Kamala Harris getting the nomination is just the illusion of choice

As citizens, we are raised to believe in the power of our democracy and the importance of exercising our right to vote. However, with President Joe Biden stepping down from the race, the delegates at the Democratic National Convention now have full control over who will represent their party in the race for the presidency.

There is no sugar coating it. The DNC is in a position to handpick our presidential candidate. With just a month before the convention takes place, the only people slated to vote on who will lead us against a second Donald Trump presidency are 3,896 delegates who are technically allowed to vote for whoever they want to begin with.

Is this really democracy? Or are we left disillusioned and frustrated as nothing more than pawns in someone else’s game?

As a passionate Bernie Sanders supporter in both 2016 and 2020, I watched as powerful people and millions of donor dollars decided who my Democratic nominee would be.

Despite Sanders’ undeniable popularity across generations, backgrounds, and the country, Hillary Clinton took the helm of the Democratic party. We later found out that in an unprecedented move, her campaign had taken control of the DNC more than a year before she won the nomination.

According to Donna Brazile, the former interim chair of the DNC during the 2016 election, the DNC had made a pact with the Clinton campaign. The Joint-Fundraising Agreement gave Clinton control over the party’s finances, strategy, and the fruits of their fund-raising. In exchange, Clinton would help raise money and invest in the organization that was over $24 million in debt and on the brink of collapse.

The Clinton campaign had control over where money was spent, who was hired for strategic positions, budgeting,