Remember When Reporters Said Hillary Was Winning ‘Fair And Square,’ Because Sanders’ Supporters Will
For months, though Bernie Sanders’ supporters were saying that the DNC nominating process was rigged, reporters and pundits asserted that Hillary Clinton was winning or had already won “fair and square.” She didn’t, though. By now, the general public knows that the process was rigged in Hillary’s favor. More than just superdelegates (who cast their votes at the actual National Convention and not before) stacking the deck from the beginning, the DNC showed favoritism towards Hillary Clinton, according to the emails released in the WikiLeaks dump just days before the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
Do you remember when Daily Kozwrote that Bernie Sanders was closing out the primary season in a “cloud of whining, conspiracy mongering, and blame casting” and that Hillary Clinton won fair and square? Sanders’ supporters remember, and they are leaving the Democratic party.
“Bernie Sanders exceeded all primary season expectations and was en route to building something of a real movement. But rather than locking in those gains and settling in for a long-haul effort, he’s opted for a legacy-busting temper tantrum instead, heading out the (primary) door in a cloud of whining, conspiracy mongering, and blame casting. It’s a bizarre finale to what was undoubtedly an incredible run. So here are some observations, not because it matters—he’s lost—but because his claims of victimhood are absolute bulls— and need to be corrected.”
Do you remember when Bill Maher said that Hillary Clinton won fair and square and that the race was clearly over for Bernie Sanders? Josh Feldman wrote about it on Mediaite. Maher said that Clinton “kicked his a– at the finish line,” and Sanders’ supporters won’t soon forget. Clinton sure had some help at that finish line though, didn’t she? The DNC, as the emails showed, was actively trying to sway voters into the Clinton camp, even though their job is to remain neutral in the nominating process. They even used his religion against him to make him lose votes. Though it may have worked, Sanders’ supporters now know it was part of the plan to coronate Hillary Clinton, and they are leaving the Democratic party.
Tolerance? DNC tried to raise questions about @BernieSanders‘ Jewish faith before Kentucky, W. Virginia primaries: https://t.co/bS9WHrw2b3
— Fresno Bee (@FresnoBee) July 25, 2016
USA Today featured an opinion piece on June 7, stating how it was their opinion that Hillary won fair and square. Do you remember that? Sanders’ supporters remember, and they are leaving the Democratic party.
Congratulations to Hillary Clinton on winning the 2016 democratic nomination…she stole it fair and square! pic.twitter.com/FuG74hYfFd
— Watchdoggy (@watchdoggy) July 30, 2016
I look at this pic of Bernie & it makes me tear up. We had a REAL chance to put a GOOD President in the WH #DemExit pic.twitter.com/CunjNctvPt
— Kaydee King (@KaydeeKing) July 30, 2016
Visalia Times-Delta was one of multiple news sources that published the exact same commentary on June 9 that mocked Sanders after Clinton took in more pledged delegates, even though she had, at that point, still not earned enough delegates to actually win the nomination fair-and-squarely.
“For all of his complaints about a rigged process, by any meaningful metric he came up short. He trails Clinton in delegates, pledged delegates, raw votes, number of states won and number of swing states won.”
Sanders’ supporters remember the mocking. Sanders’ supporters remember the shaming.
And they are leaving the Democratic party.
Sanders’ supporters recall when Cynthia Dill, a civil rights lawyer of all things and a former state senator, wrote a scathing opinion piece for the Huffington Post on May 22 before many states had even held their primaries. She brought up the Nevada convention. Dill still wrote as if the chair-throwing actually happened, even though by that time, it was already known that the violence never occurred and chairs were never thrown. The leaked emails even revealed that DNC officials knew that chairs hadn’t been thrown, but they still reportedly tried to seed the Ralston article claiming that it had happened. Dill chastised Sanders’ supporters for their accusations about “another conspiracy by establishment,” though the leaked emails indicate that collusion was happening, just as Sanders’ supporters had claimed all along.
“The arc of Sanders’ campaign has gone from extremely inspiring to incredibly annoying, and the latest temper tantrum in Nevada is inexcusable. Whining about ‘unfair’ rules that have been on the books since 2008. Outrage that delegates not registered as Democrats were refused a seat at the official convention of Democrats to select the Democratic nominee. Indignation that the higher number of Clinton delegates trumped the higher volume of Sanders delegates. Astonishment that ‘Bernie Bros’ rushing the dais, throwing chairs, cursing and shouting caused security to shut down the convention four hours after the designated end time. Accusations of another conspiracy by establishment.”
Dill wrote that Hillary Clinton was winning fair and square and called Hillary’s triumph in Nevada “democracy.”
“Elections, rules and math are as American as hot dogs and apple pie, and we love an underdog who accepts defeat with grace after a rigorous contest, but none of us — even bleeding-heart liberals — likes sore losers.”
Americans don’t like sore losers, it’s true. We also don’t like cheating — or rigged systems. Does a losing team still lose if the league rigged the game for the winning team?
Welp. So much for “fair and square”.https://t.co/maPVsRelSL
— Michael Graham (@BLUpfront) July 22, 2016
This is the @CorrectRecord on @HillaryClinton‘s so called #Unity! #StillSanders #NeverHillary @BernieSanders pic.twitter.com/2fjZI5Z1qv
— #AntiHillaryBot6C855 (@Fifty1stState) July 16, 2016
That could have all been water under the bridge for some Sanders’ supporters, theoretically.
But while a few DNC officials were apologizing and some Democrats were condemning the collusion within the DNC after the emails were leaked, superdelegates held firm in their support of Clinton, despite efforts to persuade them by the Bernie or Bust movement and other Sanders’ supporters. Right after Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the disgraced chair of the DNC, announced her resignation (effective after the convention), the Clinton campaign issued an announcement that Wasserman Schultz would be an honorary leader on Hillary’s general election campaign.
Then, the DNC Vice Chair, fully aware of the leaked emails, announced in the midst of the National Convention that Hillary Clinton’s win was fair and that Wasserman Schultz deserved to be a part of the convention, according to ABC News.
Goodbye unity. Not even Sanders could pick up the mess the DNC continued to make for themselves.
DNC Vice Chair Donna Brazile says Hillary Clinton won party’s primary “fair and square” https://t.co/vLxQpH8uIu pic.twitter.com/2uZCNY27DA
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) July 25, 2016
All of those articles claiming that Hillary Clinton won fair and square might have been awfully fun to share by people hoping to belittle Sanders’ staunchest supporters. They probably even made for an easy day’s work on the part of the people being paid by Correct The Record to get online and make it look as though Hillary Clinton had stronger social media support than actually existed.
Yet, even now, Hillary Clinton’s establishment Democrats claim she won fair and square, as if rigging a system is fair and square.
Remember these continued insults in the coming months. Remember all of the times Sanders’ supporters were mocked, shamed and told that Hillary Clinton won fair and square, because those words are “berned” into Sanders’ supporters memories.
Sanders’ supporters are leaving the Democratic party. Elizabeth Warren couldn’t stop them. President Obama couldn’t stop them. Vice President Biden couldn’t stop them. Not even Sanders can stop them.
Fittingly, the DNC has only themselves and the media they tried to puppeteer to blame.
Ignore the Hillboughts, let Correct the Record waste six million bucks! https://t.co/ghrDQI4LE6
— #r/evolution (@SeattleBern) July 30, 2016
If @BernieSanders repudiates the Democratic Party that betrayed him, I’d welcome him into @GreenPartyUS to continue the revolution. #DNCleak
— Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) July 23, 2016
[Image via United States Department of State]