[StAnDeliver]

"Then the Dems started doing it in the presidential election. Now we are hearing calls for new elections and recounts in the very first puny primary contest in Iowa!"

(1) That's because cheating, and fabricating stories, became an essential part of campaign paradigms. (2) Bernie has a legitimate gripe in Iowa. (3) I agree with you that Iowa is puny. Always has been.

[unsycophant]

Many Republican operatives really don’t think anything is wrong with using dirty tricks to garner votes, and they all seem willing to stand behind that way of thinking lately.

Lots of conservatives are co-signing this, theorizing that it doesn’t matter if an obvious winner cheats, since he was going to win anyway.

Now: Cheating & fabricating only matters if it affects the outcome. #!!!! Otherwise it’s completely acceptable because it’s not “cheating & fabricating”, it’s strategy.