Time Magazine always has a “person of the year.” This year it’s Angela Merkel.
Prior to selecting the “person of the year,” Time allowed people to vote for a broad number of candidates. Among these were Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton. All of them are running for President. Time has never selected a Presidential candidate as person of the year prior to the election. (Barack Obama won for 2008).
The winner of the most number of votes was Bernie Sanders, with above 10%. Donald Trump got 1.8% and Hillary Clinton got 1.4%. But when it came time to pick eight candidates from whom the Time editors would finally give the “Person of the Year” Award, Bernie Sanders was not selected. And Donald Trump was! In fact, although Angela Merkel won, Donald Trump came in third!
If you’re going to pick one of the candidates as a potential Person of the Year winner, why not pick the one that has the most support?
What is that all about? Yes, Donald Trump has shaken up the Republican party. But Bernie Sanders, like Donald Trump, has shaken up the electoral process. If you’re going to pick one of the candidates as a potential Person of the Year winner, why not pick the one that has the most support?
The answer probably lies with how the media treats Trump versus how the media treats Sanders. Trump can spout any foolishness and he gets front page headlines. Sanders can make one meaningful proposal after another and he gets virtually no press. So Time magazine is right in line with that way of thinking. Trump gets few votes from the public and he gets into the run off. Sanders gets over five times as many votes and doesn’t get into the run off.
I know that a lot of people have been shouting that Sanders is being purposely excluded from media coverage. The theory is that the Democratic establishment controls the media and doesn’t want Bernie. That argument may seem far-fetched, but this sort of result provides some pretty compelling proof.
It is possible that Trump may be nominated, but it is equally possible that Sanders may be nominated. The only thing that appears clear about the Trump candidacy is that he is helping to destroy the Republican party, which doesn’t bother me in the slightest. Do you remember that Trump actually talked with Bill Clinton before running? Is it somehow possible that Bill and Donald cooked up a scheme by which the Donald agreed to take down the Republican Party, thereby ensuring Hillary’s election if she were nominated? Wouldn’t that be crazy?
Yes. But hasn’t this entire election cycle been crazy?