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The Presidential Election was Never Rigged, We Just Thought It WasAs crazy as this election has been, there is nothing crazier, or rather I should say, lazier, than when someone says that this election is rigged. The party nominees have been chosen by the people, not by the “establishment,” a catchall term for the secret overclass in each party. But what about Bernie Sanders? Surely he is being cheated out of the nomination. You mean the political outsider, and self-proclaimed democratic socialist from Vermont, whose political opponent had been heavily connected to the president’s office for the last two decades and gained a lot of traction during this primary election season? Sanders has done a fantastic job considering his outsider status until really just a few months ago to the majority of Americans. He has 1,361 total delegates, while Hillary Clinton has 1,682 total "pledged" delegates (outside of superdelegates). That means she has won at a 55 percent rate. Even with Sanders' victory in Indiana, he still only walked away from the victory with six more delegates. Let’s face it: the people want Clinton to be the president. The polls overwhelmingly show this. She has been able to connect with black and Hispanic voters in a way that Sanders hasn’t at all, giving her a huge step up. I was there when she spoke in Harlem’s Apollo Theater, and she gave an incredibly moving speech. She spoke on Sunday at the Detroit NAACP Annual 61st Dinner, addressing issues like mass incarceration (despite being criticized for her husband’s role in the 1994 crime bill that critics claim resulted in even greater incarceration rates for black men), greater access to housing, and education. This is something Sanders hasn't been able to tap into. Hispanics have also criticized Sanders for his rhetoric on there being a “political revolution,” without reaching out to constituents to lend a helping hand. Three weeks ago, I was on a call with New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, New York Representative Nydia Velazquez, and a few other Hispanic politicians, who criticized Sanders for taking the side of the Republicans on the 2007 comprehensive immigration reform bill, for which Sanders voted no. What about Donald Trump? Whoo, boy. Where to begin. There is not a candidate in the world that can say what he does, tweet what he does, and terribly organize the way he does, and still emerge as the Republican presidential frontrunner. Trump called Marco Rubio “little Marco,” and simulated his sweating at a rally by throwing water from his bottle into the crowd. He has repeatedly made fun of women, including commenting on Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly’s blood coming from her wherever. He made fun of a reporter for being disabled. He called for a ban on Muslims coming into America. He has retracted his opinions on political issues, including when he backtracked from his immigration stance during a debate in Miami. And yet, Trump is still winning the Republican primary race, despite all of his actions. He is winning by such a wide margin that the other Republican candidates dropped out. And I’m supposed to be convinced that the system has been rigged against Trump? Sure, there are people who don’t like Trump, but who can blame them when he has told the Republican Party to go “eff” themselves? Now that he is the presumptive nominee, he has been in the process of courting the establishment back. He met with party members in a backroom just in the last two weeks and threw out the idea of making Rubio his running mate, although there is apparently still some bad blood between the two men. Let’s not forget that Rubio got back at Trump, making a joke about his “little hands,” as in, little hands equal little you-know-what. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus tweeted to Republican voters on Tuesday to unite behind Trump as the nominee. Yes, corruption exists, and it should be rooted out. In many ways, our government has failed us. In many ways, it has benefited us enormously. But if we were to have an honest conversation, corruption would exist in all systems of government. It exists among the purest of us. Even Sanders paid a tax rate that was less than Mitt Romney, who was attacked for paying a 14% tax rate in 2010. Getting rid of corruption isn’t a party distinctive. It’s a belief of (most) members of the political process. Remember that it was the Tea Party that was at the front lines of the Occupy Wall Street effort before Elizabeth Warren and Sanders were put on Facebook videos. All said: it seems strange that I have to defend America from those who tell people that the sky is falling. We are the most privileged people in the history of the world, with Reuters saying that a new “global middle class” is emerging, and is projected to double by 2030. This means that more people in more places are moving out of poverty, while Americans still live in relative luxury, and yet, with one look at our 2016 political race, you would think that the world was going to end. People from both party lines seem to have chosen Clinton and Trump as their nominees, which should dispel any notion of “establishment” tricks. Now, for good or bad, we get to sit back and enjoy the fruit of our choices.
#Real #Essay #Election2016 #Rigged #OurChoices #Voting
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