Honestly, the other 2020 Democrats might as well pack it in, because the presidential primary is over. CNN is now reporting that Danny Barefoot, oh yes, the Danny Barefoot, has finally made up his mind and has endorsed Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.
"Some voters have decided that they have seen and heard enough and are now zeroing in on his or her top candidate," CNN host Brooke Baldwin announced before her interview of Barefoot Tuesday. "For Democratic strategist Danny Barefooot, his months of flirting with multiple candidates is over. After placing several Democrats in his top spot, Barefoot had decided he is now all in for Senator Elizabeth Warren."
The CNN chyron and description really hammered home Barefoot's importance, describing him as a "Dem" and also a "Democrat who has decided to support Elizabeth Warren." For four minutes, Baldwin asked Barefoot to lay out the reasons why he supports Elizabeth Warren, and Barefoot responded that, well, Elizabeth Warren is awesome.
I suspect there is some scoffing at home that Danny Barefoot isn't that famous, and I've never heard of Danny Barefoot, and aren't there roughly 5 thousand faceless political consultants and 10 billion or so Democratic campaign staffers in D.C., and why on Earth should he get a CNN interview that just serves as de facto commercial for Elizabeth Warren? So for the sake of you drooling ignoramuses, let's lay out the metrics behind what a big deal this guy is.
With Danny Barefoot on her side, Warren can expect to win the vote of all 5,700 of his Twitter followers, and all four of the individuals who follow his employer, Anvil Strategies. Ol' Dan No-Shoes (as Sally Quinn famously dubbed him) ended up on TV because Baldwin saw his Twitter thread in which the most popular tweet received over 170 retweets (as of this writing).
After a bunch of thought, I’ve decided I’m throwing my support, money, and time behind @ewarren. I told myself I'd keep an open mind before making a choice this cycle. And I did. (A Thread) pic.twitter.com/fQ7PvlpkxB
— Danny Barefoot (@dannybarefoot) August 26, 2019
That's pretty influential. Baldwin likewise could have interviewed this cat sleeping on Doritos, who received 10 times as many retweets.
— Bodega Cats (@Bodegacats_) August 23, 2019
She also could have interviewed this liberal journalist, who got three times as many retweets for wondering why the hell CNN was interviewing some guy named "Danny Barefoot" and just rattling off pro-Warren talking points.
CNN's @BrookeBCNN LITERALLY just brought on a no-name Democrat strategist (no offense @dannybarefoot) to showcase his monumental Twitter endorsement of...@ewarren. It is LITERALLY a free TV ad for Warren. This is the growing propaganda that's masquerading for news. pic.twitter.com/o7kAIfqSjw
— Jordan (@JordanChariton) August 27, 2019
Heck, my most retweeted hot take yesterday hit over 300 retweets, and I also have roughly 7.5 times more followers than Mr. Barefoot. I expect my CNN interview request got caught in the spam folder.
Donny Barefoot has also been mentioned in the D.C. paper of record the Washington Post, albeit just the once in 2012, and because he got caught donating to a PAC that ran a false attack ad against his husband's opponent in his race for Alexandria City Council. "Anvil Strategies" has never been mentioned in the Post. But maybe that's a bad metric of influence; again, I've been mentioned 17 times in the Post, and am I really more relevant than some guy CNN went to for expert analysis? That'd be really embarrassing. Really, really embarrassing.
Anvil Strategies did play a key role in the 2018 election, during which the only disbursements they received were from "Friends of Shira Goodman." Yep, THE Shira Goodman. Oh wait, no, not the Shira Goodman who was CEO of Staples, the one who ran for Congress in Pennsylvania's 4th District and lost the Democratic primary by 50 points. Oh well, can't win them all.
Danny Barefeet was really at the top of his game in 2010, when he served as Krystal Ball's campaign manager in her race in Virginia's 1st Congressional District. Sadly, under his guidance, the campaign failed to anticipate public Facebook photos that led to a very major scandal that sunk Ball's candidacy. This is a family website and I won't go into details, so let's just say one of the headlines was, "At Least One Candidate for Congress Has Fellated a Reindeer Dildo Nose."
Oh, Danny Proudfoot also may or may not have played a role in faking a faux feminist demonstration outside of the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight using paid protesters. Kind of important to work out if your guest is a professional hoaxer, but I'm sure CNN did their due diligence.
Danny Bigfoot isn't some guy who tweeted a political opinion that Brooke Baldwin saw on social media and agreed with. She has her finger on the pulse of the Democratic electorate, and she recognized him for the superstar wonk he is. The Warren campaign landed a big fish today, folks, and it's embarrassing that CNN was the only outlet who noticed.