Get a load of this from a Trump supporter who confronted Ted Cruz in Indiana. She's a perfect example of someone who is living in the Trump social media bubble:
Outside an Indiana ice cream shop today, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz stepped off his campaign bus and was almost immediately confronted by an angry Donald Trump supporter. Kathy Hiel questioned Cruz about the delegate process, accusing him of rigging the system. The contentious exchange ended with Hiel saying Cruz isn’t a natural-born citizen and Cruz saying that if Trump had been confronted by a voter challenging him, the Trump campaign would have threatened the voter with violence.
Good lord.
I have little sympathy for Cruz in general. But he's right about this. The delegate rules in the states are not made by lobbyists, they're made by local officials and engaged grassroots activists, the vast majority of whom cannot be considered part of the "Washington Cartel" or DC establishment. These Trumpies have obviously not been involved in politic before and are unaware that it isn't actually like a reality TV show.
Everyone has a right to be involved, of course. They should. But social media is making it seem as though everyone has a right to win --- and if they don't it can only be because the system is rigged against them. After all, "everyone" is on their side!
There's always been a bit of this in politics. It was taken as a given by a whole lot of people that JFK stole the 1960 election in Illinois. I remember that people said President Bill Clinton wasn't legitimate because he won with a plurality. And in 2000 George W. Bush actually did manipulate the system in broad daylight. The results of close elections are always debatable I suppose. But in the social media age it's gone well beyond anything like that to the point where everything is a conspiracy. I don't know where this leads --- probably nowhere. But it doesn't strike me as one of the positive developments to emerge from the internet.
