Donald Trump Has No Idea What Has Hit Him, and Itā€™s a Joy to Watch
newrepublic.com
Heā€™s had yet another horrible week. The old tricks arenā€™t working. Kamala Harris does not fear him. And itā€™s showing in the numbers.

Heā€™s had yet another horrible week. The old tricks arenā€™t working. Kamala Harris does not fear him. And itā€™s showing in the numbers.

  • Reyali@lemm.ee
    53Ā·
    3 months ago

    I threw an idea out in response to a comment here right after Biden backed out and the more I think about, the more it seems likely to be right.

    My theory is that the DNC likely timed Biden stepping aside so it would be late enough they couldnā€™t hold primaries for the nominee. It came out in 2016 that the DNC was basically rigged for Clinton to win, regardless of what voters wanted. The 2016 primaries caused dissension with voters leading to lower turnout, and I think that was also somewhat true in 2020. By waiting as long as he did to back out, Biden took voter choice out of it and helped rally everyone behind Harris.

    I could absolutely be wrong, but every time I run it through my head it feels more likely to be true. And if Iā€™m right, it is a bit sleazy. However, I have to admit Iā€™m surprised and impressed by how itā€™s turned out. I didnā€™t expect people to rally so strongly behind Kamala, and Iā€™m excited to be a part of it!

    • bobalot@lemmy.world
      23Ā·
      3 months ago

      It wasnā€™t ā€œriggedā€ for Clinton (and I thought she was not a good candidate).

      Bernie lost because less people voted for him.

      If it wasnā€™t for the undemocratic caucuses, he would have lost earlier. For example, he won the Washington caucus but got crushed in the primary (which had massively higher turn out).

      The fact of the matter is that the broader electorate wasnā€™t as left-wing as Lemmy or /r/politics is.

      • Reyali@lemm.ee
        4Ā·
        3 months ago

        Do you not remember all the leaks showing extreme bias towards Clinton, derision of Sanders, and even deals between Clinton and the DNC?

        The emails and documents showed that the Democratic Partyā€™sĀ national committee favored Clinton over ā€¦ Bernie. ā€¦ The leaks resulted in allegations of bias againstĀ Bernie Sandersā€™s presidential campaign in apparent contradiction with the DNC leadershipā€™s publicly stated neutrality, as several DNC operatives openly derided Sandersā€™s campaign and discussed ways to advanceĀ Hillary Clintonā€™s nomination. Later reveals included controversial DNCā€“Clinton agreements dated before the primary, regarding financial arrangements and control over policy and hiring decisions. source

        Or that DNC leaders argued in court that they didnā€™t need to hold impartial primaries and could select whatever candidate they wanted?

        ā€¦ DNC attorneys argued that the DNC would be well within their rights to select their own candidate. source

        For their part, the DNC and Wasserman Schultz have characterized the DNC charterā€™s promise of ā€˜impartiality and evenhandednessā€™ as a mere political promiseā€”political rhetoric that is not enforceable in federal courts. The Court does not accept this trivialization of theĀ DNCā€™sĀ governing principles.Ā While it may be true in the abstract that theĀ DNCĀ has the right to have its delegates ā€œgo into back rooms like they used to and smoke cigars and pick the candidate that way, the DNC, through its charter, has committed itself to a higher principle. source

        At the end of the day, yes, Bernie got fewer votes. But that is a small part of the iceberg, ignoring all the things that led up to it and all the biases at play in the organization putting the vote on in what I would (and did) call a ā€œriggedā€ primary.

      • toddestan@lemm.ee
        3Ā·
        3 months ago

        The primary was rigged before it even began. Typically when thereā€™s no incumbent youā€™ll see several politicians make a run for the nomination. But 2016 was different. Hilary and the DNC went around to all of the presidential hopefuls in 2015 and basically told them to sit this one out because itā€™s her turn. Hilary was supposed to waltz her way to the nomination uncontested because they didnā€™t want a repeat of 2008. The only reason we got the Hilary vs. Sanders contest at all is because Sanders was an outsider so he didnā€™t get the memo (or perhaps they didnā€™t consider him a serious threat).