, a billionaire businessman who centered his campaign on job creation, despite a large
Democracy Alliance's three-day affair in Washington, D.C. was cram-packed with panels featuring lawmakers such as Elizabeth Warren, left, and Keith Ellison, right, a progressive congressman and a candidate for chair the DNC
'The DA itself should be called into question,' a Democratic strategist attending the meeting told Politico, reflecting on the setback. 'You can make a very good case it’s nothing more than a social club for a handful wealthy white donors and labor union officials to drink wine and read memos, as the Democratic Party burns down around them.'
The three-day affair in Washington, D.C. that began last Sunday and was cram-packed with panels featuring lawmakers such as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Congressman Keith Ellison, a progressive and a candidate for chair the DNC, and leading liberal figures.
A panel on Trump's first 100 days in office described the president-elect's plans as 'a terrifying assault on President Obama’s achievements — and our progressive vision for an equitable and just nation.'
CAP President Neera Tanden, a confidante of Clinton's who routinely complained about liberals helping Sanders in emails to John Podesta that were published by Wikileaks, was a scheduled speaker.
Monday afternoon attendees discussed Trump's election through the lens of misogyny 'and the Right's continued assault on women' that 'demonstrates that sexism is still very much manifest in our country.'
A Tuesday morning session considered the possibility that the election was 'hacked' by the Russians.
A panel on Trump's first 100 days in office described the president-elect's plans as a terrifying assault on President Obama’s achievements — and our progressive vision for an equitable and just nation.' Trump's seen above on Capitol Hill last week
Considerable time was allotted for conversations about 'what happened and what we need to do to go forward.'
Warren spoke at a Monday lunch that was listed as 'what happened and why.'
Soros was listed as a speaker Tuesday morning, suggesting a sturdy commitment on the Hungarian-born financier's part to future giving to combat Trump.
He lived through 'Nazism and Communism, and had devoted his foundations to protecting the kids of open societies around the world that are now threatened in the United States itself,' the agenda said.
His 'global perspective' is one that is 'important for us all to hear it added.'
