
End to Democratic Primary:Anonymous Super-Delegates Declare Winner Through Media - etiam
https://theintercept.com/2016/06/07/perfect-end-to-democratic-primary-anonymous-super-delegates-declare-winner-through-media/
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mark_l_watson
I am disgusted with the democratic establishment. I am in my 60s and a life
long democrat, BTW.

I plan on changing to Independent status and will stop making contributions.

My 94 year old Dad said that the super delegates are the opposite of
democracy, and I agree.

The real problem is that Sanders (and also Trump) hold political opinions that
are against the financial interests of the military industrial complex and
also the one world government crowd.

~~~
intopieces
If you're not a fan of Superdelegates, you must really be upset with the
Sanders' campaign for choosing Tad Devine as their top adviser. Devine was
"instrumental in the creation of the superdelegate process," and is one of its
ardent defenders. [0]

In fact, the Sanders' campaign strategy now is to 'flip' the Superdelegates
_even though Clinton has a majority of the popular vote_ [1]

[0] [http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/super-
delegate...](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/super-delegates-
center-democratic-nomination-fight-again-n516891) [1]
[http://www.npr.org/2016/05/19/478705022/sanders-campaign-
now...](http://www.npr.org/2016/05/19/478705022/sanders-campaign-now-says-
superdelegates-are-key-to-winning-nomination)

~~~
mattnewton
I don't believe anyone in the Sanders Campaign is serious anymore about
actually cinching the nomination. They were certainly after the initial
results were promising, but Bernie got further than he expected. Now since
flipping the super delegates is their only legal and conceivable way to win,
and they need to appear to win to continue, it's their stated strategy. It
seems to me like the main goal is to continue in the Media spotlight talking
about progressive issues, and funnel money into more progressive candidates to
change the face of the party. People like Tim Canova in Florida going after
establishment democratic seats. I think it's an excellent strategy and will
make use of the following Bernie has gathered to actually affect domestic
change where change is most needed in the legislative branch.

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bayonetz
Voter suppression at its finest. Like him or not, we should be embarrassed by
he unfair treatment Sanders has received at every turn of this race.

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bigredhdl
Wow! Glen Greenwald put into words (much better than I could of course) some
of the thoughts that ran through my head when the AP story showed up on my
twitter feed. The timing really made it smell like an attempt to pull the rug
out from Sanders the day before the California primary.

~~~
JeremyBanks
Why will this hurt Bernie's turnout more than Clinton's? From her campaign's
recent posts, Clinton seems worried that this coverage could cost her points
today.

~~~
dragonwriter
> Why will this hurt Bernie's turnout more than Clinton's?

Because once the media crowns a winner (or even just declares a candidate
practically eliminated), they tend to underperform their polls even if they
haven't publicly conceded.

(When a winner is crowned, it also tends to depress turnout for the whole
contest, which has to be a concern for downballot Democrats in California,
especially with the top-two primary system for non-Presidential races which
actually makes the primary more like the general election in a general +
runoff system than a normal primary; while it probably doesn't matter a lot in
the statewide races or areas which are Democratic strongholds, it could matter
in other places. Actually, in some of the Democratic-favored races it could
make the difference between two Democrats advancing in the top-two system and
a Republican actually making the cut, so it might matter even there.)

> Clinton seems worried that this coverage could cost her points today.

That's not what you'd usually expect based on history, but its certainly
possible (that Clinton supporters could stay home because they don't feel the
need to vote, and Sanders supporters show up as a protest to the media
coronation), and given the effect it has on interpretation of the results, its
the expectation the Clinton campaign would want voice concern about and use to
shape media coverage whether or not its a real concern.

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fhood
May I remind the seething masses, unpopular though this opinion may be, that
more people have voted for Hillary than Bernie. They just tend to be less
vocal about who they support on the internet.

~~~
dragonwriter
> May I remind the seething masses, unpopular though this opinion may be, that
> more people have voted for Hillary than Bernie.

Which would probably be more meaningful if (1) all states had similar election
systems for Democratic delegates, and (2) all states voted at the same time.

> They just tend to be less vocal about who they support on the internet.

No, that's not at all true.

~~~
dllthomas
> No, that's not at all true.

Given the demographics, I suspect that it is at least a little true.

