On This Day in History: July 26

Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic nomination

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On July 26, 2016, for the first time, a woman received the nomination of a major political party to run for president of the United States. Hillary Clinton won the nomination because of math. Not to hear some people tell it, though. 

--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: July 26, 2016--

Bernie was cheated! Bernie would have won! I don’t fucking think so. In the spring of 2017, months after Trump occupied the Oval Office, a bullshit lawsuit launched in Florida on behalf of Sanders against the Democratic National Committee saying the 2016 primary was rigged. The DNC lawyers said the organization had the right to choose its leader, and some Bernie fans misplaced their excrement. Realistically, they couldn’t “choose” anyone. This myth of the DNC being all powerful is bullshit. It’s not a monolith and could not have placed Hillary Clinton in the leadership against the will of the voters. The DNC has little power, responsible mostly for fundraising and organizing the convention. 

What about emails showing the DNC supported Clinton? You mean the emails that were all sent after it was mathematically impossible for Bernie to win the nomination, but he illogically refused to concede for another two months so he could whine about Clinton? Those emails? Weird that emails supporting the undeniable winner would exist. But! But! Superdelegates! They could have given it to Bernie! You mean they could have flipped the election toward the guy with way fewer votes by going against the will of the majority? Sounds rather undemocratic. 

Anything that made the DNC seem like it was supporting Clinton by the end of April is a big Well Fucking Duh. Because it was obvious she was getting way more votes and was going to clinch the nomination, and so people started putting their support behind her in anticipation of her fight to win the presidency against the Republican candidate. By May, everyone knew it was over for Bernie except Bernie and his supporters. It was Russians who hacked and leaked those emails and flooded Twitter with baseless accusations to create division in the Democratic Party, and many Bernie supporters fell for it. The whole idea of the election being stolen from Bernie is bullshit Russian propaganda and it’s time people stopped believing it. The fact is Clinton got a lot more votes than Sanders to win the nomination. More Democrats preferring her over him is simple fucking math. Attending rallies isn’t voting. 

But would Bernie have beaten Trump? Bernie couldn’t beat Hillary, so how is that rational? Not to mention that the Republican war machine was focused on Clinton. Had Bernie won the nomination, Republicans would have quickly shifted focus to make him look like a baby-eating reincarnation of Chairman Mao. It didn’t have to be true. Most of what they said about Hillary was bullshit. You think Republicans care about facts? The polls showing Sanders outperforming Clinton against Trump weren’t based on the reality of how much vitriol the Republicans would have hurled at Bernie had he been nominated; Sanders never would have stood a chance. 

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