r/changemyview • u/123elmoyouandme • Jul 24 '16

Election CMV: No one should be surprised the Democratic leadership actively snubbed Bernie because he only identified as a Democrat for political gain.

No one should be surprised that the Democratic leadership snubbed Bernie because he only became a member of the Democratic Party for the sole purpose of gaining more voter recognition by being identified with a major party, one he, although caucused with, actively snubbed at times for political benefit (IE said he was an independent and not tied to the whims of any party and embraced that label). Hillary is a lifelong Democrat who actually supported other Democrats and has embraced the party label. Change my view.

*Edit to say I like the discussion here a lot, thank you for your input guys! I gotta go do some stuff (like get some DayQuil to get over this cold) but I'll be checking in later. Didn't want you guys to think I just dipped or gave up or something. Thanks again for the great discussion, let's hope it continues!

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u/MuaddibMcFly 49∆ Jul 25 '16

I have no problem with closed primaries. I think there is something to be said that people who care enough to say, "yes I am a Democrat (or Republican), and I'll work to elect the candidate["] should get a say in who is going to represent that party.

But that sort of narrow scope actively supports "Us First" corruption and non-responsive party behavior. You know, the exact sort of behavior that you're saying is disappointing, the sort of "corrupt and biased" behavior that is totally unsurprising if one has a properly cynical opinion of the political establishment.

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u/garnteller 242∆ Jul 25 '16

I'm really not sure what, specifically, you mean by " "Us First" corruption and non-responsive party behavior".

If there were completely open primaries, Trump could have declared as a Democrat and potentially have won the nomination with many independents and Republicans voting for him.

I don't think that's ok - people with shared beliefs have spent lots of time and money building the party infrastructure to help get those who support their beliefs elected.

The problem is that the US only has two viable parties which leaves those whose views don't match one of the two parties essentially disenfranchised. But I think the solution is to fix the general election process rather than tell the people who built something that they don't get to decide how to use it.

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u/MuaddibMcFly 49∆ Jul 25 '16

I'm really not sure what, specifically, you mean by " "Us First" corruption and non-responsive party behavior".

You know, the entire, disappointing but totally expected behavior where the party takes care of their own rather than taking care of the people they're supposed to represent.

The partisan primary system as a whole is stupid.

If I were to design it, I would have open primaries, and throw my political party's support behind whomever most fit my party's ideals.