A fuss was made briefly after last week’s Democratic debate when it turned out that Bernie Sanders won the little CNN Focus Group that had assembled for the debate, but CNN declared Hillary Clinton the winner of the debate.
Conspiracy theorists immediately suspected CNN of “rigging” this declaration based on the fact that it’s parent company, Time Warner, has donated $501,831 to Clinton’s campaign so far.
This is nonsense people. Anybody who actually saw the debate knows that both Hillary and Bernie acquitted themselves well. There was no clear winner between the two.
But this is what happens when you let a media conglomerate donate half a million dollars to one candidate.
If you didn’t see it, by the way, Saturday Night Live’s “cold opening” of the debate is definitely worth watching. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfmwGAd1L-o
There doesn’t need to be a conspiracy there only needs to be a consensus among media and political insiders as to the credentials that a serious candidate requires. This leads to an automatic, and probably unconscious, discounting of anyone who lacks the said credentials. The consensus may, of course, be mistaken.