In terms of content, the 2020 Democratic debate in South Carolina was a snooze-fest - so no, you probably did not miss much. But one thing the media has been focused on is that several audience members supposedly booed Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders during the debate.At first, one might wonder whether the booing was authentic, because Bernie is the leading candidate for that nomination. But it could be, in which case the race for the nomination may be tighter than most think.
Curious as to see what the public felt about the matter, I turned to Twitter. Twitter makes it easy to find what is going on to the left and center-left politically, because this assortment is not banned and has a strong platform presence.
True to my expectations, Twitter had plenty of commentary regarding the "booing" incident. But what really drew my attention was all the conspiracy talk, and suggestions that the booing audience members had been planted props. Were these not the same accounts of Twitter users who mocked the reactionary right, claiming its adherents are a bunch of tinfoil-wearing conspiracy theorists?
Bernie: The average American can't afford a $400 emergency.— FL for Bernie 🌹 0% 'Blue No Matter Who' (@Poli_NewSense) February 26, 2020
DNC: Want to be a part of our live studio audience for the debate?
Choose your seat! $1750-$3000#WineCaveDebate
$2,000 to attend the debate. This isn’t the average population.— Logically Preston (@PrestonTheSnack) February 26, 2020
i've never heard the crowd boo in any of these debates. not once. suddenly they're booing anyone who goes after bloomberg. anyone who thinks this isn't sketchy has a baby brain.— june (@shoe0nhead) February 26, 2020
The audience was rigged. #democraticdebates pic.twitter.com/6jUeqZBzLw— Not A Real Democrat (@kallie_horner) February 26, 2020
As it turns out, something sneaky was going on with the debate - and, after the song and dance was over, Bernie actually had the guts to call the Democratic National Committee (DNC) out on it:
— Turncoat Don (@TurncoatD) February 26, 2020
It's the same "us vs. the world" spirit that helped get Donald Trump elected in 2016; time will tell if Bernie continues to stump in this direction, which could very well put him on the path to the White House. If so, we will see if his posturing and rhetoric about the plundering of our country for thirty-plus years was all just to cave to the big-donor lobbyists, war-imperialists and business-first investors he rails against.
So let it happen; should Bernie win and betray his supporters, it would bring an end to the suggestion that the Democratic Party is the face of the working man's struggle. The Democrats would be found out. Meanwhile, despite Trump's showmanship, paving the way for him to carry that same soil-and-guts demographic, the reality of the situation is that he and his Republican Party have not followed through with appeasement. Thus, we may be reaching the end of the two-party model of endless betrayal, proving once and for all that, sometimes, old dogs cannot learn new tricks and new, splinter parties are in order.
