I had to wait, think and process this election. The most predictable but unpredictable election in our lifetime. Many are afraid, scared, shocked to the core. But maybe this needed to happen, so we can not let it happen again.
For starters, I was always skeptical that Hillary Clinton could win. While, Donald Trump was and is a horrible choice for the Republicans, what happened was voting between two candidates with approval ratings in the toilet.
The voters voted for what they did not know vs. what they have known for decades. It’s like what my husband said, “Hillary lost in 2008 to a relatively unknown black senator from Illinois; and she lost to a narcissistic, bigoted idiot in 2016”. That sums it up pretty much.
I don’t want to focus too much on Donald Trump. He won. And not by just the racist bunch, but by women and working class Democrats who voted for him. We need to understand, the why.
During the primaries, when Bernie Sanders won Michigan that was an arrow shot across the bow, a clear and present danger for Democrats. Democrats should have stood up and listened. We did not. It is unfathomable for the Clinton Campaign to not take notice. The campaign was shocked at the Sanders win in Michigan. This was when we knew what the voters wanted, but this is not what they heard in the general election. I give Donald Trump, some credit for taking themes, points from Bernie Sanders and crafting it to his own. There was a reason that Bernie Sanders rallies were in the thousands. It is called a solid message to what the people wanted and ENERGY. This is what the Clinton Campaign lacked.
The loss of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin is unbelievable, to Democrats. But we brought this on ourselves. The Clinton Campaign never went to Wisconsin after the primaries, and only ran to Michigan because they knew they could lose that state in the end. It was just too late. I live in Illinois and know all these states well, and for Clinton to almost LOSE Minnesota, said a lot. Remember when Michael Moore wrote that the Clinton Campaign needed to go to Michigan and that she could lose. Well, he was right on that one.
You need to like your candidate. I did not vote Hillary in 2008, nor for the primary in 2016. I did vote for her in the general, 2016. Was I enthusiastic as casting a ballot for Obama? No, but I did the practical thing and voted for her. For me, it was voting between two candidates that I really did not care for. The populous did not like Donald Trump, period. But the populous loathed Hillary Clinton more. Is that practical or sound minded? No, but these people voted against what they knew in Clinton and voted for the latter, Trump. Hillary Clinton never should have been our nominee. Yes, she is qualified, etc. In the end, she was just wrong. Her lack of connecting to these voters has been in the numbers for a while. When I say voters, I mean across the board. She under performed in almost every group from Obama, and when the numbers came in of white women voting for Trump, that was it.
Tim Kaine as the VP. Sorry, he is a nice guy but did NOTHING for this ticket. You saw this by the Clinton Campaign almost losing Virginia. What we saw was 2 older white individuals on the Democratic ticket. It did not booster, bolster the young people and LACKED excitement, totally. Hillary Clinton needed a younger person for VP and preferably one of color. The imagery was just that of good old corporate Democrats on a ticket together. If there is one thing about the Democratic Party, it is a party of DIVERSITY. The young people are pushing the agenda now. If we don’t understand this and let them in the fold, they will be lost to us. We saw that in this election.
Now it is time for the Democrats to reconfigure themselves. We lost OUR VOTERS due to just a bad candidate. I don’t know if Bernie Sanders could have beaten Donald Trump, that is all Monday Morning Quarterbacking, but I do know that what he was saying was resonating to the population. It was a reason that tens of thousands of people went to Bernie Sanders rallies. It was him, his message, he seemed legit, he was thoughtful, he connected, and he was exciting, people BELIEVED him. But he lost, partly to our own Democratic Party system being rigged.
The DNC is seriously untrustworthy, scandalous, and everything about it needs to be dumped and flushed down the toilet. We must be clear, the DNC was biased towards Bernie Sanders. Donna Brazile resigned from CNN for the clear reason of giving the Clinton Campaign debate questions. This is something she has not disagreed about, at all. For my 10 year old niece, that would be called cheating and that is what she did, cheat. Next, the super delegate mess, it must be eliminated. No elite party individual, should have the FINAL CALL in who should be the next nominee. Let the primaries, caucuses go and whoever wins in the end, be done with it. No party elite should tilt the scales, any longer. I also agree with the young man called “Zach” who let Donna Brazile have it. 100 percent correct. Lastly, the Wikileaks of the DNC gave everyone an eye opener. It stunk of elites who had total disregard for what the Democratic Party is about. If we don’t clean up the DNC and bring in fresh, younger, different viewpoints to the table, the Democratic Party will be in the wilderness for a very long time.
Finally for me, I was not devastated or shocked at what happened. I was hearing people I have known for a long time stating that they just could not pull the lever for Hillary Clinton. These same people hated, everything about Donald Trump. We now know what happened. I never trusted the public polling, but was shocked at how WRONG the Clinton module was. They were totally off the mark in how people really felt about Hillary Clinton. I also remember the night before the election, telling my husband that this just does not feel right. I was not giddy, but more worried about the Great Lake states. My worries was right. Look at what happened to the Republican Party!!! The Republican Party revolted, rebuked the 125 million dollar man, Jeb Bush, and put up a reality television show candidate. Many thought it was a joke, including me, but now the joke is on the nation. Time for the Democrats to revolt. NO MORE of these candidates like Hillary Clinton. No more. We either move on by getting exciting, progressive candidates or continue getting our asses clocked. Up to us.