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OpEdNews Op Eds    H1'ed 2/5/18

Bernie Supporters Betrayed by DNC (...Surprised?)

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"But there is a pretty good body of law that says state parties can operate primaries under the right of association in the First Amendment the way they decide to run them," he said. "Now if that runs into a conflict with state law, it may end up in court. But there is law that permits that."

Roosevelt also said there were cultural barriers around reforming caucuses, even if the reform commission agreed that they needed to be professionalized and transparent. Again, no matter what the DNC eventually decides, progress will be made state by state.

"For some states, it's just a matter of practicality, because their legislature won't fund the primary and things like that," he said. "But for some states like Iowa, it's definitely cultural. The language of the Unity Reform Commission is probably broad enough to say they have to make public the tallies at the initial levels, and then those have to be the ones that determine the outcome of the delegate selection process. So I think that even in the places where it's cultural [to keep them], and there's really a strong push to maintain the caucuses, there can be processes and protections around that."

In a half-hour interview that delved into some of the nuts and bolts that could make the party's elections more open and transparent, it was clear that Roosevelt was trying to be fair-minded and respectful of the Unity Commission report. That said, he noted there were some items that had been flagged for scrutiny, such as adding mail-in absentee ballots to the caucus process. (That's potentially problematic because caucuses almost never decide their winners on opening votes, prompting participants to regroup. Adding mail-in ballots to an already complicated mix could invite chaos and vote-counting disputes.)

Roosevelt left the clear impression that the Rules and Bylaws Committee would break down the reform package and decide on what pieces to keep, modify or omit. It would then return that assessment to the Unity Reform Commission to decide whether they wanted to present that to the full DNC, or whether to present its original report -- suggesting there could be two proposals before the full DNC when this comes up.

However, Roosevelt did not think the reforms were going to be presented in a "take-it-or-leave-it manner," where, for example, superdelegate reform would have to accompany caucus and primary reforms -- or else nothing would be done. He also emphasized the full DNC's charge when it created the reform commission was to reduce the superdelegate representation.

"I think it can be split into parts if that's what the full DNC wants to do," he said. "I do think the convention mandate is pretty clear about automatic [super] delegates... it was a significant reduction in their voting power."

Back to the Berniecrats

The latest messaging from Our Revolution and other Berniecrats does not discuss the DNC reform process at this level of detail.

Friday's email from Our Revolution said, for example, "We're working with progressive partners across the country to push these changes over the finish line. Join us in taking the first step by signing the petition to your state's DNC members today and tell them to support the URC recommendation."

Larry Cohen, who led the Sanders delegation on the reform commission and helps lead Our Revolution, did not reply to AlterNet's request seeking comment on their strategy.

It may be that Berniecrats feel they need to keep up the pressure throughout the rest of the DNC reform process, no matter how long it takes. But at the very least, right now it appears their expectation of fast action is only likely to cause more strife.

Berniecrats are telling their ranks that they expect the Rules and Bylaws Committee to swiftly rubber-stamp the reform commission's proposals. Meanwhile, the co-chair of the panel and other longtime party members are saying that's not how the process works, and that it's not a zero-sum, take-it-or-leave-it game.

In other words, this pressure and posturing is pointing toward more confrontation between the Berniecrats and the political party they are seeking to change.

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Steven Rosenfeld  covers democracy issues for AlterNet. He is a longtime print and broadcast journalist and has reported for National Public Radio, Monitor Radio, Marketplace,  TomPaine.com  and many newspapers. (more...)
 
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