Since their inception in 1971, the McGovern–Fraser Commission rules made the process of choosing a presidential nominee, well, democratic.
Starting in 1988, the reforms began to unravel slightly, and then starting in 1996, they began to do so even more, which brings us to two diaries (here) and (here). Whether or not Bernie Sanders is kicked off the New Hampshire ballot may or may not be a moot point, but it highlights a problem that is real.
More beneath the fold.
During the second half of the 20th century, the Democratic Party hasn't been all that nice to incumbent presidents running for reelection. In 1952, President Harry Truman LOST the New Hampshire primary, and withdrew soon after. In 1964, George Wallace challenged President Lyndon Johnson and got 672,984 (10.8%) votes, coming damn close in a couple of states.
Then of course LBJ barely won the New Hampshire primary the following cycle and was doing so badly in Wisconsin polling he withdrew less than a week before he could be humiliated. The next time there was an incumbent Democrat, he lost to a challenger in a dozen primaries.
In 1988 there was no incumbent. The primaries that year were an amazing clusterfuck where all but two of the major candidates won at least one primary. When they had the convention that summer, all the candidates withdrew except the presumptive nominee and Jesse Jackson. Their delegates were told they had to vote for either one of the two nominated.
In 1996 there was an incumbent President once again, and the Governor of Pennsylvania announced he might run on an anti-abortion platform. The Clinton Administration put on an enormous amount of pressure to get him to withdraw. He did. But He's not the one I want to talk about right now. I want to talk about a despicable individual named Lyndon LaRouche, a cultist leader who after trying to start his own political party became a perennial candidate in the democratic primary.
With no "legitimate" challengers in the race, Larouche's minions got him on the ballot in several states, and managed to do well enough to qualify for a few delegates. But the state and national Democratic parties refused to give him what he had earned. Larouche sued, and lost. This was an unfortunate precedent.
The next time there was an incumbent in the race, there were a few minor challengers whom nobody had heard of who managed to get on the ballot in four or five states.
They were the despicable anti-abortionist Randall Terry, a guy named Darcy Richardson, a few other nobodies and John Wolfe, Jr. who's very important to the current situation in the primary this time out.
Wolfe got on the ballot in five states, and in three of them, got enough to qualify for delegates. According to Wikipedia, he should have had 22. But unlike Terry, who qualified for seven and a couple of crazies (one of whom was serving in jail at the time) who got a total of four, Wolfe's credentials as a genuine Democrat were impeccable.
But the Obama campaign wanted a unanimous vote, so the DNC decided to change the rules, and said that since Wolfe hadn't appointed his delegates in advance (something that Wolfe had been told wasn't necessary), he would be stripped of what was rightfully his. He sued and lost.
Which brings us to the rumors about Bernie Sanders and what might happen tomorrow.
If the Secretary of State of New Hampshire refuses to let Bernie on the ballot because he's not really a Democrat (Terry was thrown off the ballot in Illinois for that very reason last time out), then Bernie might be thrown off a whole bunch of other ballots and that would be the end of him. Hillary would just sail on unopposed (O'Malley currently at 3%) to the prize.
If they could do it to John Wolfe they could do it to anybody. Look at Larry Lessing.