Socialist Bernie Sanders won every single county in Washington State. The potential presidential nominee – who refuses to actually identify himself as a Democrat – beat Hillary Clinton with a whopping 72.7% of the vote.
As Shift reported, although Sanders collected the lion’s share of Washington’s 101 delegates allocated by the caucus vote, Clinton may have all of the state’s 17 unpledged “super delegates” in her pocket. These “superdelegates” include Governor Jay Inslee, U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, and all six Democrats in the state’s U.S. House delegation. They are not bound by the will of the people of Washington State at the Democrat National Convention.
Sanders backers launched an online petition on MoveOn.org that demands superdelegates “follow the lead of average Democratic party voters and uphold authentic democracy.”
As one could expect, the petition isn’t working out to well. So, Sanders supporters have upped the ante. They are now issuing an ultimatum to our state’s superdelegates. Via the Seattle Times:
“If superdelegates don’t fall in line behind the caucus vote soon, some local pro-Sanders activists say, they’ll begin protests.
“‘We don’t want it to come to that. We would like to see our representatives reflect a democratic process, as opposed to us having to do something like take over space,’ said Wesley Irwin, a former organizer for the Sanders campaign who remains a volunteer…
“Irwin said Sanders supporters should field candidates against any superdelegates who fail to follow voter sentiment.”
It’s unclear how big of a threat a primary opponent backed by Sanders supporters would actually pose to an incumbent Democrat. But, given the media attention that’s been given to the so-called fracturing of the Republican Party, it’s more than relevant to note what’s happening among Democrats.
And, it’s also kind of amusing. For instance, no matter the subject he is highlighting, Democrat Congressman Rick Larsen’s Facebook posts are being flooded with rather aggressive appeals for him to “do the right thing” and “listen to his constituents.”
In a post meant to garner support for a federal background check system for gun sales, these are the type of comments Larsen received:
When Larsen just wanted some kudos for his transportation “accomplishments,” here’s what the people had to say:
And, when Larsen just wanted a pat on the back for pushing a funding request for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, people still were not having it:
As Shift previously stated, the Democrat Party has a bit of a lose-lose situation forming in Washington State. You see, superdelegates are undemocratic, but so are socialists.
