Column: Sanders’ supporters erupt, but we all should be outraged by our primary system
Eric Zorn
Supporters of Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders are outraged about what went down last weekend at the Nevada Democratic Convention in Las Vegas.
The short version of the story is that, even though rival Hillary Clinton won the Feb. 20 Nevada caucuses by 5 percentage points, Team Sanders had outorganized her at the subsequent county convention level and had hopes of picking up a few extra national convention delegates at the state party gathering.
A credentials fight broke out, Sanders’ forces were stymied and the convention descended into jeering, name-calling and other unpleasantries. State party Chair Roberta Lange later reportedly received thousands of abusive messages such as “Hey bitch, we know where you live, where you work, where you eat, where your kids go to school.” And, “I think people like you should be hung (sic) in a public execution.” And, “You deserve to be in prison … rot in hell.”
The outrage was uncalled for.