Senator Bernie Sanders is the likely reason why this is happening. Official Senate portrait.
As many of you may know there is a Democratic candidate debate occurring this Saturday at 7:00 pm central time. Much like the candidate forum, that happened last Friday, I will most likely not be covering it. This isn't because of any bias on my part.Though I am clearly on the other side, I still wrote up the first Democratic debate, and had a fun time doing it. I really want to see and write about the second real debate, not only for this blog, but for myself as well. Even if I am not going to vote for any of the three candidates, I still want to hear what they have to say. But that is probably not going to happen.
Why? Because, like most Americans, I have better things to be doing on Friday and Saturday nights. Shocking, I know, but I actually do have a social life and even if I don't have much to do, I still don't know if I want to spend the little bit of time off I have watching a debate on the weekend. I am a person that is very interested in politics, yet there is very little chance that I am going to watch the debate. I just have better things to do on the weekend. Should I tell my friends and family when they want to see me "nope, can't do, I'm watching the debate for a party that I don't even like". Not going to happen. And I think that is a pretty typical reaction. What on earth do you think a undecided voter, that is on the edge of committing to a candidate or even to voting, would think? Nobody is going to watch these debates except the most dedicated political watchers or major supporters of the candidates. People just have better things to do on the weekends.
On the surface this seems like a terrible idea for the Democrats. After all, a big part of elections is getting nationwide attention for their candidates. That isn't going to happen here. On a Friday or Saturday night people are going to be going out to the bars or seeing friends or watching movies. They aren't going to be watching debates. In a sane world, you would think that the debates would happen on a night where most people are home and there isn't much competition for viewers, like a Wednesday or Thursday. But the Democrats aren't doing this. And on the surface it just seems nuts.
But I think there is a major reason why and it has a lot to do with the man I posted up there. Since the beginning of this campaign it has always been assumed that Hillary Clinton was going to be the candidate. Everyone knows that. It was known before she even officially announced. She has practically been anointed, and she has almost complete backing by the Democratic leadership. If you don't believe me, look at her endorsements. That page was so huge that Wikipedia had to make her section collapse just so you could see the other candidates endorsements. In short, Hillary is who the establishment wants.
And as of right now she only has one challenger. Bernie Sanders. Sure, Martin O'Malley is in the race, but he isn't a serious candidate. The only reason he is there is in case Hillary Clinton drops dead or somehow torpedoes her own campaign. Bernie Sanders is the only serious threat to Clinton. I don't think he is a major threat, but Hillary Clinton does not even want to allow a single threat to her campaign, and neither does the establishment. Though Bernie Sanders has plenty of supporters, the Democratic Party is not one of them.
So what does this have to do with the debates? Well, I think it is quite cynical really. Remember up above where I said that the whole point of the debates is to get their candidates out there? Well, honestly, who hasn't heard of Hillary Clinton at this point. Anyone that cares even a little about the politics in this country understand who she is and what she stands for. Everyone's mind is made up about her. Putting her out there doesn't really help much and it could even hurt if she messes something up bad. She has little reason to participate in the debates at all.
That is absolutely not true about Bernie Sanders. I barely knew who he was before the campaign started and I think a lot of people my age and older still know almost nothing about him. Sanders desperately needs to expand his image and reach out to groups that support him. As of right now his supporters are mostly young white male liberals, and he needs to broaden that base. Is he really going to be able to do so on a debate stage where the vast majority of people won't be watching? No way! It's going to hurt him, and hurt him bad, while it only helps Hillary Clinton.
What's the plan then? My tinfoil hat theory is that having the debates be on the weekends is a cynical attempt at keeping Bernie Sanders from gaining supporters because he's as much as a threat to the Democratic establishment as any of the Republican candidates are. Hillary Clinton, as politically intelligent as she is, knows that the only real threat of her being the candidate, other then her own health, is Bernie Sanders. She, along with the Democratic establishment that supports her unconditionally, wants nothing more then to make sure that Sanders has as few chances as possible to gain supporters. And looking at the debate schedule, Bernie Sanders won't have an opportunity to have a debate in prime-time until February. His campaign could be out of steam by then, and these debates could have helped him massively.
That's my theory. Can I prove it? No. Do I think that the Republicans wouldn't do the same thing to their insurgent candidates if they had a chance? Of course! Does it make what the Democrats are doing right? I don't think so. Though I am no fan of Bernie Sanders, I don't like it when the political establishment hates on a candidate just because he or she gets in the way of the candidate they like. I feel the same way about Donald Trump, Ben Carson and to a lesser extent Ron Paul back in 2012. The people should be able to see what these candidates offer and have a fair chance to evaluate them. I think the Democrats aren't giving that chance to Bernie Sanders. Even though I think he's a bad candidate, I do think America should be able to give him a fair shake. And I really don't think that is going to happen now.
My advice for anyone in the Democratic party, or who is unsure of what candidate you support, is to watch these debates if at all possible. Just because the Democratic party has decided that they want Hillary Clinton doesn't mean that you have to accept it. I'd rather you vote for someone with a (R) in front of their name, but either way, I think people should have the right to be informed. Just because the party is making that hard, it doesn't mean you have to put up with it. Indeed, this whole election seems to be about people tired of having to put up with their party, be it the Democrats or the Republicans. Make up your own minds, and don't just accept what the party is doing.
No comments:
Post a Comment