The presidency is lost. The House is lost. The Senate is lost. The Supreme Court will be lost. Abortion rights, gay rights, civil rights could all be rolled back. Environmental regulations will be tossed. Financial regulations will be gone. Obamacare erased from the books. Indeed, most all of the Obama presidency could be erased. The Democrats are in the wilderness. Clinton will win the popular vote, which gives you some long term hope. But the damage in the meantime will be immense, and I don't trust the Democrats to learn the lessons they need to learn to move forward and regain power in 2018 or 2020. I keep thinking about this exchange I had last night: The GOP has its problems -- and it's going to have problems going forward with Trump. But at least that party was smart enough to see where the energy was, and go after it. I am not confident the Dems will do the same. Not confident at all.
This was the first time I voted Dem down the ticket. Even got my parents and some of their friends registered to do the same. Gutted about the outcome.
The Dems no longer have the Clinton Beast to deal with and two years to set up shop. Put some candidates with the vision and integrity of Obama and there you go. Time for the Dems to wash the filth they have been wearing since 1992.
Whether this is true or not doesn't matter. What matters is that it's perceived to be true. Sherrod Brown 2020, anyone?
It matters. The fact that the only person willing to challenge Hillary from her own party was O'Malley (Bernie doesn't count) should have been a red flag. The DNC protected her from day one and lost.
You should read this article in the Atlantic about how our politics got this way. The reason the Dems fear the energy is that is how you have the Tea party. And Republicans being outflanked on the right by people who paint them as Rino's for compromising. Now you will have people on the left demanding never compromise and re-creating stalemates. There is an intensity gap on the left and they continually over intellectualize situations and find a reason to not show up for gun votes, or Hillary or their local elections. This energy has to wake up and match the fire on the left with true actions otherwise you will have people that never show up for the little stuff but just the big stuff
By the end of the week somebody somewhere is going to put Kamala Harris forward as the standard bearer for 2020. I voted for her. I'm happy she won. She's not the standard bearer for 2020. There isn't one. That's what it's like in the wilderness. Link?
Corey Booker, Tammy Duckworth, the Castro Brothers. Lots of young blood but we will see who takes the lead
The reason they fear the energy is simply because there is a huge disconnect between what the progressives in the party want and what the big donors and the special interest groups that finance and support the career Democratic politicians push for. The single biggest disconnect, among others, being on issues of war and US intervention in the Middle East, lobbied strongly by AIPAC and widely unpopular with average Democratic voters (including very specifically, most Jews in the Democratic party). In terms of politicians, it is basically the difference between a Bernie Sanders on issues of war and peace, and relationship with AIPAC, and Chuck Schumer.
Within the Democratic party, it is. Two things dogged Hillary the most among progressives and those who supported Bernie Sanders: her reputation as a "hawk" (which is based on her positions on the Iraq war vote, Libya, Syria, Iran etc), and her relationship with big donors, special interest groups etc.
WHO????? Who will be the. "Person " to pull the Dems out of the wilderness. During the Cheney presidency. Er the Bush Junta. It took 6 years for them/us to find Obama and I don't see any Obama's on the horizon. Anybody have any names of someone who can united and fire up the lost tribe.
If that was the biggest disconnect in the Democratic Party, Hillary Clinton would have won. This isn't about Iran or Israel. Sorry, but it's not.
We are talking different things. Within the Democratic party, the progressive push in the areas I mentioned is what causes the biggest concerns and fears among the establishment. But in terms of the contest between Hillary and Trump, the biggest issue in deciding the outcome in the Rust Belt, related to free trade and Hillary's relationship with groups that support free trade policies. (I am actually sympathetic towards free trade, but the Rust Belt crowd did buy Trump's conspiracy and global special interest protectionist message).
No more Intellectual but boring candidates. IMO Sanders was full of shit and silliness, but he had energy, Obama had energy, Trump had energy. It doesn't matter what you sa, but how you say it.
That was certainly another problem with Hillary, which distinguished her from her husband. Although there have been presidents who have won without being particularly charismatic and articulate, relying experience and resume (e.g., George H Bush), the most successful presidents usually have the ability to inspire (absent that, they need to at least have a message). Bill Clinton and Obama had it. For Republicans, Ronald Reagan had it and even though a pig, Trump (while not articulate) did have a message for sure.
Democrats are still reeling on Capitol Hill from the Trump upset, but there is a steady stream of statements in inbox pledging to work w/him— Deirdre Walsh (@deirdrekwalsh) November 9, 2016
Trump is the legacy of Obama. If Obama had kept even half of what he had promised in terms of change, and had not become just another politician, just another establishment lackey who was more than happy to pave the way for a Hillary candidacy, Trump would not have won this election so easily.
Another thought ... For the sake of blue thinking everywhere, I think it's critical that California move forward on the progressive trajectory it's undertaken since Brown returned to office. If the country is going to roll back, then California needs to continue to roll forward, both to carry the torch and to prove the concept on a mass scale. Expand voting rights. Expand health care access. Protect abortion rights and gay rights. And, in a vein where California alone can move the nation because of the size of its market, continue to protect the environment.
I agree, just look at the last few Democrat nominees: 16: Hilary 08-12: Obama 04: Kerry 00: Gore 92-96: Bill 88: Dukakis 84: Mondale 80: Carter Only Bill and Obama got elected twice. The rest is the political equivalent of bland white bread. America likes the people who were either the cool kids in high school or shoved kids into lockers in high school. Most of those guys looked like the kids who got shoved into lockers in high school. You need a certain degree of moxie to win the Presidency these days, and the Dems need to find it.
Winning makes you look like you were the cool kid while losing makes you look like you were the shoved kid.
Fair enough. But look at that lineup and honestly tell me the losers made any kind of lasting impression or gravitas.
Gore, Kerry and Hillary all ran timid campaigns. Bill and Obama did the opposite. That should be another lesson for the Dems. The won't learn it, I fear ...
I don't know. Two among them were naval lieutenants with one of them being a Silver Star and a Bronze Star holder.