Why Let Red States Choose the Democratic Nominee?

By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News

02 March 16

he establishment media is declaring Hillary Clinton the Democratic Party nominee. Since when do red states choose the nominee? Will Hillary Clinton win South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Iowa, or Texas in November? She might win Virginia, Arkansas, Nevada – and probably would win Massachusetts.

So Hillary Clinton has won one blue state and it’s game over? Not so fast.

Massachusetts was essentially a dead heat. Minnesota went to Sanders, and of course Vermont, another blue state, went to Bernie.

Oklahoma will go red in November. Colorado and New Hampshire are purple and Hillary’s Nevada and Virginia could go either way.

Can we put the brakes on here and have some primaries in the blue states before we decide who the Democratic nominee is?

Hillary Clinton’s margins in the South were impressive and have helped her to build a substantial lead in the all-important pledged delegates. But let’s put it into perspective: it was the South. It was Republican country. The Dixiecrats are Republicans now.

Let’s face it, the Democratic Leadership Council’s goal has been achieved again. By front-loading the nomination process with southern states they have given the momentum to a moderate candidate. It is a system rigged against a progressive insurgent candidate.

It will be an uphill climb, but the race is far from over.

Bernie Sanders will have to find some states that he can win by large margins or it will be difficult to catch Hillary Clinton.

Bernie  issued the following statement after winning primaries and caucuses in Vermont, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Minnesota:

The political revolution has begun.

Ten months ago, when our campaign started, not many people thought we would get this far or do this well. Not many people outside of Vermont even knew who I was. That was then.

Tonight, voters in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Minnesota have joined the people of Vermont in showing America that a political revolution is spreading across our country, that people want to take on the billionaire class and make our government work for all Americans and not just the top 1 percent.

Today, we head to Maine and Michigan. Our campaign is just getting started. We're going all the way to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia and beyond.

Tomorrow, I look forward to a contest this fall between democracy and demagoguery, between ordinary Americans and the oligarchs. I look forward to the chance for our people-powered campaign to show Donald Trump that the United States of America belongs to all of us and not just billionaire bullies.

The establishment media is also transfixed on the turnout. I guess they expect 2008 every year. In 2008 the Democrats doubled their turnout from 2004. In 2016 turnout is ahead of 2004, and in the few blue states that have voted Democrats have out-performed the Republicans. In fact, in Minnesota Bernie Sanders got more votes than all the Republicans combined.

So the lesson here is take everything CNN, MSNBC, and the rest of the corporate media say with a grain of salt. They want an establishment candidate to win. They are happy with Citizens United: it allows corporations and super PACs to buy a lot of airtime. Think about it.

Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.

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