Bernie Sanders supporters who were excited about his big win in New Hampshire were surprised to learn Sanders and Clinton would leave the Granite State with an equal number of delegates due to the DNC’s use of so-called Superdelegates.Yesterday on CNN, Jake Tapper confronted DNC chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz on this topic.Josh Feldman of Mediaite has the details:
Tapper Confronts Wasserman Schultz on the Charge Dem Superdelegates ‘Rig’ the ProcessOne of the biggest controversies coming out of New Hampshire is the Democratic superdelegates helping boost Hillary Clinton from an over-20-point-loss to a tie. CNN’s Jake Tapper confronted DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz about this today, asking her what she would say to people who believe “it’s all rigged” against Sanders.Wasserman Schultz explained how unpledged delegates are a completely separate category from pledged delegates, mentioning something about not wanting party delegates and elected officials running against grassroots activists. And something about competition.Tapper noted, “I’m not sure that answer would satisfy an anxious young voter.”
Here’s a video of the exchange:
This whole Superdelegate issue smacks of the back-room shenanigans of which Democrats love to accuse Republicans.
Jim Geraghty makes the point well at National Review:
No Party With ‘Superdelegates’ Gets to Lecture Me About DisenfranchisementWhy Do Grassroots Democrats Let the Elites Run Their Party This Way?Of course, all those Democrats voting in New Hampshire may not have had as much impact on the process as they thought they did. Let’s do something unusual and check in with Russ Belville over at the Huffington Post:
I wonder what kind of surprise awaits the Millennial voter the more he or she sees the results of their hard work canvassing for voters to Feel the Bern.First, in Iowa, they battle for a statistical tie, with just a quarter-percent of the vote between Hillary and Bernie. So, naturally, the delegates from Iowa are divided fairly. Bernie gets 21 delegates and Hillary gets… 29?Next, in New Hampshire, Bernie demolishes Hillary in a 22-point landslide victory. So, naturally, the delegates from New Hampshire are divided fairly. Bernie gets 15 delegates and Hillary gets… 15?What is this strange world where a Bernie tie is an 8-delegate loss and a Bernie landslide is a tie?
The answer is the “superdelegates,” those high-ranking lawmakers who automatically get a vote to decide who the nominee that is equal to about 10,000 grassroots primary voters. “In New Hampshire, it took convincing 60,631 voters to choose Bernie to match the choice of Gov. Maggie Hassan, Rep. Ann Kuster, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, and three Democratic National Committee cronies for Hillary.”
Ultimately, Bernie Sanders has a point about the game being rigged…
by the Democratic Party.
Featured image via YouTube.
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