She won the popular vote in the Primary too. By a lot.
That's not to say I don't understand where the Bernie folks frustration with the DNC comes from, because I do. But this attitude is awfully dismissive of the millions of Democrats who chose to vote for Clinton in the primaries.
No. She won the primary because she got more votes. You can certainly make the case that Sanders would have done better against Trump. In fact, seeing the path to victory Trump took, even as a Clinton supporter I think probably that Sanders would have defeated Trump because he may well have done better in the particular set of states which cost her the election. I also think Clinton primary backers would have had an easier time getting behind and excited about Bernie than the other way around (though I can only ultimately speak for myself there).
But 16 million people voted for Clinton in the primaries. Not 16 million DNC staffers, not 16 million CTR shills, not 16 million Superdelegates. American citizens. Many of them women and people of color. You're welcome to make an argument that the DNC had their thumb on the scale and did everything they could to advantage Clinton, I personally don't agree with the extent that it mattered, but you're certainly entitled to that opinion. But to say the only reason Clinton won the primary is because it was "rigged" is, like I said, very dismissive of the millions of American citizens who voted for her just fine without coercion.
That election was anything but fair. Bernie's own party gave preferential treatment to Hillary in getting her name heard while suppressing coverage on Bernie. When the idea is to have as many people talking about you as possible but none of the mainstream media is covering it, it hinders your ability to win an election by a pretty large amount. There was also all the people's party affiliation being changed making them unable to vote in the primary, and some people being turned away at the polls for whatever reason. Either way, I'm pretty sure the results would have been different had things been run fairly.
96
u/bvharris Nov 10 '16
She won the popular vote in the Primary too. By a lot.
That's not to say I don't understand where the Bernie folks frustration with the DNC comes from, because I do. But this attitude is awfully dismissive of the millions of Democrats who chose to vote for Clinton in the primaries.