Amid the fierce primary battle between Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), a left-leaning Seattle alt-weekly came up with a creative ploy to remind Democratic voters that both candidates are fit to take the White House in November.
On Thursday, two days before the Democratic presidential caucuses in Washington state, the Seattle Stranger made an unusual endorsement. Three-fifths of the print editions of the paper featured Sanders on the cover and were distributed to areas of the city with the most support for the Vermont senator, while the other two-fifths included a Clinton endorsement and were delivered to neighborhoods likely to vote for the former secretary of state.
It didn’t take long for readers discussing the endorsement online to notice something was up.
As Stranger editor Dan Savage told TPM via email, “Some Sanders supporters insisted the Hillary cover was a hoax—and vice-versa.”
Hours after the print version of the paper was distributed, the Stranger published the dueling endorsements online, but the trolling continued. Readers were asked to answer a survey indicating their age. Those who selected the 17-30 range were sent to the Sanders endorsement page, while those who claimed to be 31-118 years of age were directed to the Clinton page.
While the editors were trying to make the point that “a good, affirmative case can be made for either of these candidates,” as they explained after the endorsements went up, some readers were less than pleased about the scheme.
“Why, considering the overwhelming popularity of Sanders in Seattle and his cause for equality, would The Stranger, an obviously politically slanted (to the left) publication, even give voice to Clinton and her warhawk objectives?” the top comment for the article on Facebook reads.
Others were more sympathetic to the joke.
“Do you think people realize that no matter what you print, they can still caucus for, and vote for, whomever they choose?” another Facebook user commented. “Do you think Seattle still has a sense of humor? Do you have good Scotch on hand because you frequently feel the need for a stiff drink?”
As the editors wrote, the real message they wanted to get across was “DON’T BE AN IDIOT: VOTE FOR THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE THIS NOVEMBER.”
