Yesterday morning during the post-Iowa Caucus round-up the news broke that, while Hillary beat Bernie by a micro-skinny three-tenths of a percentage point, factored into that win was the fact that at six different caucus precincts the Bernie-Hillary vote was tied so at each one a coin was tossed to decide who won the delegate from that precinct. In all six cases Hillary won the coin toss, leading some to conclude that Hillary won the delegates and, subsequently, the Iowa Caucus, unfairly by chance.
But by late last night whether that story was the truth or not depended on which media source you were reading or listening to. This morning the voices on 610 WTVN, the local Fox News station, and the New York Daily News were upholding the Hillary-won-the-Iowa-Caucus-By-Coin-Toss-Luck narrative, while NPR and CNN held that those six coin-tosses in Hillary's favor would be insignificant even if there had been only six coin tosses and they'd all come up in Hillary's favor. These latter sources stated that besides the six that made the news there were other precinct caucus ties whose outcomes were determined by coin flips and some of those others were won, or probably won, by Bernie. But nobody would swear on a Bible how many precincts were won by coin tosses, or how many by head counts, short straws, fist fights, the light of the moon or a puppy dog's tail. Let's be honest, does anybody really understand how the Iowa Caucus works?
Still, the word is out there that Hillary won Iowa by six coin tosses that came up in her favor and that Bernie is now calling for an investigation into the possibility that those six impossibly lucky coin tosses were somehow fixed in Hillary's favor, mayhaps by a shrewd flip of the tosser's wrist, or something.
I think this situation bodes well neither for Hillary nor for Bernie. If Hillary wins the Democratic nomination, and especially if she goes on to win the presidency, the Hillary-won-by-luck-or-dishonesty narrative could go down in historic legend. If Bernie pursues the cheating accusation, raising a fuss over Iowa folks flipping coins, this could look on his part like a trivial pursuit for someone seeking to lead the free world.
Here's what I think Hillary and Bernie should do: I think Hillary should split the six disputed coin-toss delegates, giving three to Bernie and keeping three for herself (she'll still be the winner) and I think that Bernie should accept the three delegates, drop talk of an investigation and concede no foul no harm. That way the whole coin-toss affair would be put to rest for good and Both Hillary and Bernie would be showing some class.
And seriously, folks,could not this election use a little class?
But by late last night whether that story was the truth or not depended on which media source you were reading or listening to. This morning the voices on 610 WTVN, the local Fox News station, and the New York Daily News were upholding the Hillary-won-the-Iowa-Caucus-By-Coin-Toss-Luck narrative, while NPR and CNN held that those six coin-tosses in Hillary's favor would be insignificant even if there had been only six coin tosses and they'd all come up in Hillary's favor. These latter sources stated that besides the six that made the news there were other precinct caucus ties whose outcomes were determined by coin flips and some of those others were won, or probably won, by Bernie. But nobody would swear on a Bible how many precincts were won by coin tosses, or how many by head counts, short straws, fist fights, the light of the moon or a puppy dog's tail. Let's be honest, does anybody really understand how the Iowa Caucus works?
Still, the word is out there that Hillary won Iowa by six coin tosses that came up in her favor and that Bernie is now calling for an investigation into the possibility that those six impossibly lucky coin tosses were somehow fixed in Hillary's favor, mayhaps by a shrewd flip of the tosser's wrist, or something.
I think this situation bodes well neither for Hillary nor for Bernie. If Hillary wins the Democratic nomination, and especially if she goes on to win the presidency, the Hillary-won-by-luck-or-dishonesty narrative could go down in historic legend. If Bernie pursues the cheating accusation, raising a fuss over Iowa folks flipping coins, this could look on his part like a trivial pursuit for someone seeking to lead the free world.
Here's what I think Hillary and Bernie should do: I think Hillary should split the six disputed coin-toss delegates, giving three to Bernie and keeping three for herself (she'll still be the winner) and I think that Bernie should accept the three delegates, drop talk of an investigation and concede no foul no harm. That way the whole coin-toss affair would be put to rest for good and Both Hillary and Bernie would be showing some class.
And seriously, folks,could not this election use a little class?
References:
1. "Hillary Clinton won six back-to-back coin tosses against Bernie Sanders in tight Iowa precincts despite miraculous 1-in-64 odds", By Nicole Hensley, New York Daily News, February 2, 2016
2. "Coin-Toss Fact Check: No, Coin Flips Did Not Win Iowa For Hillary Clinton", Domenico Montanaro, NPR, February 2, 2016
3. "Hillary Clinton Won 6 Iowa Precincts Thanks To Coin Tosses", Inside Edition, February 2, 2016
4. "No, Hillary Clinton did not win Iowa because of a coin flip", By Robert Yoon, CNN, February 2, 2016
5. http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/02/bernie-wants-an-investigation-into-the-iowa-coin-flip-catastrophe-video/
1. "Hillary Clinton won six back-to-back coin tosses against Bernie Sanders in tight Iowa precincts despite miraculous 1-in-64 odds", By Nicole Hensley, New York Daily News, February 2, 2016
2. "Coin-Toss Fact Check: No, Coin Flips Did Not Win Iowa For Hillary Clinton", Domenico Montanaro, NPR, February 2, 2016
3. "Hillary Clinton Won 6 Iowa Precincts Thanks To Coin Tosses", Inside Edition, February 2, 2016
4. "No, Hillary Clinton did not win Iowa because of a coin flip", By Robert Yoon, CNN, February 2, 2016
5. http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/02/bernie-wants-an-investigation-into-the-iowa-coin-flip-catastrophe-video/
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