A nonprofit group that is boosting moderate Democrats is waging an assault to stop Sen. Bernard Sanders’ march to the party’s presidential nomination.
The Big Tent Project reportedly spent $200,000 in Nevada attacking Mr. Sanders in ads aimed at Latino voters and now has turned its attention to South Carolina, where it hopes to help drive a wedge between the Vermont senator and Democratic voters.
The group is sending more than 200,000 mailers to South Carolinians arguing that if Mr. Sanders, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, wins the nomination, President Trump would win reelection, according to Axios.
The mailers spotlight Mr. Sanders’ policy wish-list and approach to fiscal issues.
“Trump will crush Bernie on taxes and spending,” one mailer reads. “Nominating Bernie means we reelect Trump. We can’t afford Bernie Sanders.”
The Big Tent Project’s budget is reportedly near $1 million, and the group is organized so that it does not have to disclose its donors. Its executive director is Jonathan Kott, a former aide to Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat.
In Nevada, the group ran ads showing the message, “Sanders made money hurting the Latino community. Say no to Sanders.” The group also spent more than $15,000 in the final seven days before the caucus running the ads in both English and Spanish on Facebook in Nevada, according to Facebook’s Ad Library.
The Big Tent Project is far from the only “dark money” group opposed to Mr. Sanders in favor of more moderate Democrats. Center Action Now spent slightly more than $8,000 attacking Mr. Sanders in the final seven days before the New Hampshire primary.
In Nevada, the group spent nearly twice that amount on Facebook ads that made no mention of Mr. Sanders, according to the Facebook Ad Library. Instead, the ads promoted a vision of the Democratic Party led by former President John F. Kennedy and warned of the rise of “extremist candidates” such as British Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The anti-Sanders efforts have not ostensibly thwarted Mr. Sanders’ rise or coalesced support for any of his Democratic presidential primary competitors.
Mr. Sanders won the Nevada caucus with 34% of the vote, nearly doubling the total of moderate Joseph R. Biden, who brought in 17.6%. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who also is running as a moderate, came in third with 15.4%.
Nationally, Mr. Sanders leads the Real Clear Politics average of polls with 29%, compared with Mr. Biden’s 17% and former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s 15%.
While the $450 million Mr. Bloomberg has spent on advertising overshadows the rest of the Democratic field, Mr. Sanders has not shied away from fighting his opponents’ advertising online.
Mr. Sanders campaign has spent $43.7 million on ads on television, radio, and Facebook and Google, according to Ad Age Datacenter’s tabulation published Monday.
Mr. Sanders’ campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
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