Instead of winning over the 27% who voted for Trump, how about winning over the 40% who didn't vote?

[DetlefK]

You know... Trump got ~27%, Clinton got ~28%, abstains was ~40% and the rest was third party.

Instead of trying to win over the 27% of people who have a hostile stance towards your cause, how about trying to win over the 40% of people who have a neutral stance towards your cause?

[Grey Lemercier]

1. thank you!!

[JimBeard]

37. I have been thinking the same thing and we need to do it in 2018, during the Congressional elections

plus start working on those Governor and state legislator elections in doable states. Get more state legislators ready. The 2020 election will be the re-redistricting class.

[putitinD]

2. our side won by 2.5 million votes. Just get rid of the electorial college. It always favors the

republican party.

[IronLionZion]

14. It actually favors us

there are more Dems in more states. We would have won if we got turnout in rust belt states. The blue wall crumbled

[Nancyswidower]

48. In California and NY........take out those 2 reliably blue states...

We bot bagged...which is why the EC isn't going to go away.
The swing states will NEVER give up that power.....I don't blame them.

[pansypoo53219]

3. NO SHIT. try an inspired VP pick too.

[pnwmom]

7. He helped us win Virginia even though we lost PA. He was an excellent choice. n/t

[vi5]

26. That's a big "even though"

Nobody who wasn't already firmly in Clinton's camp was inspired by her choice. And to a lot of those that were already skeptical he solidified many of their reservations and fears.

[bettyellen]

60. I know a lot of people who didn't choose Clinton at first and ended up admiring her...

You had to actually do some reading because the media coverage was abysmal though.

[vi5]

62. What does that have to do with Kaine?

[underpants]

28. He was never on the air

Regardless of how many interviews he did they were never highlighted in any news source that I saw. Pence got headlines for every interview.

Airtime (MSM) was THE story of the campaign.

[Bear Creek]

4. Yes

They do not see a difference in the parties. The democrats need to start framing the conversation. They need to show that they are the pro life and family values and that the republican party is for death and tearing families apart. They need to stand up to the companies and demand our worker rights back, pay, oportunities, training and higher education without the burden of debt, housing etc that is the root of social justice. The party has go left and not right the democrats now are republicans and the GOP is out in far right. There is no left wing party.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. How about a way to do that? Around here we've had voter registration drives, and...

have had marginal success. Of our registered voters, maybe a third have "none of the above" as their party.

When knocking on doors, we find that there's a huge number out here who are sick of the whole thing. How they are registered tends to be irrelevant.

What Bernie and Obama have shown is that you can get people involved when they see someone actually caring about them. Or who at least talks about what's important to them.

I honestly do not know why Hillary was so disliked. Or why Trump got any support at all. Somehow Hillary never caught on emotionally, while Trump managed to smooth over a pile of sore spots.

[Hortensis]

6. "Somehow" is a 30-year disinformation campaign

that has totally corrupted the thinking of most of the conservative electorate. Decades of swiftboating, smears, fake investigations, floods of old and new allegations whenever truth might possibly rise into view. Although being a woman headed for the presidency made H a central target, if she were not around, other Democrats would have become targets for opportunistic right-wing smears instead.

There's nothing accidental about this plot to divide, corrupt, neutralize the U.S. electorate. If they don't stop us, we will stop them.

Btw, everyone who wants to understand should read Jane Mayer's "Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right." https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Money-History-Billionaires-Radical/dp/0385535597/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1480589085&sr=1-1&keywords=dark+money

It's much bigger than just attacks on H. They have been working--with appalling success--to make far right extremist thinking part of mainstream culture. Our universities now teach political, economic, and social doctrines that were once considered ridiculous, unworkable, immoral, not acceptable by respectable people.

[Fast Walker 52]

12. yes... so disturbing and sick.... truly evil forces

[Hortensis]

38. Yes. The crime of "depraved indifference" to the wellbeing

of our democracy and its people I think now applies to the behavior of conservative voters AS A GROUP. This group has been molded into a weapon of partisan attack and obstruction that recognized no limits on its behavior and ignored all internal divisions in pursuit of partisan victory. These people would vote for Hitler, claiming that all warning signs were just Democratic lies.

[Fast Walker 52]

41. So true-- they certainly have been programmed to believe a massive load of crap

and of course don't trust anything from our side...

[Hortensis]

49. It's scary. I wish I thought they were being

disillusioned with their choice already, but even if some are worried about SS, Medicare, and belatedly Obamacare, it seems more likely they'll be able to rationalize it out. After all, with those all on the verge of collapse, it's only responsible for the pubs to destroy them to "save" them.

Don't you love the plan to repeal the ACA but put implementation past the 2018 election, by which time most providers will have withdrawn from the program anyway...

On the bright side, most people voted for a healthy, prosperous America and experts say that without vote suppression in many states we would have won. We're far from out.

[Fast Walker 52]

52. yes... there's always room for hope

[ehrnst]

16. He hated who they hated. No Democrat could have won leveraging hate.

Even when they called it "anti-establishment discontent" against another Democrat...

[CrispyQ]

29. The media got Trump elected.

I don't see how the dems will fare any better in the future as long as the media is able to lie and withhold information and facts.

THE MEDIA IS ONLY AS LIBERAL AS THE CONSERVATIVE CORPORATIONS THAT OWN IT.

[JimBeard]

45. It doesn't matter what media machine we make, FOX news will always be there

with their "We report, you decide" bullshit. They are masters.

[NewJeffCT]

9. with more voter suppression laws certain to come

increasing turnout among those 40% will be key - students, minorities and young single persons.

[keithbvadu2]

10. these morons march and whine but did not bother to vote

What is most disgusting to watch is to see these morons march and whine but did not bother to vote.

They virtually voted for the ‘wrong’ candidate by not voting at all.

‘I did not vote because’ I was protesting the system.

‘I did not vote because’ my vote would not have mattered.

‘I did not vote because’ the other candidates did not follow my wishes completely.

‘I did not vote because’ my preferred candidate did not make the cut.

‘I did not vote because’ ___________ (fill in the blank)

[ehrnst]

18. "I want a candidate tailored to my user experience!!!" (nt)

[JonLP24]

64. How do you know the protesters didn't vote

Since they seem to be taking place in states Clinton won.

[keithbvadu2]

67. Just their own words in the tv interviews.

[Coolest Ranger]

11. IF they can't get off their

sorry behinds and do their duty, I don't want to win them over.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

13. Excellent! They will suffer under Trump; must vote against Pence in 2020 or it will be worse. nt

[ehrnst]

15. It might be more helpful to get rid of voter suppression that makes them jump through hoops. (nt)

[FailureToCommunicate]

19. Ding Ding Ding!

If only if only that'd be possible considering the number of Republican held state governments.

[Ligyron]

17. But just who are these people - the 40%?

We need to find out exactly the demographic which doesn't vote for whatever reason.

I'm not familiar with any studies which address the following questions:

Are they old, young, POC, male, female - what percentage, etc.?

Then we can more intelligently approach encouraging their engagement.

Some of them we may be better off not encouraging their participation.

We need information first of all.

[MissKat]

22. Hillbilly Elegy

I urge everyone to read "Hillbilly Elegy".

It is a place to begin this discussion.

How do we appeal to people who think smart people are stupid?
Who think rich people are smart? (Even when they cheat poor people out of money)
Who think when they get government help they deserve it, but when someone (not like them) gets it-- it's a handout to moochers.
Who think they're smarter than the government when they work for cash so they don't have to pay taxes (and meanwhile, they don't accumulate social security)
Who believe that women shouldn't head a household--let alone a city/state/country.

Trump was elected because these folks wanted a manly man. I hear it everywhere I go where there are Trump chumps. "He's got balls."
"He'll take care of us."


This is what we're facing. And it's only going to get worse as technology separates us.

We are in for a rough ride. Buckle up.

[JHan]

33. I read that book..

Which is why the torturous "it was because of the economy" arguments aren't enough. There was more there too many want to ignore.

[Fast Walker 52]

43. yeah, but that is only part of the problem

A lot more people live in urban areas and just don't care.

BTW, here's an interesting critique of Hillbilly Elegy.
http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/hillbilly-ethnography/

[JimBeard]

47. Young people being so mobile with college makes it difficult to keep

registration. Moving several times a year for a better place. You name it, we and they were mostly nomadic at that time period in our lives.

[Fast Walker 52]

51. good point... voter registration should be different

if only the GOP was interested in that

[Fast Walker 52]

42. Certainly a lot of younger people don't vote... they don't see differences in the parties, that

sort of crap. A lot of lack of education (not necessarily even lack of formal education, just they lack political education).

A lot of poor people don't vote because nothing ever changes for them.

A lot of fringe conspiracy people don't vote because they think it is all rigged or doesn't matter.

Some people may want to vote but don't know how or don't have the capability.

Some people are just too busy trying to earn a living to be "bothered" with politics.

I would guess the three biggest categories are:
young people
poor people
busy people

[ChaoticSilly]

68. Who am I?

I'm a middle aged white man in a red state in the south. That one sentence is enough for many, many people here, none of whom have ever met me, to believe that I'm some combination of stupid, ignorant, selfish, evil and racist. There's no point in trying to convince them otherwise. They've already made up their minds in the few seconds it took to read this.

I didn't go to college because I didn't have enough cash and was turned down for financial aid. The closest I have ever come to making 30k per year was by working 7 days a week. Oops, now the few who didn't think I'm stupid, ignorant, selfish, evil and racist just jumped on the bandwagon.

So, get your torches and pitchforks ready... Democrats despise me because I'm white and republicans despise me because I'm poor. No matter what I do on election day, my county will go blue, my state will go red and my wallet will get emptier. Why would I work all day and then stand in line for a minimum of 2 hours to cast a meaningless vote for people who don't want me in their party anyway?

By the way, half of this post is , but I'm not saying which half.

[cilla4progress]

20. Makes far more sense

to me. Thanks.

[ehrnst]

31. We had one. She won the popular vote both in the primaries and the general.

Competence just doesn't seem as "likeable" as an angry, scolding candidate, who put the issues concerning white men people first.

All this talk of "women and girls" was off-putting, and boy weren't those Goldman Sachs transcripts damning? More damning than tax returns? We'll never know, BUT THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT!!!

[Justice]

35. HRC got more votes than any white man running for President. Enough with the likeability.

[Martin Eden]

23. How about winning over all the voters who would benefit from good policies?

Without making compromises for social justice or pandering to bigotry.

[ehrnst]

32. You mean like settling to negotiate a $10 minimum wage instead of $15? (nt)

[Martin Eden]

36. Do you think that's a good policy?

If it's not, then that shouldn't be in the platform.

[Raster]

24. Yes, yes, yes, oh Yes!

[Bettie]

25. Agreed

but how do we increase turnout amidst a general belief that votes don't matter (rather well proven by the result of this election) and a very strong effort toward disenfranchising voters?

How do we even change that with zero power anywhere?

[vi5]

27. Exactly. And many of them are young.....

They are less concerned with whether a candidate is male/female, gay/straight, young/old or any of that as much as they are concerned with people who understand and can relate to their experience and the world they are inheriting. Even if you take away all the bullshit Clinton scandals (emails, Benghazi, etc.) they still felt she was out of touch with them and what they are confronted with on a daily basis. We ignore them and their concerns at our peril. And calling them stupid or say they want participation trophies or ponies means we will be in the minority for a very long time if the people who are that dismissive continue to call the shots in our party.

[mcar]

30. K&R

[ksoze]

34. He actual needs to win over 68%

The 28% Hillary voters and the 40% who also didn't vote for him (or anyone).

[sarisataka]

39. We don't need them because

-they are rural
-they are white
-they don't have college education
-they live in red states we can't win
-their parents are Republican
-they are racist
-they are Christian
-their votes don't matter
-their votes are suppressed
-they are ignorant
-they are lazy
-they are just as bad as Trump voters
-we won so we don't need more votes
-we shouldn't pander to people
-it is too hard
-it is too expensive
-they won't vote Democratic anyway
-they'll never vote
And of course -fuck them

Are all reasons I have heard in the last 48 hours. I guess we are going to win elections by never trying to get anyone to change their party or start paying attention to politics if they have never done do before. We will stake everything on a crop of up and coming Democrats who will faithfully vote party forever because is will be instinct to them.

[Nancyswidower]

46. Excellent post....

[Fast Walker 52]

50. well, please don't take those responses as representative of what everyone here thinks

and obviously those opinions aren't all by one person either... there may be some truth in there somewhere too.

[sarisataka]

54. I don't believe those are the views

of a majority of Dems, at least I hope not, but there is way too much short-sighted rhetoric going on.

Many of those may be true of many Trump voters but I am willing to accept a 'did not vote' or even 'reformed republican' and believe we can do so without changing the core of what makes us Democrats.

[Fast Walker 52]

61. Yes, I agree.

[MarvinGardens]

65. Agree, people can and do change their political alignment.

Even enthusiastic partisans have been known to change. I offer myself as an example. Given recent events, I am ready to enthusiastically support the Democrats. And people who vote every 2/4 years and then forget it may be more easily swayed.

[phylny]

66. Welcome to DU :) n/t

[Oneironaut]

40. True. This is what I find the most infuriating.

People are whining about Trump now, but many of them didn't even vote. If you don't vote, politicians will never care about you.

Its also true that voting in Democratic areas in certain states is purposely made difficult and unpleasant. The voting process needs to be more regulated and improved. For example, no one should ever need to wait 1 hour in a long line to vote. That's totally unacceptable.

[brooklynite]

44. Not voting does not mean "a neutral stance"...

...it means they didn't vote. If they chose to vote, they would likely reflect a range of political philosophies.

[guillaumeb]

53. Might that require offering an alternative to corporatism?

Something that would convince the apathetic that there are large differences between the two major parties?

[NRQ891]

55. that's the biggest reason for non voters, IMO

and there would have been even more of them, had this been a Bush/Clinton race.

[guillaumeb]

56. Welcome to DU.

I believe that this election showed how well the GOP spin machine was able to define Clinton and Trump.

[NRQ891]

57. thank you nt

[Fla Dem]

58. How about electing state and local officers who will reverse all the restrictions on voting

the GOP, ALEC and the Koch brothers have wrought on the voters. Section 4 of voting rights act was gutted in 2013 by the Supreme Court. Since then 1000's of easily accessible voting places were eliminated effecting minority and poorer communities. Ridiculous voter ID laws were put in place targeting again POC, Students, the elderly and poorer citizens. This was a systematic effort to suppress voter turnout and we saw the results of that in this election. A few thousand votes in relatively safe Democratic states determined the election in favor of the Republicans.

Voting Rights Act Section 4 Struck Down By Supreme Court
06/25/2013 10:19 am ET | Updated Jun 25, 2013

The Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act on Tuesday, the provision of the landmark civil rights law that designates which parts of the country must have changes to their voting laws cleared by the federal government or in federal court.

The 5-4 ruling, authored by Chief Justice John Roberts and joined by Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, ruled in Shelby County v. Holder that “things have changed dramatically” in the South in the nearly 50 years since the Voting Rights Act was signed in 1965.

The court’s opinion said it did not strike down the act of Congress “lightly,” and said it “took care to avoid ruling on the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act” in a separate case back in 2009. “Congress could have updated the coverage formula at that time, but did not do so. Its failure to act leaves us today with no choice but to declare [Section 4] unconstitutional. The formula in that section can no longer be used as a basis for subjecting jurisdictions to preclearance.”

The Voting Rights Act has recently been used to block a voter ID law in Texas and delay the implementation of another in South Carolina. Both states are no longer subject to the preclearance requirement because of the court’s ruling on Tuesday.

“Our country has changed, and while any racial discrimination in voting is too much, Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problem speaks to current conditions,” Roberts wrote.

“There is no doubt that these improvements are in large part because of the Voting Rights Act,” he wrote. “The Act has proved immensely successful at redressing racial discrimination and integrating the voting process.”

In his bench statement, Roberts said that Congress had extended a 40-year-old coverage formula based on “obsolete statistics and that the coverage formula “violates the constitution.”

Congress, the court ruled, “may draft another formula based on current conditions.” But given the fact that Republicans currently control the House of Representatives, many voting rights advocates consider it unlikely that Congress will act to create a new formula.

[GummyBearz]

59. This is the right idea

If only someone had told us all that Hrc wouldn't inspire anyone to go vote. And at the same time we had another option who was filling sports arenas while she was hosting $30,000 per plate dinners. And maybe if anyone pointed out her primary win was largely based on southern states that won't vote democratic in the GE.... if only we knew these things during the primary

[Buckeye_Democrat]

63. That might be the best route. I bet there's many poor people who gave up...

... years ago, but who might turn out if they can be convinced that the politician really cares about them.