Bernie Sanders was robbed of a fair shot at the nomination in the 2016 Presidential race

By Guest Column -- Fred Kirby —— Bio and Archives June 10, 2018

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There isn't much doubt that Bernie Sanders was robbed of a fair shot at the nomination in the 2016 Presidential race. Had the system worked without Democratic Party manipulation, it is a good bet Sanders could have been the nominee. Many people recognized a flaw in the system early on-Sanders was not a Democrat, he was an Independent. But, for years, in order to put his vote in their column in the Senate, Dems had embraced Sanders, allowing him to caucus with them. This led to allowing him into the tent during the primaries. The results made the party rethink its position. Now they have passed a rules change that says a Democratic candidate must affirm that they are a member of the party, will accept the party nomination and run and serve as a member of the party. The rule change makes sense. Voters need to know which party a candidate aligns with or they need to know that they truly are independent. This all with either tighten the messaging from both parties or it will lead to an actual third party with all the party perks of the 2 existing parties. Time will tell if the Sanders supporters can be that organized and can garner financial support.