Posted on Monday 2 June 2008
Several years ago, there was a brouhaha in the blogosphere about something Karl Rove said. He said something like “You people in the reality-based world just don’t get it. We make our own realities.” or something like that. At the time, this statement was roundly denounced as an example of the way the Bush Administration was into denial about the world. Labeling oneself as “reality based” functioned as a code word for underscoring that scorn.
There is a similar form of reality making underway, and a number of bloggers who I had previously respected have started to make their own reality. The reality they are making was started by the Clinton campaign when it was clear that Hillary was not going to get the nomination. The reality centers around a count of the popular vote as a true measure of candidate fitness. This reality obviates two central facts: one, candidates are nominated by delegate count; and two, not all states, e.g., caucus states, record the popular vote.
Bloggers who cite the popular vote in a nominating process when it is clear from the rules that it is the delegate count, not the popular vote, that decides the nomination, are doing neither the candidate nor themselves any service.
Here are a couple of examples -
Talkleft: Jeralyn
MyDD: Jerome