John Oliver Takes on the “Electoral Clusterfuck” of the Presidential Primaries and Caucuses

“This is a system that clearly needs wholesale reform.”


Ah, presidential primaries and caucuses, or as John Oliver described them on Sunday, “the electoral foreplay that we have been engaging in since February, which will culminate in the mass balloon ejaculations of this summer’s conventions.”

Despite the fact that both Republicans and Democrats have all but decided their respective nominees, as the recent chaos that erupted at the Nevada Democratic Convention demonstrated, emotions over who will make it to the general election are still running high. Much of that can be blamed on a deeply complicated set of rules that tend to differ from state to state, and it can leave voters with the suspicion that the entire process is rigged.

“To be fair to both parties, they are basically private clubs and they can set their own rules,” Oliver said. “But if you play by a system of complex, opaque rules that nobody understands and that you could use to your advantage, even if you don’t, you are going to alienate voters.

“This is a system that clearly needs wholesale reform,” he added.

Watch above to see the Last Week Tonight host break down the convoluted system.

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THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

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So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

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