Gretchen Whitmer responds to calls by some Democrats to vote ā€˜uncommittedā€™ in Michiganā€™s primary on Tuesday

Gretchen Whitmer, the Michigan governor, pushed back on calls to not vote for Joe Biden over his handling of the Israel-Gaza conflict, saying on Sunday that could help Trump get re-elected.

ā€œItā€™s important not to lose sight of the fact that any vote thatā€™s not cast for Joe Biden supports a second Trump term,ā€ she said on Sunday during an interview on CNNā€™s State of the Union. ā€œA second Trump term would be devastating. Not just on fundamental rights, not just on our democracy here at home, but also when it comes to foreign policy. This was a man who promoted a Muslim ban.ā€

Whitmer, who is a co-chair of Bidenā€™s 2024 campaign, also said she wasnā€™t sure what to expect when it came to the protest vote.

Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat who is the only Palestinian-American serving in Congress, urged Democrats last week to vote ā€œuncommittedā€ in Michiganā€™s 27 February primary.

  • kibiz0r@midwest.social
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    9 months ago

    Depends what you mean by ā€œriggedā€.

    The parties, the candidates, the PACs, and the media are all theoretically (and in many cases, legally bound to be) separate entities, acting independently. But in reality, a lot of them share the same interests, and so some things happen that arenā€™t exactly collusion or breaking any rules, but do give an advantage to one candidate, which many voters consider unfair.

    In the case of the 2016 DNC primary, I think the critical objection is not the existence of superdelegates, but how they were presented in the media.

    Clinton hovered between 54%-59% of the pledged delegates, but the media coverage would consistently include superdelegates in the count, showing Clinton ahead by 600 or so delegates, giving her ā€œ70% of the total count, and making her the presumptive nominee! The Sanders campaign doesnā€™t have any chance of coming back from this!ā€ ā€¦before most of the country had even voted.

    This kind of thing happens all the time, with lots of stuff, and itā€™s not technically ā€œriggingā€.

    But seeing an official-looking number on TV ā€“ that you know, provably, doesnā€™t reflect the reality of the ongoing electionā€¦ That feels, to many people, like itā€™s ā€œriggedā€.

    • Eldritch@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I mean rigged when I say rigged. But yes I agree with a lot of your other points. The system absolutely should be more democratic and clearer. And our media should absolutely be constantly rebuked for the shit show it is.

      I have no love for the system or democrats. But I really think all this talk about it being ā€œriggedā€ nearly a decade on. Realistically is keeping us from improving the situation or finding better solutions. Instead grinding some perceived axe. While people, we all would likely be United against are United themselves getting things that we hate done. Clinton and Wasserman Schultz definitely earned plenty of that ire though.