Most Americans are not party hacks and we don't want party hacks putting their thumbs on the scale

[Bjorn Against]

It is time for both Democrats and Republicans to understand a very basic fact, most Americans are not party hacks and we don't want party hacks to have a disproportionate say in who leads our government.

Over 40% of Americans are independents and even among people who do associate themselves with a party there are many who think independently and do not always tow the party line.

If Democrats want to build a winning coalition they need to keep the party hacks in check, insulting independents and demanding loyalty without listening to people's genuine concerns about party leadership is not a winning formula.

Independent minded people are needed to win elections and those independent minded people are often turned off when the party leadership is chosen on the basis of who raises the most money rather than on the basis of who has the strongest track record of standing with common people.

When our party chooses a corrupt person like Debbie Wasserman-Schultz to head the DNC and she then uses her power to stack the deck in favor of one candidate that is a huge turnoff to many potential Democratic voters.

If Democrats want the votes of independents in the general election then they need to do a much better job of listening to the voices of independents in the primaries.

There is a good reason that many people including myself do not feel we can vote for Hillary in the General Election and I can ensure you that does not mean that we want Trump. In fact many of us are terrified of the prospect of a Trump Presidency, but we are terrified of the prospect of a Hillary Presidency as well because we know that neither one of them is going to work for people like us.

We don't want Hillary and we don't want Trump, what we want is a democracy in which the people can choose who represents us on the ballot without party hacks putting their thumbs on the scales.

If the party hacks want to win elections then they need to stop alienating people who don't support the status quo because the reality is there are a whole lot of Americans who want change and are unwilling to accept the status quo of either party. The Democratic Party can not win elections by alienating those people.

[monmouth4]

1. What a great OP Bjorn Against. Thanks for posting..n/t

[dreamnightwind]

2. Agreed, and IMO superdelegates must be abolished

There is nothing democratic about having superdelegates, they exist to give the establishment (the monied elites and their proxies in public office) a veto over a populist candidate winning the party's primary. At this point Im seriously evaluating if I can in good faith continue to be a member of a party run by corporatists that has superdelegates to overrule the people.

I've heard the argument many times that the superdelegates have never gone against the will of the people. To me that's just another argument that there is no need for them. The real argument against them, though, is that our party has been captured by corporate interests and the superdelegates are very heavily on the corporate side of things.

It should be only about the votes of the people.

I would also get rid of caucuses and the electoral college, but would start with superdelegates.

edit to add: also electronic voting machines need to go

[Jitter65]

3. If the Independents want to have sway over a party, then they should join it. nt

[Bjorn Against]

4. Independents already do have sway over the party

They can choose to vote for their candidates or against them and that holds enormous sway. If the party wants things to sway in the right direction they would listen to them whether they join the party or not.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Independents are over 40 percent of the electorate

And many of us left due to what the party has done. The era of absolute dominance by the current leasing parties is likely coming to an end. What will emerge is a good question. The OP pointed to the major disconnect though

[840high]

5. Thank you - K/R

[DanTex]

6. As a Green Party voter, you speak for about 1% of Americans. And the thing is, the other 39%

of Americans who are independents aren't looking for socialists proposing massive tax raises and healthcare programs that have no hope of working.