More Powerful than a Locomotive

Some people just won’t give up.

This includes people who identify as Progressives, Democratic Socialists, Liberals, Democrats, Independents (and even Republicans) and are dissatisfied with – or downright disturbed by – the selection of Hillary Rodham Clinton as the Democratic Party’s “presumptive nominee” for president.

I added quotation marks to “presumptive nominee” because many folks object to the fact that this title was bestowed upon Clinton before she actually secured the number of delegates – 2,383 – needed to earn it.

Clinton emerged from the primary process with just 2,205 pledged delegates; it’s only when the 602 superdelegates who’ve indicated that they support her are factored in that she exceeds the magic number. And superdelegates – who can say they’ll vote for whomever they want and can change their minds as often as they want – don’t actually vote until next week’s Democratic Party convention in the City of Brotherly Love.

Yes, Clinton’s numbers are higher than Bernie Sanders going into the convention. (He has just 1,806 pledged delegates and 48 superdelegates in his corner.) But lots of Sanders fans complain about how the pledged delegates were allocated; in some states where Sanders won, Clinton still left town with a stuffed piggy bank.

From the New York Times:

Mr. Sanders expressed frustration that Mrs. Clinton had won superdelegates even in states where he won the primary. In Washington State, where he won almost 73 percent of the vote, Mrs. Clinton has 10 superdelegates while he has none. In Colorado, Mr. Sanders won 59 percent of the vote, but again Mrs. Clinton has 10 superdelegates from that state and he has none. Sanders aides handed out a list showing similar situations in states like New Hampshire, Kansas and Maine where he won more votes but has fewer superdelegates than his rival.

Sanders supporters also point to voting irregularities and party machinations that the media have neglected to report or investigate as justification for their refusal to fall in line behind Democratic Party Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and work for HRC. (Yes, some say Sanders endorsed his rival last week at a joint appearance in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. But others say he really didn’t.)

Click here to read, “Voters Report Suspicious Irregularities in Three Different Primary States” and click here to read, “New York Attorney General Investigating Primary Voting Irregularities.”

More from the New York Times:

Mr. Sanders urged superdelegates in states that he has won and those who came out in support of Mrs. Clinton before he declared his candidacy to switch their support to him. He also said other superdelegates should consider supporting him because in many polls he beats Donald J. Trump by more than points Mrs. Clinton does, and that they would be more likely to do so if he won further primaries.

President Obama’s recent nod and Senator Elizabeth Warren’s unexpected endorsement notwithstanding, Clinton is seen by more than a few voters and political observers as the more flawed and weaker of the two candidates. If polls are any indication – and yes, I still hate polls – she isn’t clobbering her general election opponent, Donald “Ugly, Lying, Stupid, Racist Piece of Dog Excrement” Trump, as painfully as some assume she should. A recent Rasmussen Reports poll found Trump beating Clinton 44 to 37 percent; a CBS News/New York Times poll found Clinton tied with Trump at 40 percent each. I saw something the other day that said he’s ahead in Florida and Pennsylvania. In other polls, her leads are within the margin of error. (Click here for comprehensive Clinton vs. Trump polling information.)

How can an attorney who served as First Lady and U.S. Secretary of State, is running for president for the second time, and has been a top tier politician for decades be running neck-and-neck with the most bombastic, ill-tempered, thin-skinned, unprepared, obnoxious, bigoted, immature jackass who’s ever sought the highest office in the land?

It might have something to do with the fact that she’s pro-fracking. Or maybe because she tends to say one thing to one audience and another to another. It could be because she was until very recently a leading advocate for the Trans Pacific Partnership or that she used to be against raising the minimum wage and now she’s for it. Maybe it’s because she’s a pro-Israel hawk who trumpets her friendship with diplomat Henry Kissinger, a war criminal right up there with Dick Cheney and Dubya. Or maybe it’s because she’s seen as a pro-corporate, pro-Wall Street member of the one percent who would serve the same players and institutions that Sanders has identified as being part of the problem, those who are fine with economic injustice and a shrinking middle class, with income inequality and helping the rich get richer while the rest of us slip and fall.

Click here to read, “Why I’m Not Voting for Hillary Clinton” from April of 2015.

So just who and what are the superdelegates? They’re the sitting Democratic governors, senators and representatives. They’re “distinguished party leaders” like current and former presidents and vice presidents, retired lawmakers and past chairs of the Democratic National Committee. Most are officers or members of the DNC. Nearly six in ten are men, close to two-thirds are white and their average age is around 60. They’ll account for just fewer than 15 percent of all delegate votes at the convention.

One disgruntled blogger has this to say about them:

The superdelegate system is rigged to protect establishment politicians and shut down populism. Superdelegates by their very nature diminish the value of the vote by giving an elite constituency of representatives, party leaders, and even lobbyists extra power. The Superdelegate List exists to help voters challenge this undemocratic system. Contacting our elected representatives and party leaders and holding them to account is an American tradition. This is the only way to keep the voter base from being patronized or ignored.

Want to contact these people and give ‘em a piece of your mind? Want to tell ‘em you think they should support the person who energizes voters, brings new life to the party and the system, and represents hope and change instead of more of the same? Want to urge them to endorse a revolution rather than to embrace the gasps and shudders of an old and no-longer-viable status quo? Click here for a spreadsheet with contact information.

I’m really not trying to help send The Orange One to the White House. I’m not trying to further damage an already-bruised candidate, ignore the many reasons why she absolutely must emerge victorious this November (if she’s indeed the Democratic nominee), or further irritate HRC supporters who find my denunciations exhausting and unwise. What I am doing is trying to prevent the light that is Bernie Sanders from being extinguished by a corrupt system, one that protects entrenched politicians, myopic millionaires and sheeple who settle for what they’re fed instead of demanding to see the full menu.

We shouldn’t go down without a fight.




Sources: Superdelegatelist.com, TheGuardian.com, HuffingtonPost.com, PewResearch.org, Usuncut.com, New York Times, RealClearPolitics.com, NPR.org, Associated Press.