9 March 2016

A depressing day at the primary polls

Hillary Clinton’s apologists are having the devil of a time explaining away Bernie Sanders’ win in Michigan, a state a Democrat can carry in November. One argument is that she won among Democrats, but lost because independents invaded the Democratic primary to vote for Sanders. Another is that because the polls reported she was leading by 20 points, many of her supporters voted in the Republican primary to help Trump, whom Clintonites prefer as her opponent in November. I think he won because his positions on free trade agreements are identical to those of the United Autoworkers union.

Did the polls get it wrong? Yes, and some much more wrong than others. Some polls used automated voice response equipment, sampling only registered voters with landlines. Those tend to be older voters, who favor Clinton.

Clinton actually won more delegates yesterday because of her landslide victory in Mississippi, a former Confederate state no Democrat will carry in November. Prevailing in such states wins delegates in primaries, but not electoral votes in November.

Bombastic megalomaniac Donald Trump won three of four primaries yesterday, barreling through Mitt Romney’s roadblocks like locomotive knocking aside balsa sawhorses. His supporters vote with their middle fingers, not their heads.