Is the party system rigged?

In a recent interview with the Union Leader, independent congressional candidate Shawn O’Connor said the Democratic Party rigged the system against him, excluding him from events and smearing his campaign when he was still running as a Democrat. 

The state Democratic Party strongly disputes O’Connor’s claims.

Donald Trump has leveled similar criticisms at the Republican Party, arguing that the party rules favor establishment candidates. 

So are the parties rigged to select certain candidates?

On the Democratic side, WikiLeaks released a trove of internal party emails that seemed to show the party worked to promote Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. 

However, a hacker also provided a left-leaning New Hampshire blogger with emails showing the Democratic Party wanted a “fresh face” instead of Carol Shea-Porter in New Hampshire’s first congressional district.  This would seem to contradict O’Connor’s claims that the party was protecting Shea-Porter.

On the Republican side, Trump’s nomination may be proof enough that the party doesn’t rig the system in favor of certain candidates.  Many high level, “establishment” Republicans – such as former presidential nominee Mitt Romney – openly opposed Trump’s nomination.

Certainly the parties have less power than they did to select candidates in the past, when parties had complete control over the nominating process.  Public primaries only became common in the mid-twentieth century. 

Do you think the party system is rigged against certain candidates?  Let us know in the comments.