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There's a slow-motion scam being perpetuated by the Clinton campaign and I must speak out.
The short version: Barring a complete Obama meltdown, you know, I know, and the American people know they can't win on elected delegates. So you're increasingly hearing them talk about the popular vote. If Hillary wins the popular vote, they argue, she should be our candidate. And that sounds like a pretty reasonable position. We all went through Florida in 2000. Electoral College? What a crock! Democracy is about one person one vote. If she wins the popular vote, little d democrats should insist she be the nominee, right?
The problem with that canard is that while you can argue "one person, one vote, electoral college, grrr" in the general, the nomination process is different. As we all know way too well, some states caucus, some states run primaries. As we also know, caucusing, like 'em or not, take a much bigger time commitment than pulling the lever in a primary, so the turnout numbers are dramatically depressed.
If the caucus states all have substantially lower vote turnout percentages than their primary bretheren, selecting a nominee by counting the total votes makes votes in a primary state worth a lot more than votes in a caucus state. How do fix that problem with the math? We find a neutral measure that assigns a total # of votes to each state based on their relative size. And yeah, we call those neutral measures "delegates." That's why, in the nomination process, delegates are a much truer measure of "popularity" than the popular vote.
I know the popular vote is popular. We should invite it to parties. We should buy it drinks. We should ask it to sign our yearbooks. We just shouldn't use it to choose our nominee.
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Part of the problem is the method the Democratic party uses to determine a nominee. Hopefully this year's situation will lead to changes in the future that will help the party. In the meantime, the whole sour grapes routine is very tiring (and divisive IMHO).
no, no, no. only poplar votes count. everyone knows that votes by this rapidly growing, salicaceous tree of the genus Populus represent the true candidate. true i say.
i will not stand idly by and allow poplars to be disenfranchised. not again, not this time. the days and nights of the white pine, that large, irregularly branched pine, or Pinus strobus, are over. over!!