Wikipedia Manipulated to Suggest Obama Won '08 Democratic Primary Popular Vote

image
Created: 28 Feb, 2017
Updated: 21 Nov, 2022
1 min read

Until a few days ago, the Wikipedia page, "Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2008" listed Barack Obama as the winner of the popular vote in the 2008 Democratic primary. However, Obama lost the popular vote in the primary, but won the nomination by garnering more delegates. Images below show snapshots from the Internet Archive, the Wayback Machine.

In the world of fake news, why would one of our go-to fact checking resources be intentionally manipulated in such an innocuous way?

In 2016, Hillary Clinton won both the Democratic primary's popular and delegate vote counts. Whether or not you are of the opinion that the party colluded against Bernie Sanders, the delegate and popular vote counts supported her legitimacy as the nominee.

More importantly, skip forward to 2017 and both Sanders and Clinton are targeting the "unfairness" of the Electoral College as the reason Donald Trump got elected -- where Hillary Clinton received 3 million more votes nationwide.

The problem presented in this narrative is that Democrats are almost universally in agreement that they like Barack Obama -- who received LESS votes than Clinton in the 2008 Democratic Primary.

So how did he win? Simple. He won the Democratic Party's version of the Electoral College -- the delegate count!

Hard to peddle a narrative that we need to embrace the popular vote when your private political party has chosen not to follow the popular vote, right?

So, for a period of three weeks, someone tried to cover this narrative by creating alternative facts on Wikipedia. Fortunately, reality's watchdog has since reverted the information back to correct the record.

IVP Donate

Regardless, next time a member of the Democratic Party says to get rid of the Electoral College -- ask them when the Democratic Party is getting rid of their delegate process.

Photo Credit: IB Photography / shutterstock.com

Latest articles

Title graphic for How It Really Works: Running as An Independent
LISTEN: Running for President as an Independent -- How it Really Works
Think about the leaders with bold visions you’ve wanted to vote for, the ones with the best ideas who have the potential to transform American politics. Most never stand a chance, regardless of where they fall on the political spectrum....
30 Apr, 2025
-
1 min read
Cnannabis and CBD oil
Sen. Padilla Pushes, But DEA Nominee Terry Cole Won’t Commit to Cannabis Rescheduling
During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 30, DEA administrator nominee Terrance Cole declined to commit to the proposed federal rescheduling of cannabis, leaving a critical policy question unresolved as the process transitions to new leadership under the Trump administration....
30 Apr, 2025
-
3 min read
Nurse standing in front of a backdrop that shows a blank map of California and a blank map of Mexico.
Cross-Border Healthcare: A Complex Problem Meets a Bipartisan Solution
While healthcare in California has seen massive investments in coverage and access, these gains often mean little to border residents who split time, family, or even residency across two countries...
30 Apr, 2025
-
2 min read