General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Too many people are blaming Hillary's loss on the wrong thing. [View all]northremembers
(63 posts)I voted for Hillary in both the general election and even the primary when all my liberal friends voted for Bernie. I think she was a great Secretary of State and a quiet but powerful advocate for women's rights throughout the world. I still don't like her. It bugs me when she takes credit for #metoo or takes money to talk to Wall Street execs.
I don't look at Hillary and see single payer health care, or cleaning up Wall Street, or investing in a moderate middle class to stabilize unstable parts of the world, or challenging Scott Walker on labor unions, or solving the high cost of housing (my #1 issue). Even though these were all policies during her husband's administration she didn't campaign on them. Bill Clinton openly advocated higher taxes and gays in the military during his 1992 campaign. He also made an outspoken environmentalist his VP candidate. Hillary was very moderate , took few chances, and focused on negative campaigning against Trump.
I live in California and feel pretty good about most of the people I vote for. We have lots of policies I am proud to support. The truth, however, is we all feel the economy is pulling away from us. Many people throughout the country fell the same way, but here Democrats are in a position to do something about it. The average voters have political will to implement progressive policies, Democrats have all the power they need to implement such policies, all the technological, financial, and educational resources are available to facilitate better cost of living policies. Yet, the whole world sees it costs too much to live here and our leaders are not in front of this issue.
If working class Americans looked at liberal policies and saw we had a real handle on individual economic empowerment and social mobility we would win every election. Yes, there are extremists who support bad leaders like Trump. Most of the people I know personally who voted for him are average people who are looking to build a better life for themselves and their families. That's why most people voted for Trump, Putin, Brexit, and even Hitler (he won the popular vote before he made himself a dictator). We have to change our party's image on this issue and we can only do this by producing results working class Americans can connect with. Until we do, mainstream voters will continue to be vulnerable to all the dirty campaigning conservatives throw at us.