Hillary support base as bogus as US Democracy

[Bread and Circus]

http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/04/22/hillary-clintons-support-base-as-bogus-as-us-democracy/

Perhaps nothing illustrates this point more clearly than the results of multiple studies on Hillary Clinton’s online following which reveal that the majority of her Twitter fans, and indeed her social media following in general, are completely fake. Consider the implications of these findings from StatusPeople.com, and well-respected analytical tool TwitterAudit, which both found that no more than 44 percent of Clinton’s followers were actually real, active users of Twitter.

This may seem something trivial, but in fact it cuts to the very heart of the notion of democracy, and the legitimacy of a candidate who is perhaps the most obvious embodiment of the political and financial establishment in the US. Indeed, Bernie Sanders, among many others, has correctly noted that Clinton is in many ways the epitome of the ruling elite.

...

How social media manipulation serves the Establishment agenda

Twitter, Facebook, and other social media have become very potent tools in the arsenal of the US Government as it wages a relentless information war in the service of the military-industrial complex and the agenda of the elite. In fact, social media goes far beyond just an image. Today, it has been made into an effective tool for the dissemination of misinformation and disinformation that conveniently buttresses whatever narrative the establishment wants.

[bkkyosemite]

1. you link does not work here:

http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/04/22/hillary-clintons-support-base-as-bogus-as-us-democracy/

[BainsBane]

2. That "fictional" base has cast more than 10 million votes

Their online presence is irrelevant. What matters is votes, not clicks.
I have no doubt that Sanders wishes he had Clinton's "fictional" support base.

[Firebrand Gary]

3. +1

[basselope]

5. 10 million votes is NOTHING in a presidential election.

She has relied on closed primaries and vote suppression.

The GOP is far better at that.

[mythology]

12. And Sanders relies on caucuses which have especially low turnout

It's really hard to make an argument that she doesn't have enough votes when she's well ahead of the guy you're defending.

[basselope]

15. Let's have open primaries and see what happens.

[LuvLoogie]

13. Which means, I suppose, that Bernies support is less than NOTHING...

No?

[basselope]

16. No.

B/c when you hide behind closed primaries you depress the votes.

[LuvLoogie]

17. Anyone can register as a Democrat and vote in the primary. There are no Political Thought Police.

[basselope]

21. When you make it difficult enough, it is the same result.

[BainsBane]

18. It's 2.7 million more votes than Bernie and 1.7 million more than Trump

But by all means, root for the GOP. We wouldn't want to give anyone the impression this was a Democratic site.

Of course Republicans are open about the fact they feel certain they will lose the presidential election. At this point they are just hoping to contain losses down ballot. The only place where people talk about the GOP winning the election is right here.

[basselope]

22. And it's completely meaningless.

[SFnomad]

4. Secretary Clinton has more votes than ANY Presidential candidate, Democrat or Republican ...

you probably think that is bogus as well, eh?

[basselope]

6. Yes, quite bogus.

[SFnomad]

9. Sounds like just sour grapes ... maybe if BS had a message that resonated with more people

and the BS cheerleaders could be counted on to actually turn up at the ballot box.

[basselope]

14. Its a tiny number compared to what she will need in the GE.

But this seems to be her ceiling of support.

[BainsBane]

20. What it sounds like

Is entitlement.

[BainsBane]

19. Because the only votes that count

Are yours and those who think exactly like you. The majority of the population couldn't possibly matter compared to you.

It really doesn't matter how angry you are at the American public for not obeying you, or how inconsequential you regard their votes and their lives. The country is slowly catching up with the rest of the world and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it.

[LuvLoogie]

8. Bernie has more fist bumps with Killer Mike.

[SFnomad]

10. That and a few dollars will get you a coffee at Starbucks n/t

[LuvLoogie]

7. Most of Hillary's political support was developed over decades of relationship building

and before Twitter. She has actually physically touched and CONVERSED with thousands of the people who support her now--to this day.

[mythology]

11. And yet more real live actual people turned out to vote for her

I do applaud you for bringing us this amazing two for one article, published by not just counterpunch, a fact-free zone, but also from RT, a blatant Putin propaganda site.

There is no accepted definition of what a fake Twitter user is. It's not simple enough to say that because they have less than 100 tweets or followers that the profile is fake. People don't just use Twitter to express their own views, many people use it to follow those they are interested in because we live in a social media world.

The author of the piece makes his living trashing the west for all the ills in the world while defending trash like Putin, Assad and Mugabe. I think I'll take my advice on things from people who aren't fucking idiots.