How Elections Work: A Few Helpful Hints for Bernie Sanders And His Less Earthbound Enthusiasts
By Larry Womack
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Probably the most important thing to accept is that, when you have won less than 43% of the vote in a two-person race, you will not be handed 51% of the delegates. And it’s a little silly to whine about how “rigged” the process is when you have been gifted a greater than 43% share of those pledged.
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When you are down by 13 points, three million votes, five contests and about 275 pledged delegates, you can’t really blame your loss on the superdelegates, who had nothing to do with any of those things.
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Saying that you have actually won more votes, more contests or more pledged delegates will not, in fact, make any of those things true. Even if you say it a lot, or in the form of angry tweets and Internet comments.
When your opponent has won more open primaries than you, it will strike informed people as rather absurd if you insist or imply that you would really be winning if there weren’t so many closed ones.
Generally speaking, it’s just a good idea to remember that rules written years, sometimes decades before you entered the race, were not drafted just to screw you.
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Know also that, unfortunately, the United States has never awarded the presidency by ability to draw a crowd. Just ask Sarah Palin, Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis, George McGovern and soon (hopefully,) Donald Trump.
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We have to count the votes cast by black people, even if they disagree with you.
When your opponent is performing best among minority, urban and older voters, it makes no sense to say that you’d really be doing better if it wasn’t for all of the voter suppression disproportionately impacting minority, urban and older voters—and is cuckoo-fucking-bananas to claim that your opponent is responsible.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-womack/hints-for-sanders-and-less-earthbound-enthusiasts_b_10057430.html
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