There is so much blame going around and we can’t see we are complaining that the trees obstruct our view of the forest!
There is ONE reason we lost this election. GOP voter suppression actually works!
We have been “gaslighted” by both Trump and the Republicans. Trump made his unpatriotic comments about a “rigged” election and we defended the very system that is to blame for our defeat.
Trump wasn’t TALKING about ELECTION fraud...he was talking about non-existent VOTER fraud and we played right into his hands. We blame “lazy” voters for not showing up to vote while ignoring the fact that more than a few of those voters DID vote but were given provisional “placebo” ballots that weren’t counted...we ignore the fact that not everyone can afford to wait 2-4 hours to vote...we ignore the fact that more than ONE MILLION primarily African American and Latino voters were “purged” by Republican controlled states!
I posted the following in response to another diarist:
“We can’t “blame” people for not voting when millions were discouraged by precinct closings and long lines and wait times (while in predominantly Republican precincts lines and waiting times are short) and even directly prevented from voting through Kris Kobach’s UNCONSTITUTIONAL “Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program” which has over 7 million names of primarily African American and Latino voters and has already “purged” over a MILLION voters from the rolls!”
I am appalled that ANYONE on the left could “blame” members of certain demographics that unlike white voters OVERWHELMINGLY supported Clinton and did so even though a significant percentage of their vote was suppressed by GOP controlled states.
Instead of focusing on these very real systemic disadvantages that the GOP has slowly and steadily implement, we are fighting among ourselves and criticizing our own!
The ONLY LEGITIMATE rant is one directed at the Republicans...otherwise we are simply dividing and conquering ourselves.
Is it really so hard to put it all together? The “battleground” states all of which Trump coincidentally won by the suspiciously same margin of 1% or so were ALL controlled by Republican legislatures.
As an aside for those who “defend” the Electoral College...That anachronism favors the southern States where the white Republicans negate the vote of the minority African American Democratic voters...White southerners determine the “representation” but get the electoral “credit” for the numbers of African American voters
Just the way the 3/5th compromise intended…
We need to demand changes to our election system and a real AFFIRMATIVE guarantee of voting rights. Until that problem is addressed the Republicans will be able to win elections WITHOUT majority support and the only way Democrats will win is if we become a “super-majority”…
100,000 pissed off voters in THREE states decided this election and incredibly many in the Democratic party are advocating “changes” in order to “win over” those voters who voted AGAINST their own best interests!
HOW does THAT make ANY SENSE?!?
Those voters are the ones who made the mistake not the Democratic party and NOT Clinton...
Millions are intentionally discouraged from voting by Republican voting laws, precinct closing, and voter purges...and we blame the victims???
We have lost TWO elections in the last 16 years after winning the popular vote...DECISIVELY this year. The Electoral College gives the GOP another systemic advantage. Trump knows he couldn’t have won the popular vote...that’s why he repeated the fiction of 3 million fraudulent votes from “illegals” ...a mass conspiracy that succeeded in covering up all evidence and all the participants have kept their mouths shut!.
The reality is Trump was able to convince barely enough voters in the rust belt states to win the electoral college vote HOWEVER overcoming an almost 3 million vote deficit would NOT likely have been achieved by his campaigning in California and New York...that means he would have to spend LESS time in the rust belt where he won and Clinton would also have likely gained votes in “red” states like Texas.
We need to realize we have been outmaneuvered by the GOP and find ways to address their tactics.
This is one way we can win back some Republican seats...We need to focus on state and local races where the power to control the election system resides. We need to make a case to the voters that the GOP ignores their concerns and that electing Republicans guarantees a rigged election system and prevents impedes the democratic process.
We can’t move forward as a party until we fix the underlying electoral advantages the Republicans have engineered and exploit.
Self-criticism is important but the kinds of internecine battles I keep seeing DO NOT promote the kind of affirmative self-reflection that would help us grow and progress and WIN in the future.
I implore my fellow diarists to consider whether or not their rants are leading to anything productive...if not you are simply engaging in misplaced venting.
We have no reason to be angry with each other...we are allowing ourselves to be distracted by the REAL problem...we have allowed the GOP to change the rules in their favor.