Just the Facts
In reference to Alice Chan’s opinion piece (Open Mic, April 20), here are the facts. Hillary Clinton is, and will be, ahead in pledged delegates, by hundreds. She has garnered more than 2.7 million more votes “by the people.”
She has overwhelmingly more endorsements and newspaper support. All but one senator support Hillary, and here in Sonoma there has not been one poll, except in fundraising, that shows Bernie ahead. Hillary has a growing group of staff and volunteers locally that have spoken to many, many pro-Hillary voters who will help her win the California primary.
Superdelegates have always been guided by the will of the voter. Hillary’s superdelegates switched to Obama in 2008, when it was clear he was ahead. Losing is not fun, but it’s not true that it’s a rigged system, no matter how much you whine and complain about it.
—Kim Rothstein
Sebastopol
Whither the People?
Voter suppression and disenfranchisement are alive and well and doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing: keeping voters away from the polls. The Republicans have been using a variety of techniques for decades and have been quite successful, even if they used somewhat outdated strategies.
The Democrats, not to be undone by their comrades across the isle, have been using some tricks of their own. For example, the Wyoming caucus voted pretty convincingly for Bernie, 56 percent to Clinton’s 44 percent. He beat Hillary by 12 points. Here’s the kicker, the delegate count was Clinton, 11; Sanders, 7. Now how does that happen? What a monumental waste of time for those who voted for Bernie. What a rigged system it is, leaning heavily on the side of the Democratic establishment!
Example number two: Bernie Sanders crushed Clinton in the Vermont primary, getting 86.1 percent of the vote, receiving all 16 pledged delegates and winning every single town in Vermont. And yet regardless of this overwhelming mandate of Vermont voters, U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, Gov. Peter Shumlin, former governor and former DNC chair Howard Dean and Democratic National Committeewoman Billi Gosh, continue to pledge their support and their superdelegate status to Hillary Clinton.
Am I mistaken in my limited political understanding that all politicians are voted into office by their constituents, to serve the needs and will of said constituents? Sanders’ victory was nothing less then a clear and powerful message from the citizens of Vermont, that Sanders was their choice for president of the United States. To be a “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” our political leaders and elected officials must uphold the will of the people, especially when it is expressed so decisively through the ballot box.
What happened to the “Will of the People”? Do American voters have such an insignificant impact on the whole system of government that their votes mean nothing?
—Bar Ponneck
Windsor
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