By now you've probably heard all about Bernie Sanders' #Datagate a couple weeks ago where some of his people started looking at some information they shouldn't have. Some people were fired, some people were sued, Bernie apologized to Hillary, and in the end, it looks like this'll be forgotten by the time we get to the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries, right? Let the conspiracy theories begin! Sorry, just kidding. I hate to say it, but this latest scandal is indicative of a lot more than just dirty politics as usual.
As noted in this definitive article at Jacobin, the Sanders campaign screwed up. Badly. Maybe not as bad as the Clinton campaign or the DNC would like to make it out to be, but they still violated Clinton data of prospective voters and exploiting a glitch in an admittedly outdated computer system. Whose fault was this whole debacle?
The short version is that the vendor that the Democratic National Convention uses to keep track of registered voters experienced a glitch and Sanders staffers ran searches for Clinton data in the time frame it was down. This was reported, one way or another, to the DNC, and they took very hasty action in sanctioning Sanders' campaign, shutting down his access to the voter file. He and his campaign manager responded with a lawsuit, and eventually, despite not dropping the suit, their access was restored.
But all that nastiness and subsequent civility at the Democratic debate isn't what bothers me most out of this debacle, even weeks after emotions blew over. Jim Newell over at Slate brings up an important point -- Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Chairwoman for the Democratic National Committee, is protecting the interests of the Clinton campaign at a high cost to the party itself. This kind of bold incompetence leads your average political junkie like me to think: what the absolute f*** are the Democrats thinking?
The whole logic behind the DNC's coronation (any primary that has only six debates and as much controversy over one candidate can only be called such) of Secretary Clinton as their nominee is that she poses a strong challenge to the Republican domination of Congress, and her ascendance to the Presidency will allow for more Democrats to ride her coattails to more seats in local and state elections.
Populism, appealing to the most democratic sentiments of a particular group of people, is causing both the GOP and Democrats to implode, but here's the thing- progressive populism could be the greatest strength of the Democratic Party, seeing how large and diverse their potential electorate is. They've got six debates on nights nobody is watching, and consistently, they've ignored the #BlackLivesMatter movement so far in terms of actually combating police brutality so that begs the question: How democratic are the Democrats really?
Contrary to a popular insider myth about the Sanders campaign, many people of different races, genders, and socioeconomic backgrounds are attracted to his rhetoric and ideology. So why is the DNC working so damn hard to squash him like a bug and push him out of the race instead of allowing him and Clinton to sharpen each other like iron? It's almost as if the Democrats are moving to the right instead of the left, contrary to their own constituents.
If Secretary Clinton allows the DNC to continue to advocate on her behalf, it's her campaign that will suffer for it, not Senator Sanders'. One of these politicians has built a career based on political cunning and calculation, one has based them on integrity. Both are laudable, but one is more easily believed to be the "good guy," regardless of the political reality.
Democrats, if you really want political power, it's there for you to tap into. Right now, you're heading into another eight years of being blamed for everything, even if your chosen one makes into the White House.
