She would've been our best Republican President yet.
Kos is angry but he’s still in denial about the the results of the Election, (and his complicity in the outcome). The REAL Republican in this race lost. In this Election, we had a choice between a centrist, hawkish, Wall Street Republican, and a deranged sociopath, promising to blow up the system. There WAS no real Democratic candidate. (It’s ironic that the only way we could’ve had a candidate with real Democratic values, would’ve been to nominate the independent Social Democrat).
Hillary Clinton is probably the ONLY candidate that could’ve lost to Trump. Bernie Sanders OR Elizabeth Warren would be President right now. The American people were primed to vote for a change candidate with true Democratic values. A good 10% of Trump’s voters, (who really didn’t WANT to vote for HIM), decided on the perceived change candidate in the last week, after the Comey letter. Liberals wanted change. Conservatives wanted change. Even the RUBES wanted change, (just like we do), so they voted for the only candidate that was promising it. No matter that he was lying through his teeth about it. Hillary offered no change at all. She campaigned on being “Obama’s third term, and not Donald Trump”. I supported Bernie Sanders because he was the only candidate promising real change, that would’ve DELIVERED on that change. And in all the Election night coverage, once you peel away the racism and the Hillary hate, the message SHOULD be that the working class want a change away from being crushed by the Corporations, having their jobs shipped to China, income inequality, and class warfare. We HAVE the right people AND the right message. We just didn’t have the right candidate.
I gladly voted for her, but let’s face it, Hillary Clinton is and has always been, a hawkish, centrist, DLC Democrat, with a close to 50% unfavorable rating, more like a moderate Republican then a Democrat. Granted, the Rethuglicans have been falsely demonizing her for decades, but she also created a lot of baggage for herself. She’s ALWAYS been a little too hawkish for my taste. She always seemed like she had to be “tougher” then the guys. Her vote for the Iraq war was a foolish triangulation. She was always a little too cozy with the Wall Street big donors. She worked for TPP for years, then when it polled unpopular, she came out against it. (It didn’t help her credibility that a close surrogate suggested she’d flip back after the Election). Hillary Care, NAFTA, DLC, all old baggage. TPP, Wall Street, questionable donations, careless Emails, all new baggage. Her record as FLOTUS, Senator, and Secretary of State, along with all the good work the Clinton Foundation has done, should’ve been impressive, but was largely nulled by her own clueless actions. NAFTA was bad for the middle class. TPP is worse. Working FOR it was clueless. (My biggest disappointment in Obama is his support for TPP). And “The Senator from Wall Street”, wasn’t a good optic. She, (and everyone else), knew she was going to run for President for years. Sure those Goldman speeches paid well, but they looked TERRIBLE for her. Why didn’t she just let Bill give the Speeches? That was either clueless or greedy. Neither looked good for a Democratic Presidential candidate. They hid Bill, so every time we saw him, he was doing something stupid or damaging. They seemed to pick the weakest man they could find for VP. He seems like a nice guy, but when Mr. Rodgers tried to attack during his debate, it just didn’t work. And those damn Emails! The private server was dumb, and it was obviously always a trumped up scandal. But she never got out ahead of it. She didn’t take it seriously, then weakly non-apologized, then ignored it alltogether, all while letting Trump and the Media define her. There are still people who believe she should be imprisoned for some nebulous Email crime. Sure, it’s dumb. But she let it ruin her Campaign.
The sad thing is that we sabatoged the one guy who was trying to show the right way. Yes, he’s an old Jewish Socialist, with wild hair, from a small state, but it turns out his message is EXACTLY what the American Middle Class wants. I know Bernie “lost” the primary, but I’m down right proud of the campaign he ran. Despite all those hurdles, and running against the Media, and the Establishment Democrats, he still rang up huge vote totals and some solid wins, all across the country. But he DID have myriad obstacles. Initially, the Media didn’t take him seriously, (you’re front and center in this, Kos), and the Democratic establishment, (in the form of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and the DNC), sand bagged his every effort. But when people heard what Bernie had to say, they liked what they heard. If they’d have heard it EARLIER, he would’ve been that much stronger in those early primaries when a lot of possible voters hadn’t heard his ideas yet. If the main stream Media, AND the Blogs, (here’s looking at you , Kos), had started out talking about Bernie at least seriously and neutrally, and people heard his message earlier, I think he could’ve won the Democratic Primary. And I think that, given the choice in the General Election between a change candidate who was honest and sincere, vs. a change candidate of incredible sleeze and dishonesty, we would have a President Bernie Sanders right now.
Kos, you and the DNC were BOTH shamefully in the bag for Hillary Clinton. And you both let it cloud your judgement when an attractive alternative came along. I get that it that you’re a pragmatist and you sincerely thought she was our best chance of winning, but the way you used the power of the Democratic activist site you created to put your thumb on the scales to favor your preferred candidate, is frankly, beneath you. I admired how you made it clear to anarchists and independent progressives early on that your’s was a Democratic activist site, working within the system, to elect more, and better, Democrats. But I think maybe you forgot about the last part of that. Hillary promised Obama’s third term, so that’s voting for a Democrat, but voting for Bernie Sanders would be voting for a better Democrat, (and he’s not even in the Democratic party!). Frankly, I thought HE was the pragmatic choice. And not to sound sexist, but after Obama eclipted Hillary last time, it’s clear that Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and the “girls” at the DNC thought it was time for a female President, it was Hillary’s turn, and they weren’t going to let anything get in her way, (even a Candidate with a more popular message). When DWS ALSO started shilling for the payday loan industry, she was just a total disgrace. The best thing that happened during the election was she was forced to resign.
I’m a life long Democrat, (I worked the Bobby Kennedy campaign in ‘68). Democrats are supposed to stand up against the Corporations for the Middle Class. Republicans have always been the party of (only), Business. “Conservative Ideals” DON’T have a mandate, and they’ve been proven to not be able to govern. If our party had combined a coalition of our multi-cultured masses with TRULY standing up for the Working Class against the Corporations, we could’ve won, repeatedly, for a generation. Sadly, now, with a Fascist in the White House, total Rethuglican control of the government, and the packing of the Supreme Court with Scolia extremists, we may never get the chance.
So, if we actually have another election, Here’s my “autopsy”. Both Hillary and Bernie will be too old to run again. But Bernie’s ideas, (and his “movement”), should be the cornerstone of the new Democratic Party. Replace the DLC DNC with real progressives. (I’m glad we kept Nancy Pelosi. She’s a true progressive and a smart tactitian. She’s earned it. But Chuck Schumer, the original “Senator from Wall Street”, is the wrong man at the wrong time). Restart the 50 state strategy. Visibly champion causes that help the middle class and the working man. Do everything we can to diminish the onslaught of the new Robber Barons.
If we run a credible, younger candidate, (maybe one who combs his hair), who sincerely preaches Bernies gospel, and can show people that despite racial, cultural, or religious differences, the vast majority of Americans are all of one Economic class, and that Republicans constantly work to steal our future for the other one, we should WIN that election and keep winning past the end of my life time. Remember, we already HAVE the right voters AND the right message. All we need is the right candidate and a supportive middle class party behind him.
