5UX - an open primary https://5ux.com/category/open-primary en Symbolic End To Farcical Democratic Primary: Anonymous Super-Delegates Declare Winner Through Media https://5ux.com/news/symbolic-end-farcical-democratic-primary-anonymous-super-delegates-declare-winner-through-media <a href="/news/symbolic-end-farcical-democratic-primary-anonymous-super-delegates-declare-winner-through-media"><img class="teaserimage" src="https://5ux.com/sites/5ux.com/files/styles/medium_250/public/resize/remote/0758dac76041a023e89b17b1b9d4ada4-988x426.jpg?itok=7giwXsGO" alt="Symbolic End To Farcical Democratic Primary: Anonymous Super-Delegates Declare Winner Through Media" title="Symbolic End To Farcical Democratic Primary: Anonymous Super-Delegates Declare Winner Through Media" /></a><div class="clearfix body field"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><p></p><p><em>Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,</em></p> <p> </p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">I bet this poll had a lot to do with the decision to call democratic race for Hillary. They're scared. #VoteBernie pic.twitter.com/lSFP7ZG1T8</p> <p>— Christie Sparrow (@sparrows1981) June 7, 2016</p> </blockquote> <p> </p> <blockquote><p><strong><em>Last night, Associated Press – on a day when nobody voted – surprised everyone by abruptly declaring the Democratic Party primary over and Hillary Clinton the victor. The decree, issued the night before the California primary in which polls show Clinton and Bernie Sanders in a very close race, was based on the media organization’s survey of “superdelegates”: the Democratic Party’s 720 insiders, corporate donors and officials whose votes for the presidential nominee count the same as the actually elected delegates. AP claims that superdelegates who had not previously announced their intentions privately told AP reporters that they intend to vote for Clinton, bringing her over the threshold. AP is concealing the identity of the decisive superdelegates who said this.</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>This is the perfect symbolic ending to the Democratic Party primary: The nomination is consecrated by a media organization, on a day when nobody voted, based on secret discussions with anonymous establishment insiders and donors whose identities the media organization – incredibly – conceals. The decisive edifice of superdelegates is itself anti-democratic and inherently corrupt: designed to prevent actual voters from making choices that the party establishment dislikes. But for a party run by insiders and funded by corporate interests, it’s only fitting that their nomination process ends with such an ignominious, awkward and undemocratic sputter.</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>That the Democratic Party nominating process is declared to be over in such an uninspiring, secretive, and elite-driven manner is perfectly symbolic of what the party, and its likely nominee, actually is. The one positive aspect, though significant, is symbolic, while the actual substance – rallying behind a Wall-Street-funded, status-quo-perpetuating, multi-millionaire militarist – is grim in the extreme. The Democratic Party got exactly the ending it deserved.</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p>– Glenn Greenwald, writing at <em>The Intercept</em></p> </blockquote> <p>Last night, the American public witnessed the most egregious example of mainstream media malpractice of my lifetime. By declaring Hillary Clinton the Democratic nominee based on the pledges of superdelegates who have not voted, and will not vote until the convention on July 25th, the <em>Associated Press</em> performed a huge disservice to American democracy on the eve of a major primary day, in which voters from the most populous state in the union (amongst others) head to the polls. If you are a U.S. citizen and you aren’t outraged by this, there’s something seriously wrong with you.</p> <p>In this post, I have three objectives. First, I will set the stage by explaining how incredibly sleazy the move by the <em>AP</em> was. Second, I will outline the preposterous and unjustifiable nature of having superdelegates in the first place. Third, I will attempt to convince all true Bernie Sanders supporters to commit themselves to never supporting Hillary Clinton. Let’s get started.</p> <p><strong>1. Journalistic Malpractice</strong></p> <p>Let’s start with the <em>Associated Press</em>, which I have lost every single ounce of respect for. The “news” organization is now the most discredited entity in journalism as an result of what it did. Some are excusing its public betrayed as merely “trying to get a scoop” and call the race over before the other networks on Tuesday night. Personally, I think that’s only a small factor in what happened.</p> <p>I’ve noticed for months now, that the <em>AP </em>from the very beginning was including super delegates in a way that was intentionally misleading. For example, this is how the graphics to their “delegate tracker” appear:</p> <p>Notice that the big, bold numbers to the left representing the total, includes superdelegates who have not yet voted. There can be absolutely no doubt that the <em>AP </em>is being intentionally misleading by doing this, and is committing journalistic malpractice. How can I be so sure? Let’s take a look at this video clip from CNN aired earlier this year.</p> <div class="oembed oembed-video"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5PKoEbdDgA" class="oembed-title">CNN is DIRECTLY told NOT to include superdelegates in their count.</a><br /><div class="oembed-content"> <iframe width="200" height="113" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a5PKoEbdDgA?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" title="CNN is DIRECTLY told NOT to include superdelegates in their count."></iframe></div> </div> <p>As you saw, Luis Miranda, the Communications Director at the Democratic National Committee, specifically told Jake Tapper that it is wrong to include superdelegates in the tally total for the Democratic primary. There can be no other interpretation. He said:</p> <blockquote><p><strong><em>“Any night that you have a primary or caucus, and the media lumps the superdelegates in—that they basically polled by calling them up and saying who are you supporting—they don’t vote until the convention. And so, they shouldn’t be included in any count.”</em></strong></p> </blockquote> <p>Yet the <em>AP</em> and other media continued to do so. Why? It’s just blatant bias from the ostensibly neutral mainstream media for the status quo candidate Hillary Clinton.</p> <p>That should be enough to turn the U.S. population away from these organizations forever. Yet there’s more. In calling the nomination for Hillary, the Associated Press had to get commitments from a few more super delegates. They achieved that feat yesterday evening (mind you, they still haven’t actually voted), and they kept the names anonymous. Yes, you read that right.</p> <p>Of course, it wasn’t just the <em>AP</em>, it was virtually all mainstream media proclaiming the same thing in a unified chorus. Indeed, they seemed to relish in it. Particularly inexcusable was reporting from the <em>LA Times. </em>As <em>Wall Street on Parade</em> noted<em>: </em></p> <blockquote><p><em>Particularly outrageous was the unethical conduct of the largest newspapers in California, where 1.5 million new voters have registered since January 1. California is an open primary, meaning Independents can vote. That fact, together with the massive new voter registrations and the tens of thousands who have turned out for Sanders’ rallies, was signaling a potential upset for Clinton in the state. That would not only be embarrassing but could lead to defections among the superdelegates prior to the Convention in July.</em></p> <p> </p> <p><em>The Los Angeles Times, which calls itself “the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country, with a daily readership of 1.4 million,” was one of the most egregious in their reporting. After running the headline “Hillary Clinton Clinches Nomination in a Historic First,” it then ran an article that asked in the headline: “After AP calls nomination for Clinton, will voters still turn out Tuesday?”</em></p> </blockquote> <p>This is a paper that’s supposed to represent and inform Californians. There’s only one word that comes to mind: <strong>disgusting</strong>. Particularly so when you see the polling numbers for independents in California:</p> <p>[image]https://libertyblitzkrieg.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Screen-Shot-2016-06-07-at-11.35.49-AM-1024x520.jpg[/image]</p> <p>So let’s recap. The<em> Associated Press</em> and virtually all other mainstream media declared Hillary Clinton the winner of the Democratic primary on the eve of a huge voting day with 694 pledged delegates at stake. They declared her the winner on a day in which no American primaries or caucuses were held, and via word of mouth from a handful of anonymous superdelegates. I don’t know what to call that, but it’s certainly not journalism.</p> <p><strong>2. Superdelegates as a Concept is Preposterous</strong></p> <p>I’ve read all the arguments and spin and there’s simply no reasonable justification for having superdelegates other than to manipulate the voting public via “delegate tracker” graphics such as what is used by the <em>AP </em>in order to always show Hillary Clinton with a big lead irrespective what’s actually happening on the ground. While Clinton has certainly won more pledged delegates thus far, the voting public has been intentionally manipulated from day one via the use of superdelegates.</p> <p>As the Sanders campaign pointed out last night:</p> <blockquote><p><strong><em>Secretary Clinton does not have and will not have the requisite number of pledged delegates to secure the nomination. She will be dependent on superdelegates who do not vote until July 25 and who can change their minds between now and then. They include more than 400 superdelegates, who endorsed Secretary Clinton 10 months before the first caucuses and primaries and long before any other candidate was in the race.</em></strong></p> </blockquote> <p>Think about that for a second. 400 superdelegates pledged their loyalty to Hillary 10 months before any voters had a chance to make their opinions heard. These superdelegates have not switched based on the desires of the voters in their states, and their early loyalty oaths allowed the media to manipulate the public from day one by including these lopsided figures.</p> <p>How lopsided are they? With a vast majority of the primaries completed, here’s the math.</p> <p><strong>Pledged delegates</strong>Clinton: 1,812Sanders: 1,521</p> <p><strong>Superdelegates</strong>Clinton: 571Sanders: 48</p> <p>Anyone else see a problem with that? While Clinton still has a comfortable lead in pledged delegates, she is slaughtering him in superdelegates. We can draw two important conclusions from this reality.</p> <ol><li>Superdelegates <strong>do not</strong> proportionately represent the will of the voters.</li> <li>Superdelegates exist solely to manipulate voters through the media. Something that has happened consistently throughout the primary.</li> </ol><p>The fact that superdelegates exist solely to manipulate voters should be perfectly clear at this point. Perfect proof of this can be seen in the incomprehensible answer DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz gave to why they exists:</p> <div class="oembed oembed-video"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLr4iAeTHG0" class="oembed-title">DNC - Superdelegates Exist to Protect Party Leaders from Grassroots Activists 02-10-2016</a><br /><div class="oembed-content"> <iframe width="200" height="113" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TLr4iAeTHG0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" title="DNC - Superdelegates Exist to Protect Party Leaders from Grassroots Activists 02-10-2016"></iframe></div> </div> <p>Have you ever heard a bigger bunch of mumbo jumbo in your life? It’s pure nonsense. There is absolutely no good reason for superdelegates.</p> <p>Equally interesting, is a question posed by Jeff Kurzon, a Democrat running for a Congressional district in New York City. He wonders whether the concept is even legal in a recent post:</p> <blockquote><p><strong><em>As it turns out, as my lawyer, Josh Douglass, and I have discovered, the entire concept of super-delegates is in violation of the Party’s own charter. That the Democratic Party is even using super-delegates, is a clear breach of contract. It is also a violation of our constitutional rights, including the 14th Amendment of Equal Protection (our vote should hold just as much weight as a super-delegate’s!).</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><em>Last week, I instructed Mr. Douglass to sue both the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the New York State Democratic Committee, on my behalf, over their use of super-delegates. We have requested a preliminary injunction which would cause the DNC to honor the average voter’s preference of POTUS nominee by having the super delegate votes be diminished to being proportional and in keeping with the preference of the primary voters.  This would stop the DNC from permitting the super delegates from carrying Hillary over the finish line. </em></p> </blockquote> <p>Very interesting indeed.</p> <p><strong>3. Bernie Sanders Supporters Should Not Support or Vote for Hillary Clinton </strong></p> <p>This section is for true Bernie Sanders supporters, not for Democrats who like them both. If you can like both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton I simply cannot help you.</p> <p>The main reason a Bernie Sanders supporter should never support or vote for Hillary Clinton is that there’s really no similarity between the two candidates when it comes to the substantive issues facing America in 2016. They are on drastically different pages in issues of militarism, Wall Street criminality, trade and civil liberties.<em> For more, see links at the end of this post.</em></p> <p>No matter what Hillary Clinton says today, the moment she gets into office she’ll do the opposite. This is particularly true of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. If you think for one moment she will not push aggressively for its passage once in office you are either the most naive person on earth, or simply not paying attention. See:</p> <p><strong>Obama Administration Delays Release of Hillary Clinton TPP Emails Until After the Election</strong></p> <p><strong>Where Does Hillary Stand on the TPP? 45 Public Statements Tell You Everything You Need to Know</strong></p> <p>Moreover, Clinton surrogates constantly talk down to Sanders supporters as if they are miscreant children who need to be disciplined. Here are just a couple of recent examples from <em>The Hill</em>:</p> <blockquote><p><em>Democrats appear ready to bring the curtain down on the tumultuous primary struggle between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders — irrespective of the results Tuesday in California’s primary.</em></p> <p> </p> <p><em>White House press secretary <strong>Josh Earnest signaled at Monday’s regular media briefing that President Obama is on board with the Clinton team’s argument that the battle for the presidential nomination is as good as over.</strong></em></p> <p> </p> <p><em><strong>“We’re going to give Democratic voters the opportunity to weigh in.</strong> But certainly somebody who claims a majority of the pledged and superdelegates, you know, has a strong case to make,” Earnest said.</em></p> </blockquote> <p>How generous of you Mr. Earnest, you call the nomination battle over, but then throw some meager crumbs to the irrelevant peasant voters of California. Pure class.</p> <p>Or what about this one.</p> <blockquote><p><em>“The people have spoken,” said Eric Jotkoff, who served as an aide on Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. “Even before tomorrow, she already has 3 million more votes more than Bernie Sanders. I get it. <strong>It’s never fun to lose. But at some point, the crowd leaves the stadium, the band stops playing and it’s over.”</strong></em></p> </blockquote> <p>Well actually only some of the people have spoken. 694 delegates are still up for grabs today Mr. Jotkoff.  The man is dripping with condescension.</p> <p>Finally, I want to conclude with the most important reason of all not to vote for Hillary Clinton come November. If you do, you will be rubber-stamping everything the Democratic Party and the mainstream media has done during this election cycle. Voting for Hillary Clinton will send a message to the Democratic Party that change is unnecessary. That the status quo can kick you, spit on you and laugh in your face for months straight and get away with it.</p> <p>Donald Trump is not your problem. Of course, Sanders supporters cannot actually consider voting for the man, but don’t let anyone tell you a vote for a third-party candidate or no vote at all is a “vote for Donald Trump.” The fault is not yours if Trump gets elected. The fault lies with the DNC and the media.</p> <p>Independent Sanders supporters should be especially outraged. Despite independents comprising 43% of the electorate, many of you were given no choice in the primaries. New York state was a particularly egregious example, as I explained in the post, <strong>Hillary Clinton Will Win New York, Because New York is Running a Banana Republic Primary:</strong></p> <blockquote><p><em>Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you’ll know that New Yorkers go to the primary voting booths on April 19th. Unfortunately, only a small sliver of the population will actually be able to vote. First, it’s a closed primary, so you have to be registered as a member of one of the two corrupt political parties in order to participate. As the Guardian recently reported, 27% of New York state’s active voters were not registered in either party as of April 2016, meaning these people will have no say in the primary. Even worse, what about all those residents who aren’t active voters, but would very likely vote in this particular election given the increased turnout seen in other states? They’re iced out as well.</em></p> <p> </p> <p><em>New York has one of the most archaic primaries in the nation. Not only is it one of only 11 states with closed primaries, but if you are a registered voter who wanted to change your party affiliation in order to vote in next week’s primary, you would’ve had to do it by last October. In contrast, if you weren’t yet a registered voter you had until March 25th to register under one of the two parties in order to vote in the primary. </em><strong><em>So if you live in New York and haven’t registered by now, you can’t vote.</em> </strong></p> </blockquote> <p><strong>Most importantly, all Sanders supporters need to understand that if you sacrifice your principles and shift to Clinton just to defeat Trump, you have psychologically taken yourself out of the real fight to come.</strong> By supporting her to defeat someone who you think is worse you are harming yourself and your ability to think clearly and engage in activism going forward. The best advice I can give anyone is to vote third party or sit this charade out. As such you’ll remain engaged in the real fight, and fully prepared to act as much needed resistance to whichever authoritarian is elected, <strong>Trump or Clinton</strong>.</p> <p>*  *  *</p> <p>Finally, here is The Burning Platform's Jim Quinn summarizing the farce perfectly...</p> <blockquote><p><strong>If ever you needed any more proof the captured MSM is nothing but a mouthpiece for the establishment, you got it yesterday. </strong>Hillary Clinton, the hand picked surrogate for the crony capitalists, military industrial complex and Wall Street, was declared the winner of the Democratic nomination because some shadowy super delegates supposedly threw their support to her. What a load of bullshit. Hillary was going to lose the California primary today. That would be a huge black eye for her floundering campaign.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>The establishment needed to make the votes in California meaningless and keep people from even voting.</strong> So they declared her the winner. The timing was calculated. The AP headline and story was written days ago. They waited until the day before the primary to pull the rug out from Sanders and his supporters. <strong>Sanders and his people should turn Philadelphia into a war zone at the convention in July. The ruling oligarchy has rigged the game folks and they are telling you your vote doesn’t matter.</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>Are you ready?</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-source field-type-link-field field-label-hidden field-wrapper"><a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/eGTWMFw5NA4/symbolic-end-farcical-democratic-primary-anonymous-super-delegates-declare-winner-th">Source</a></div><div class="field field-name-opencalais-calaisdocumentc-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden field-wrapper"> <div class="field-items" class="comma-separated field-items"> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even"><a href="/category/politics">Politics</a></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-opencalais-continent-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden field-wrapper"> <div class="field-items" class="comma-separated field-items"> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even"><a href="/category/america">America</a></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-opencalais-organization-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden field-wrapper"> <div class="field-items" class="comma-separated field-items"> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even"><a href="/category/democratic-party">Democratic Party</a></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-opencalais-politicalevent-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden field-wrapper"> <div class="field-items" class="comma-separated field-items"> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even"><a href="/category/open-primary">an open primary</a></div> <div class="field-item odd" class="field-item even odd"><a href="/category/closed-primary">a closed primary</a></div> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even odd even"><a href="/category/primary-1">a primary</a></div> <div class="field-item odd" class="field-item even odd even odd"><a href="/category/primaries">primaries</a></div> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even odd even odd even"><a href="/category/primary-voting-0">the primary voting</a></div> <div class="field-item odd" class="field-item even odd even odd even odd"><a href="/category/surprised-everyone-abruptly-declaring-democratic-party-primary">&amp;ndash;&amp;nbsp;surprised everyone&amp;nbsp;by&amp;nbsp;abruptly declaring&amp;nbsp;the Democratic Party primary</a></div> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even odd even odd even odd even"><a href="/category/primary-0">the primary</a></div> <div class="field-item odd" class="field-item even odd even odd even odd even odd"><a href="/category/democratic-race">Democratic race</a></div> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even odd even odd even odd even odd even"><a href="/category/next-week-s-primary">next week&amp;rsquo;s primary</a></div> <div class="field-item odd" class="field-item even odd even odd even odd even odd even odd"><a href="/category/primaries-0">the primaries</a></div> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even odd even odd even odd even odd even odd even"><a href="/category/closed-primaries">closed primaries</a></div> <div class="field-item odd" class="field-item even odd even odd even odd even odd even odd even odd"><a href="/category/most-archaic-primaries">the most archaic primaries</a></div> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even odd even odd even odd even odd even odd even odd even"><a href="/category/primary">primary</a></div> <div class="field-item odd" class="field-item even odd even odd even odd even odd even odd even odd even odd"><a href="/category/democratic-party-primary">the Democratic Party primary</a></div> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even odd even odd even odd even odd even odd even odd even odd even"><a href="/category/democratic-primary">Democratic primary</a></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-opencalais-provinceorstate-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden field-wrapper"> <div class="field-items" class="comma-separated field-items"> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even"><a href="/category/california">California</a></div> </div> </div> Tue, 07 Jun 2016 20:25:00 +0000 Guest 20239 at https://5ux.com https://5ux.com/news/symbolic-end-farcical-democratic-primary-anonymous-super-delegates-declare-winner-through-media#comments Ralph Nader: Clinton Is Winning By "Dictatorship" https://5ux.com/news/ralph-nader-clinton-winning-dictatorship <div class="clearfix body field"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><p>With Trump now practically assured of the republican candidacy and the only remaining race being that between Hillary and Bernie, Ralph Nader, a former presidential candidate himself, had some disturbing if accurate words about the democratic primary process. In a story published in US News, Nader said that Hillary Clinton is <strong>"going to win by dictatorship" </strong>in the Democratic race against Bernie Sanders. </p> <p><strong>"Twenty-five percent of superdelegates are cronies, mostly. They weren't elected,</strong>" Nader, an activist and former Green Party presidential candidate, said on Friday. </p> <p>"They were there in order to stop somebody like Bernie Sanders, who would win by the vote."</p> <p>Clinton, the Democratic front-runner in the race for the White House, has secured 2,240 of the 2,383 delegates needed to clinch her party's nomination, according to the Associated Press delegate tracker. Her nearly insurmountable lead is mostly due to the backing of 524 superdelegates, the unbound powerbrokers who make their vote at the July convention. </p> <p>Sanders has tried to woo these votes to his sidel the Vermont senator has 1,473 delegates total, including just 40 superdelegates. </p> <p>Sanders is vowing to fight until the Democratic National Convention in late July, citing his "momentum" from winning recent states. Still, Clinton has won some 3 million more votes than Sanders during the primaries.</p> <p>Nader actually had some good words to say about Trump, saying the Donald has brought some important issues to the fore. "He's questioned the trade agreements. He's done some challenging of Wall Street – I don't know how authentic that is. He said he's against the carried interest racket, for hedge funds. He's funded himself and therefore attacked special interest money, which is very important," Nader says. "<strong>But he's lowered the level of political debate to unheard-of depths of salacious, slanderous and vacuousness, garnished with massive self-boosterism and repetition.</strong>"</p> <p>Well, if that's what America wants...</p> <p>On the other hand, Nader unleashed on Hillary, whom he accused of being a "corporatist, militarist Democrat" who would have been defeated by Sanders if every state held an open primary. Nader also said that he thinks Sanders "made very few mistakes" during his White House bid and would present a bigger challenge to presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in November. </p> <p>"[H]e couldn't do anything about the superdelegates. But he almost won and he would've won," Nader said cited by The Hill. "He would've defeated Trump easily, much more easily than [Clinton] would've defeated him." </p> <p>"He doesn't produce gaffes. He's very consistent and he's scandal-free. What politician 35 years in office is scandal-free?"</p> <p>Nader is right, but the reason for Bernie's lack of gaffes perhaps has to do with his ideology that has kept him out of contentuous congressional fights where every politician is required to bend if hoping to get their way. Which is not to say that unlike Hillary, Bernie doesn't believe his ideology - he most certainly does, and fervently at that, something which is apparent during all of his speeches. The only problem is that the thing he believes in is socialism. For a quick and recent primer on what happens under socialism, just search for Venezuela, or any other recent failed state. </p> <p>Finally, while Clinton may defeat Bernie, what happens in November is a different story. here Nader thinks that Trump will ultimately will defeat himself this fall: "Trump will turn the Republican Party into the Trump Dump," he quips, but adds it's not impossible that the New York real estate mogul wins because of Clinton's vulnerability to scandal.</p> <p><strong>"You never know when the shoe's going to drop on either of them,</strong>" Nader says of Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton.</p> <p>Which is precisely the reason why this presidential election has quickly turned into not only the most scandalous, but also most entertaining one in US history. </p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-source field-type-link-field field-label-hidden field-wrapper"><a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/gR4LWVd3f1U/ralph-nader-clinton-winning-dictatorship">Source</a></div><div class="field field-name-opencalais-calaisdocumentc-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden field-wrapper"> <div class="field-items" class="comma-separated field-items"> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even"><a href="/category/politics">Politics</a></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-opencalais-continent-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden field-wrapper"> <div class="field-items" class="comma-separated field-items"> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even"><a href="/category/america">America</a></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-opencalais-politicalevent-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden field-wrapper"> <div class="field-items" class="comma-separated field-items"> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even"><a href="/category/open-primary">an open primary</a></div> <div class="field-item odd" class="field-item even odd"><a href="/category/race">race</a></div> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even odd even"><a href="/category/democratic-race">Democratic race</a></div> <div class="field-item odd" class="field-item even odd even odd"><a href="/category/presidential-election">presidential election</a></div> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even odd even odd even"><a href="/category/democratic-primary">Democratic primary</a></div> <div class="field-item odd" class="field-item even odd even odd even odd"><a href="/category/primaries-0">the primaries</a></div> </div> </div> Fri, 13 May 2016 22:57:40 +0000 Guest 18243 at https://5ux.com https://5ux.com/news/ralph-nader-clinton-winning-dictatorship#comments The Battle For Wisconsin: What's At Stake In Tonight's Primary - Live Feed https://5ux.com/news/battle-wisconsin-whats-stake-tonights-primary-live-feed <a href="/news/battle-wisconsin-whats-stake-tonights-primary-live-feed"><img class="teaserimage" src="https://5ux.com/sites/5ux.com/files/styles/medium_250/public/resize/remote/268e7116ced68996ae51745c0ba0eed5-600x442.jpg?itok=XGweSqYp" alt="The Battle For Wisconsin: What&#039;s At Stake In Tonight&#039;s Primary - Live Feed" title="The Battle For Wisconsin: What&#039;s At Stake In Tonight&#039;s Primary - Live Feed" /></a><div class="clearfix body field"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item even"><p><em>Live (if voice-overed) feed from CNN:</em></p> <div class="oembed oembed-video"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfIceTn_t_4" class="oembed-title">LIVE: London Marathon 2016</a><br /><div class="oembed-content"> <iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sfIceTn_t_4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div> </div> <p> </p> <p>* * * </p> <p><strong>First Exit Polls Data</strong></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">Early Fox News exit polls for #Moderates in #Wisconsin: pic.twitter.com/CbBgWYv3TJ</p> <p>— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) April 5, 2016</p> </blockquote> <p> </p> <p><em>Some samples of exit polling from Politico:</em></p> <p>A majority of voters casting their ballots in the Wisconsin Republican primary on Tuesday said the party's nominee should be the candidate who receives the most delegates, regardless of whether that person clinches the 1,237 majority outright, according to an NBC News exit poll.</p> <p>While 56 percent said the nomination should go to the candidate with the most votes, 42 percent said the delegates should be able to choose anyone they prefer at July's Republican National Convention in Cleveland. More than eight-in-ten of those who said they supported Donald Trump (83 percent) said they preferred the nomination go to the person with the most votes, while just 42 percent of those backing another candidate said the same.</p> <p>* * * </p> <p><strong>Preview</strong></p> <p>When the 2016 race kicked kicked off last year, few pundits would have predicted Wisconsin’s April primary might be a game changer on both sides of the aisle. But the Badger state, which heads to the polls today, could be key in determining if the Republicans head to a contested convention and if Bernie Sanders retains momentum after five straight victories. </p> <p>Polls close at 9 p.m. EDT. Results could be known shortly after the polls close.</p> <p>Before we show what's at stake, here is a reminder of what the current delegate breakdown looks like. </p> <p><em>First the Democrats:</em></p> <p> </p> <p><em>And the GOP:</em></p> <p> </p> <p>Ahead of tonight's primary, Trump has 737 of the 1,237 delegates needed to sew up the Republican nomination, and Mr Cruz 475. Clinton has 1,243 delegates to Mr Sanders' 980, with 2,383 required for the Democratic nomination.</p> <p>A Wisconsin victory for Cruz, who is leading in the polls, would raise the odds of the Republican nomination being wrested from Mr Trump in a contested convention, which could tear the party apart. Trump would need to elevate his game and reap 57% of remaining delegates to win outright before July's party conference, according to the Associated Press.</p> <p>The Real Clear Politics polling average put Cruz ahead of Trump, 35 percent to 32 percent, while Kasich trailed wilth 23 percent. On the Democratic side, Clinton led in the poll average, 48 percent to 47 percent.</p> <p>Trump unleashed his wife Melania in Milwaukee on Monday as he sought to shore up his support among female voters. "No matter who you are, man or a woman, he treats everyone equal," said 45-year-old Mrs Trump in a rare speech.</p> <p>Among the Democrats, former Secretary of State Mrs Clinton is saddled with persistent questions about her honesty and trustworthiness.</p> <p>Grassroots enthusiasm for Mr Sanders remains high, but the self-proclaimed democratic socialist needs to win at least 60% of all remaining delegates.</p> <p>Both Clinton and Trump look likely to perform better in New York's upcoming primary and five northeastern states that vote on 26 April. Wisconsin is the first of several midwestern and northeastern states voting in April. New York holds its primary on April 19.  Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island hold their primaries on April 26. </p> <p>Cruz and Mr Trump are calling for Ohio Governor John Kasich, the only other Republican still hanging on in the race, to drop out. But he has refused.</p> <p>Raising the stake for Trump is that according to a just released Reuters/Ipsos poll Cruz has pulled into a statistical dead heat with front-runner Donald Trump.  Cruz received 35.2 percent of support to Trump's 39.5 percent, the poll of 568 Republicans taken April 1-5 found. The numbers put the two within the poll's 4.8 percentage-point credibility interval, a measure of accuracy. Cruz and Trump were also briefly in a dead heat on March 28.</p> <p>Trump has led almost continually in national Reuters/Ipsos polling since last July. Ohio Governor John Kasich, the only other Republican still in the race for the party's nomination, placed third in Tuesday's Reuters/Ipsos poll, with 18.7 percent.</p> <p>* * * </p> <p><em>Here’s a rundown of everything at stake today:</em></p> <p><strong>GOP</strong></p> <p><strong>State voting</strong>: Wisconsin</p> <p><strong>Delegates up for grabs</strong>: 42</p> <p><strong>Delegate Allocation explained</strong>: Of the 42 delegates, 24 are in Congressional districts, (3 in each of the 8 districts) and 18 are at-large delegates. The at-large delegates are winner-take-all and based on the statewide vote. Whoever wins the statewide vote gets all 18 delegates. The Congressional districts are winner-take-all based on district. So, for example, if Ted Cruz wins one Congressional district, he will get all 3 of the delegates there. If he wins all 8 districts, he will get all 24 delegates.</p> <p><strong>Why it matters</strong>: The setup makes it possible for the winner to sweep all 42 delegates, and makes it even more likely they will amass a majority. This presents an ideal opportunity for Cruz and John Kasich, who are trying to stop Donald Trump from clinching the 1,237 delegates needed for the nomination. The latest Marquette University Law School poll showed Cruz with 40-30 lead over Trump. Trump leads Cruz by 262 delegates, but Trump still needs to win 57 percent of the remaining delegates to get to 1,237. If Cruz wins big in Wisconsin, he makes Trump's path to that number more complicated. And if John Kasich manages to win one or 2 congressional districts, that would set Trump back even further.</p> <p><strong>However, Trump does have one advantage</strong>: Wisconsin is an open primary, where he tends to perform better than in caucuses and closed primaries.</p> <p><strong>DEMOCRATS</strong></p> <p><strong>State voting</strong>: Wisconsin</p> <p><strong>Delegates up for grabs</strong>: 86 pledged, and 10 superdelegates, former and current Democratic leaders and elected officials, who can select the candidate of their choosing, wherever they want and whenever they want, and can switch at any time.</p> <p><strong>Delegate Allocation explained</strong>: As is standard for the Democrats, both candidates have to get a minimum of 15 percent of the vote to amass any delegates. Both Clinton and Sanders are virtually certain to hit that threshold.</p> <p><strong>Why it matters</strong>: Sanders has proven he can play in the Midwest, beating Clinton in Michigan and coming in close behind her in Missouri and Illinois. According to a recent Marquette University Law School poll, he has a four point lead over her. Clinton leads Sanders by 263 pledged delegates, and her lead widens to 701 delegates when incorporating the superdelegates who have committed to her. Even if Clinton loses in Wisconsin, Sanders is unlikely to make a dent in that delegate lead; If the race is as close as the polls are forecasting, the Vermont senator is unlikely to gain many more delegates. And while Clinton needs to win 42 percent of the remaining pledged delegates, Sanders needs to win 57 percent. When factoring in superdelegates, Clinton need to win 36 percent and Sanders needs to win 73 percent.</p> <p>But while math may be on her side, a loss in Wisconsin would mean Clinton heads into her adopted home state of New York having lost six states in two weeks -- a fact Sanders is well aware of.</p> <p>"I don’t want to get Hillary Clinton any more nervous than she already is," he said at a campaign stop Monday in Wisconsin. "So don’t tell her this, but we win here, we win in New York State, we are on our way to the White House."</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-field-source field-type-link-field field-label-hidden field-wrapper"><a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/ulvKJGt9Vqc/story01.htm">Source</a></div><div class="field field-name-opencalais-calaisdocumentc-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden field-wrapper"> <div class="field-items" class="comma-separated field-items"> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even"><a href="/category/politics">Politics</a></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-opencalais-politicalevent-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden field-wrapper"> <div class="field-items" class="comma-separated field-items"> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even"><a href="/category/open-primary">an open primary</a></div> <div class="field-item odd" class="field-item even odd"><a href="/category/upcoming-primary">upcoming primary</a></div> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even odd even"><a href="/category/its-primary">its primary</a></div> <div class="field-item odd" class="field-item even odd even odd"><a href="/category/closed-primaries">closed primaries</a></div> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even odd even odd even"><a href="/category/primary">primary</a></div> <div class="field-item odd" class="field-item even odd even odd even odd"><a href="/category/their-primaries">their primaries</a></div> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even odd even odd even odd even"><a href="/category/republican-primary">Republican primary</a></div> <div class="field-item odd" class="field-item even odd even odd even odd even odd"><a href="/category/april-primary">April primary</a></div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-opencalais-provinceorstate-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden field-wrapper"> <div class="field-items" class="comma-separated field-items"> <div class="field-item even" class="field-item even"><a href="/category/wisconsin">Wisconsin</a></div> </div> </div> Tue, 05 Apr 2016 23:28:06 +0000 Guest 15037 at https://5ux.com https://5ux.com/news/battle-wisconsin-whats-stake-tonights-primary-live-feed#comments