This is my first actual post on Daily Kos
Last night was painful and terrifying. It was painful as a young queer man married to another young, queer Latino man (we just celebrated our one year wedding anniversary — now we contemplate if we’ll even be legally married by our next anniversary). It was painful as we consider having children, knowing that the homophobes have been empowered to stop us. It is painful considering what this means for our Latino family members and community. It is painful considering what this means for family and friends who are not white. Obamacare is gone. Medicare and Medicaid is likely gone as we know it. Social Security will probably be privatized. The Supreme Court will be gone a generation or more, probably most of the rest of my life. I cannot even contemplate what it means for international relations. Countries will open imperialistic desires like China and Russia will be empowered. North Korea is now one step closer to catastrophic resolution. Don’t even get me started on climate change. I say all this to point out that I get it — the wounds are personal and deep. But it doesn’t change what I am about to say.
Bernie Sanders would not have won this election either. Now I am not here to re-litigate the primaries or to stir trouble. I only point this out because folks are starting to point fingers and the fingers are pointing at the wrong things. This was not about Clinton (to some, but they were never gonna vote Dem). This was about surging white rural voters. This was about racism. This was about a candidate who spoke directly and indirectly to them. I have grown up in the Deep South and Appalachia my whole life. I know these people. A non practicing jewish socialist from the northeast was not going to motivate them to the polls. And there is no telling what support Bernie would have had from racial minority communities as he had never really spent any time cultivating relationships with them. From all indicators today, it appears like the white vote surged from people who had not voted before in previous elections. This was an election about racism. This was a repudiation from white america about having a black president, BLM, and LGBT rights. Anyone who thinks the surging white vote was about some type of treaties or “economic anxiety” really needs to look beneath the surface.
Was Hillary a perfect candidate, no. But she is a real person and has worked hard for people and her party. She should not be treated badly by the left as we search for what to do next. Speaking though of what comes next, we need to realize a couple things if we are going to come out of this:
- Everything is on the table. Period. There is not one issue of importance to the Left that is not at stake.
- We are going to have to use our imaginations to understand what can happen and fight like hell where we can. There will be no restraint. Trump and the Republicans will deliver for their base.
- The coming years will be painful. But the best chance for success is to learn the right lessons. If we take away that we need to move to a hard left party, that will do nothing but alienate more people. We are likely to have won the popular vote. The people are on our side in this nation. But the structures that allocate power do not reflect their will. We must do something about that, though it will be a long time till that happens.
I’m not that hopeful about the future, but the future comes whether we are hopeful or not. We need to be prepared for it regardless of how happy we are about it.
Best of luck.
