Bernie Sanders is not a sore loser: Our democracy is screwed unless we fix the unfair rules [View all]

[cal04]

http://www.salon.com/2016/05/02/bernie_sanders_is_not_a_sore_loser_our_democracy_is_screwed_unless_we_fix_the_unfair_rules/

Mainstream coverage of the Bernie Sanders campaign tends to suggest that they were falsely blaming voting fraud for their loss. In the establishment narrative that describes Sanders as an unrealistic candidate that has no chance of actually winning, there seems almost no possibility that any objection from the Sanders camp can be taken seriously. The story becomes the campaign’s inability to deal with reality and it ignores the real complaints voters have about the election process.

This angle is all wrong. First, because we are indeed in the midst of a real crisis in our democracy. And second, because, even though the Sanders campaign may well want to win, they are equally invested in the idea of a free and fair election regardless of which candidate a voter supports.

Sanders has been consistent on this issue. He believes each candidate should care about making sure the democratic process is working. As he put it in his response to the primary results: “I don’t mind losing, but three million people in New York State who registered as independents didn’t have the right to participate in the Democratic or Republican primary. That really is not democracy.”

(Snip)
Like it or not the Sanders campaign is fighting on two fronts: it is fighting to gain support for their political revolution and it is also fighting to make sure that our democracy works. It is time to wonder why the one campaign that is defending voter rights is the same campaign the media most wants to dismiss.