Michael Moore Points Out Futility of Flint Voting Democrat For Almost A Century
On the eve of the Democratic debate in town.
Michael Moore took to Twitter to call out Democrats holding a debate in Flint, Michigan tonight. The event wasn't one of the Original Six debates (most of which were held on weekend dates). Last month, Hillary Clinton, who spent much of 2015 as the presumptive nominee, and Bernie Sanders, the last man standing after the Iowa caucus, agreed to four more debates, including tonight's in Flint.
Flint was chosen in large part because of the media attention surrounding the water crisis (briefly: government providing residents with dirty water and then trying to cover it up), a transparently politically opportunistic move.
Michael Moore pointed out on Twitter that Flint voters' longstanding support for Democrats hasn't yielded them much:
Flint has voted for Dems for 84 straight yrs. What did it get us? For 18 months Dems remained silent &ignored pleas while Flint was poisoned
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) March 6, 2016
But now they have a Democratic debate, ahead of the Tuesday primary in Michigan.
And there are plenty of Republicans to blame for the Flint water crisis, and certainly enough for Democratic leaders in Flint and at the state capitol to shift their own responsibility onto. So don't expect anyone to pay a political price for the Flint water crisis, let alone one that might discourage such government malfeasance in the future.
The fealty Democrats have cultivated among their base with the use of identity politics and rhetoric has trapped that base with political leadership that doesn't have to be particularly responsive to people's actual preferences or desires.