Reuters Poll Shows 51% of Americans Think Primary Process is “Rigged” – Here’s Why It Matters

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Reuters/Ipsos recently conducted a poll in which it asked Americans whether the primary process for choosing presidential candidates was rigged. Here’s what they found:

More than half of American voters believe that the system U.S. political parties use to pick their candidates for the White House is “rigged” and more than two-thirds want to see the process changed, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

The results echo complaints from Republican front-runner Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Bernie Sanders that the system is stacked against them in favor of candidates with close ties to their parties – a critique that has triggered a nationwide debate over whether the process is fair.

Trump has repeatedly railed against the rules, at times calling them undemocratic. After the Colorado Republican Party awarded all its delegates to Ted Cruz, for example, Trump lashed out in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, charging “the system is being rigged by party operatives with ‘double-agent’ delegates who reject the decision of voters.”

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus has dismissed Trump’s complaints as “rhetoric” and said the rules would not be changed before the Republican convention in July.

Some 51 percent of likely voters who responded to the April 21-26 online survey said they believed the primary system was “rigged” against some candidates. Some 71 percent of respondents said they would prefer to pick their party’s nominee with a direct vote, cutting out the use of delegates as intermediaries.

The results also showed 27 percent of likely voters did not understand how the primary process works and 44 percent did not understand why delegates were involved in the first place. The responses were about the same for Republicans and Democrats.

Many people will read this and say, so what? Everyone knows it’s rigged? To that I would say, not quite.

While anyone paying close attention will have come to terms with the fact that everything in America is rigged to favor a handful of oligarchs, most people have been either blissfully unaware, or in denial, of this reality for most of their lives. The painful admission by 51% of Americans polled that the process for choosing the U.S. President is a rigged sham, is an indispensable first step toward correcting the problem. As James Baldwin so accurately noted:

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So the first observation is that the American public is finally starting to wake up. The second observation is that this is very good news for Trump.

If Trump were running against Sanders in the general, he’d be in huge trouble. Fortunately for him, he’ll get to compete against one of most corrupt, dishonest political creatures the world has ever seen. This allows him to continue to play the outsider role against a consummate crony insider.

Moreover, he’s the candidate who can honestly say primary rigging has worked to undermine, while everyone knows Hillary is the candidate the rigging worked to benefit. Trump will win the nomination despite the establishment doing everything thy could to stop him. In an environment in which 43% of Americans identify as independents, and 51% see the whole process as rigged, who do you think this benefits?

Trump couldn’t have asked for a better setup. All he has to do now is close.

For related articles, see:

Could Trump Beat Clinton in New York? Yes.

Donald Trump’s Speech at AIPAC Demonstrates Why He Will Be America’s Next President

Trump Supporters – In Their Own Words

A Rejection of Neocon Foreign Policy – American Military Members Prefer Trump and Sanders

MSNBC Host Admits Democratic Primary Rigged, While Station Simultaneously Rigs Coverage

Rigged Democracy – Nearly 10% of Democratic Party Superdelegates are Lobbyists

Hillary Clinton Will Win New York, Because New York is Running a Banana Republic Primary

In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

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14 thoughts on “Reuters Poll Shows 51% of Americans Think Primary Process is “Rigged” – Here’s Why It Matters”

  1. I never heard of Emma Goldman, but she’s right about them outlawing voting if it changed anything. Trump is 100% right. The system is very corrupt. Why do you think so many of these left wing Obama lovers keep raising hell everytime somebody says something about having to show a picture ID to vote. And you can bet the establishment neocon phony Republicans are doing the same thing. They’re just not as loudmouthed about it and they can’t use all that race card b.s. like the Democrats because most Republicans are white. We true conservatives have been waiting for somebody like Trump for decades now. No more of these left wing extremist Democrats or neocon phony RINOs who are basically the same thing as the Democrats.

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  2. The Reuters/Ipsos survey is not mentioned or discussed in main stream media. It clearly shows flaws in the American democracy system. Delegates and super delegates should not be part of the election process, especially when some are potentially lobbyists!
    Is a direct vote of a candidate really impossible to implement?

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  3. I cannot believe all them people would nominate Hildebeast Clinton you’d have to be be out of your mind if you’d want that for President. “EVERY VOTE” should count not just some Pee On delegates that have probably never gotten beyond the 3rd grade. THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS A JOKE, I’ve known for many years that the system is rigged, WE THE PEOPLE have no say as to which one of them Democratic CLOWNS will run the country, Trump is the man it’s about time someone spoke up and told “WE THE PEOPLE” how we are constantly being screwed and robbed of our savings/retirement funds and everything else that they do to us. The Republicans in office now are a joke, they might as well be Democrats.
    TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT, “WE THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN”

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  4. It is my belief that the next president has already been chosen. After watching the incredible crowds of people at rallies for Sanders with only up to 5K for Clinton is without a doubt a red flag. Disenfranchised voters in many states, 3 million unable to vote in NY, party affiliation changed without notice, and many more. According to an official hearing in Florida shortly after Bush was appointed an investigation was made involving the voting machines and they can be hacked https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzBI33kOiKc easily without a trace.
    Have believed for many years that the candidates are hand picked before an election by the 1 percenters. Will not vote again until there are paper ballots and the UN is overseeing the process. If you think you vote counts think again..many of the delegates had chosen a candidate before any primaries. I should say they were purchased.

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