Bernie Sanders and Rigged Elections: Sometimes You Just Lose [View all]

[StevieM]

~snip~

Toni: Bernie Sanders has benefited from the caucus system; it’s a major reason he has been competitive. If Hillary Clinton had dominated caucuses instead of primaries, I suspect that he would have complained that caucuses were flawed — that they were less democratic than primaries and less accessible to the working class.

And if Sanders had dominated with Democrats and lost among independents, instead of the other way around, I suspect we wouldn’t be hearing calls from him to open more primaries to independents.

That’s just standard politics — any other candidate would have behaved the same way. And Sanders is far less of a finger-in-the-wind politician than many. But it goes against this general idea that his side is trying to convey: that he’s pure, that he’s above politics.

Nate: I think there’s some truth to that. Along those same lines, I remember back in 2008 that Barack Obama’s support in red states was supposed to be a sign of his strength. Now Sanders supporters dismiss Clinton’s wins in red states as if they’re somehow illegitimate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/02/upshot/bernie-sanders-and-rigged-elections-sometimes-you-just-lose.html?version=meter+at+2&module=meter-Links&pgtype=article&contentId=&mediaId=&referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fhl%3Den%26source%3Dhp%26biw%3D%26bih%3D%26q%3Ddemocratic%2Bdelegate%2Bcount%26gbv%3D2%26oq%3Ddemocratic%2Bdeleg%26gs_l%3Dheirloom-hp.3.0.0l10.375.3345.0.4391.16.11.0.5.5.0.141.1004.8j3.11.0....0...1ac.1.34.heirloom-hp..0.16.1030.CfHnCU4bqVA&priority=true&action=click&contentCollection=meter-links-click