Aside from the argument that the Superdelegates don’t actually vote until the end of July and that without them Hillary Clinton will not have the requisite number of pledged delegates to be declared the winner outright — and aside from the “well Bernie never had a chance anyway” dismissal of the travesty of calling the race the night before several states actually vote, there is this:
In California, we have an open primary for state Senate to replace Barbara Boxer. The list on the ballot includes candidates from all parties, and the top two vote getters will be the candidates vying against one another in the Fall.
Every democrat who stayed home today because the AP told them it was a done deal is one less Democrat voting for Senator in today’s primary. It’s not likely, but because of that, it’s possible that we could end up with two republicans vying for Boxer’s seat.
There are other races and other issues being voted on today in several states. In how many of those states is something progressive being crushed or something odious being passed because progressive voters decided not to bother to vote after being told their votes don’t count? How many downticket progressives will lose today because progressive voters stayed home?
Those things matter as much as the Presidential primary, and in some cases are extremely crucial. Do you want one of California’s Senate seats occupied by a Republican? Will you be happy if we lose a seat in the Senate right now as we go into a new President’s term because the AP decided to tell people it won’t matter if they throw their ballots in the trash today?
Think for once beyond how funny it is that Sanders got a punch in the face the day before the election. This isn’t about “well, they only did their job” — their job is to tell us the truth, not influence elections by depressing the vote. This isn’t about “math” because there is so much more at stake than one choice.
This isn’t about Bernie v. Hillary — literally millions of DEMOCRATS were told today that their votes don’t matter. New voters, excited to finally cast a vote in CA that might make a difference, were told last night that they were irrelevant to the system. Will they come out and vote in November? What about the midterms, when even people who think their votes matter don’t even bother. Will they vote then? Why should they?
There was a time that Democrats gave a shit about this sort of thing. We put pressure on the media and they decided to stop calling Presidential races before the polls closed in CA, even if CA’s electoral votes weren’t necessary for the win. We complained when Florida called races before the panhandle had finished voting. We used to care about anything and everything that could discourage people from voting, from poll taxes to registration challenges to insufficient polling places to law enforcement standing around near the polls to confusing ballots and unclear instructions — to signage and idiots with bullhorns thanking the voters for voting for a specific candidate and pretending that wasn’t electioneering.
This year, we don’t care anymore. Well, the Democratic Party doesn’t seem to care, and many democrats here don’t seem to care.
But there’s far more at stake than whether Bernie or Hillary win this race. There’s what happens in the states where people find something better to do on election days — all election days. There’s what happens when new voters, young voters, inspired voters, are disillusioned about whether their votes count at all.
What will stop the next logical step — the media calling the Presidential race for a Republican before all of the states have voted, where the wealth of electoral votes in CA are deemed irrelevant before the people of CA and WA and HI and Alaska go out and vote, so they don’t bother to vote, and Oregon’s last minute mailers aren’t sent, and some idiot republican wins?
This isn’t no harm, no foul. None of the voting irregularities, the unexplained affiliation switches, the people dropped from the rolls because someone “skipped the step” of reaching out to voters who hadn’t voted recently before erasing their names, the lack of polling stations, the chaos, are “no harm, no foul” and they wouldn’t be even if Bernie lost every primary by 60%. Because they aren’t about Bernie. They’re about Democracy.
My gawd, people. Forget Bernie v. Hillary. This isn’t the only race, it’s not the only issue. It’s not the last time we’ll have an election, not the last time the media will step on us in their zeal to be first to report something, even if they have to create it by their own reporting.
This is about Democracy, it’s about our votes.
If we can’t come together on that, the party is in serious peril.