BY: MIROSLAV TOMOSKI
They call themselves a coalition of ordinary citizens who have gathered to demand fair elections. When the group set out on a 135-mile march from Washington DC to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Philadelphia, they were also called sore losers. The idea that the Democratic Party had favoured Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders was considered baseless slander. The product of ignorance and rage-fuelled Bernie Bros on a Reddit binge. On Sunday, protesters from around the country arrived in Philadelphia to find that they might have been right all along.
“Americans are tired of this false democracy, we the people want to know where our votes went.” The Director of the campaign called DC to DNC, Ed Higgins, said in a statement.
For much of the primary season Sanders’ supporters, and even the Senator’s campaign manager, claimed that the DNC’s chairwoman, Debbie Wassermann Shultz, had done her best to throw a wrench into their revolution.
Over the weekend, Wasserman Schultz announced that she would resign as DNC chair after an e-mail leak revealed that she had actively undermined the Sanders campaign in favour of Hillary Clinton. At a meeting before the official start of the DNC Monday morning, the chairwoman was booed off stage by protesters shouting, “shame”.
“We know now, without a doubt, the Hillary Clinton campaign has been colluding with the DNC,” Higgins said in response to the leak. “This absolutely proves that we the people need a person like Bernie Sanders as President of the United States of America. Any other choice will lead to the last presidency of a fallen empire.”
The march began on July 15 in Washington’s Columbus Circle and lasted ten days before Higgins and around 20 supporters arrived in Philadelphia. The final day was marked with a rally in front of the Liberty Bell where members of the group rang bells to demand election reform including automatic voter registration and open primaries that allow independents to vote.
“It’s a celebration of all the people who have woken up to the corruption and to the pay for play in the media.” Higgins said in an AMA on Facebook.
When asked whether the members of the group had been playing Pokémon GO on their miles long march, one member of the New Mexico Delegation told Higgins that, “instead of searching for Pokémon, we should be searching for appropriate jail cells for our corrupt so-called leadership…Gotta catch them all!”
Higgins claims it’s not too late for the Democrats to nominate Bernie Sanders. Given the Democrats super-delegate system, the party could still give the nomination to Sanders, but only if nearly all of Clinton’s super-delegates decided to throw their weight behind him.
On Monday afternoon, Bernie was booed by his own supporters for encouraging them to vote for Hillary. So with his dream of a grand awakening among the delegates being extremely unlikely, Higgins says he might have to take some drastic measures.
“I will be forced to vote Trump,” He told his supporters, “and I can guarantee that I will have millions behind me.”
The marchers are joining thousands of protesters expected to gather in Philadelphia this week. Protests will include candle light vigil mourning the death of democracy and a ‘fart-in’, (a flatulent version of a sit-in) at which participants will be encouraged to eat beans and show the DNC how much the process really stinks.
