Induveca wrote:I have a better theory, Clinton was extremely corrupt, and forced her will on the DNC by whatever means necessary to enable her candidacy. Biden was coerced not to run and Sanders was laughed at by the very establishment meant to hold a fair/free primary during his entire candidacy.
It was Clinton 100% from day one. Democrats were lied to/force fed a woman with 20+ years of scandals, corruption, and dishonesty that nearly 70% of the American public did not trust.
The Wikileaks had a major impact, the Clinton foundation corruption had an impact, Benghazi, Whitewater, sex scandals, Soros, mass immigration etc etc.
Biden or Sanders would have won, ESPECIALLY Biden. Democrats may dislike Trump all they like, but they have no one to blame but themselves. While a large percentage of democratic voters were in denial Trump supporters turned out for gigantic rallies, and unprecedented numbers at the polls.
While Trump had 20-30k people at his rallies, Clinton attracted a few hundred. Democratic voters *chose* to believe blatant media bias, "Russia" excuses and ignore the huge swelling of "real world" and social media support for Trump.
This was an arrogant, ignorant and elitist response to a movement much bigger than the actual man delivering the message. This vote was a conduit which essentially said "we want change, by any means necessary".
All of this.
My scattered thoughts about the election.
So, Voter turnout was around 50%.
You can't blame third parties (Johnson and Stein were in the ballot in most states in 2012) or minority groups.
Yes, state legislatures passing voter ID laws hurts. Yes, this also was the 1st presidential election without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The Dems have a big problem and that's reaching out to rural America. The America felt left behind by globalism.
Obama masked this a bit because he had success in the Rust Belt and performed better in some counties outside of metro areas because of his simplistic optimistic message. "Yes We Can" rang just as well as Trump's simple populist slogan. Those same voters from 2012 in counties in PA, WI, voted Trump yesterday.
This cycle, the "not Trump" strategy was not enough to energize the base of the Dems.
Yes, the sexist, islamophobic and racist things he's said are terrible but he tapped into a populism (authoritarian style) especially in rural areas. Bernie Sanders also tapped into this with social democratic proposals that were also inclusive and responding to the needs of the American people (living wage, healthcare, college education, breaking up the too big to fail banks, etc). Trump in the primaries also ran to the left of the GOP on healthcare and social security to gain the support of this bloc. Sanders won rural areas routinely in the primary season and he was almost alone in his run (obviously being the longest serving independent in Congressional history can do that, but he's caucused with the DNC forever).
The consensus of this generation of Dem Party leaders is shaken. Last night was the continuation of Dems losing almost 1,000 seats in state legislatures, many governorships, and the US House and Senate since 2010. The solution? Speak to the working people you haven't spoken to in decades by standing for things and execute more for them (infrastructure spending, jobs program, etc).
Probably will be easier when the new unified GOP takes all branches of government in January. Opposition will mount with Paul Ryan's budget which aims to privatize the New Deal programs, tax cuts that benefit corporations and the top 1%, no action on Climate Change, and even more free reign for the financial institutions.
72% of voters yesterday say the economy is rigged to the top. Thats the crux of it all. And now someone who's benefited from the rigged system is the next POTUS. What a situation.
