By Jerry Mooney
Wikileaks produced twenty thousand emails that show the DNC engaged in heavy handed tactics to undermine the election process and grease the wheels for a Hillary nomination. Although the story has become ‘Russia did it’, that’s not the real story.
It’s as if your spouse discovers you are having an affair by reading your diary. The reading of the diary is bad, but the story is the affair. With the email dump, there are many stories, most of which have been ignored by the news outlets. One simple observation is why would people in the age of the rise of the cybercriminal put unencrypted sensitive information in emails? At best, this is horrible judgement.
Small businesses know that you must encrypt your important data today, so why wouldn’t a major political operation? Before the campaign even started, and especially with the private server narrative that was prominent in Hillary’s early campaign, the DNC needed a plan on how to communicate privately in today’s digital world, whether it was encrypted or passing paper notes. In anycase, they needed a plan and had none. This doesn’t just show obvious corruption, it shows either incompetence or at best tone deafness. It seems like the Clinton campaign was so sure that they had the nomination in the bag they were willing to get sloppy with details.
All of this hacking news and blaming has distracted many from the real question: why is the DNC playing favorites? Their job is to facilitate fair elections so the strongest candidates rise through the ranks. By favoring a candidate, voters voices are lost and the strength of the candidate is untested. What they have inadvertently done is create an outrage of which we don’t know the magnitude of yet. This outrage may surfice in a way that paves the way for a Trump victory or potentially the rise of a third or even fourth party. The evidence has already presented itself on social media. Hashtags like #DemExit are showing that the sentiment that those estranged will flail and then get in line are miscalculating the rage. They are also misunderstanding who these people are. Millennials are not beholden to old party affiliations and have no loyalty to these legacy systems.
Because historically the youth was easy to discount, predicting their impact on a race was easy. But welcome to the new world, a world where Blockbuster went out of business miscalculating the significance of Netflix, where Brexit happened and where Borders underestimated the Kindle and online publishing. In this world the old rules don’t apply and even if they do they probably won’t for long. So the Grand Ol’ Party could become a Grand Ol’ memory and the Democrats could become the next Blockbuster.
I am not saying this will happen. I am saying it is happening. The question is, can the political parties, their mouthpieces and the legacy infrastructure hold back the impending tide for one more election? Strap in.
Jerry Mooney is co-founder and managing editor of Zenruption and the author of History Yoghurt and the Moon. He studied at the University of Munich and Lewis and Clark College where he received his BA in International Affairs and West European Studies. He has recently taught Language and Communications at a small, private college and owned various businesses, including an investment company. Jerry is committed to zenrupting the forces that block social, political and economic justice. He can also be found on Twitter@JerryMooney