was all in a twist over Sanders beating her on the popular side of the 2016 primaries to the point of having a cow over it. She only got the nomination because of the superdelegates, and it was so pathetically obvious, that the DNC had to change the rules to save face.
It's happening again this year, and they ALREADY want to reneg on the rule changes
Indirectly, sure. Superdelegates were often counted (accurately) by the news as being locked-in for Clinton, which gave her that f'd up notion of "momentum" and "lead" which evidently makes a huge difference. I'm astounded that it does so in a 2-person race, but it obviously does.
And that might be a significant factor as to why Sanders LOST the popular vote 43% to 55%.
That manufactured "lead" could be why people voted for Clinton in sufficient numbers that she got 2263 delegates to Sanders 1822 (going off these numbers), 55% of the delegates between them, if all superdelegates had abstained.
The DNC had a clear preference, which is their prerogative. Nothing is stopping a Republican (
or independent, cough) from "becoming Democrat" and running in their primary except for these very mechanisms we saw in 2016. They're a bunch of classically-liberal corporate shills being *infiltrated* by progressive candidates, which is amazing and OUR ONLY HOPE AS A NATION/PLANET. But the organization has a right to resist it, just as they would resist being infiltrated by fascist populism (crazy example I know
)
Influencing their primary vote is valid and important, even though they're disastrously misguided and largely corrupt. As long as they do so legally...
But, were the actual caucuses and votes fairly held? I think they're highly suspect, and what I'm seeing in 2020 has destroyed the considerable sympathy I still had for Buttigieg. In the wake of such controversy the DNC needed to win back public trust with transparency and fair dealing. FOR THEIR OWN SAKE. Instead things look fishy as fuck, and it's not the fault of Sanders supporters. The uncontested facts just look
shady, and that's
awful.
This is Epstein-"suicide" levels of bad PR. It doesn't matter whether it's incompetence or corruption, people will legitimately assume the latter. And neither are good!
The DNC game of running ineffectual corporate shills only works as long as they're promising real change, which requires trust. They've spent all that trust. Trump vs Biden doesn't inspire hope in people. The DNC have to go against their values and choose a progressive candidate, it's the only winning option for them.