It appears that the GOP isnāt the only political party in the United States to rig shit in favor of their mainstream, corporate candidates.
Friday, the DNC announced changes to their debate eligibility rules removing individual donor requirements. The move in and of itself paves the way for billionaire Michael Bloomberg and his self-funded campaign to take the debate stage.
The announcement from the DNC comes at an interesting time considering Bernie Sanders has surged to the top of the polls ahead of next weekās Iowa Caucusā which could firmly implement the Vermont Senator as the favorite heading into a general election against Donald Trump. And speaking of Sanders, his campaign ā which was previously fucked over by the DNC during the 2016 Democratic Primaries ā sounded off on the DNCās tendencies to favor billionaires instead of grassroot campaigns.
āTo now change the rules in the middle of the game to accommodate Mike Bloomberg, who is trying to buy his way into the Democratic nomination, is wrong,ā Sanders senior adviser Jeff WeaverĀ toldĀ Politico. āThatās the definition of a rigged system.ā
Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir added in a tweet: āDNC changing the rules to benefit a billionaire, I much prefer Democrats being a grassroots party. And under Bernie Sanders, thatās the way it will be.ā
Itās also probably key to note that according to The Interceptās Ryan Grim, citing Federal Elections Commission data, Bloomberg donated $325,000 to the DNC in November 2019.Ā
Meanwhile, progressive strategist Tim TagarisĀ wonderedĀ what could have been different if not for the qualifications.
āHow much money did candidates likeĀ JuliĆ”n CastroĀ andĀ Cory BookerĀ have to spend chasing donor thresholds that could have been spent building organizations in early states?ā said Tagaris.
Then again, Bernie wasnāt as big of a threat to the establishment then as he is now.