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In reply to the discussion: Democrats say they now know exactly why Clinton lost [View all]AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)Here's how I break it down. Catholics handed the election to Trump. White non-Hispanic Catholics went massively for Trump. Hispanic Catholics massively went for Hillary. Why? because trump is so outrageously shitty on race relations, and such a fucking bigot, the non-white Hispanic Catholics turned out in droves to vote for the opposition candidate; Hillary. That, in a nutshell, explains the entirety of California. Same catholic population explains a liberal blue state like California voting for Prop-8. Remember that?
Winning +3 million votes over average in California is not an endorsement of our platform. That doesn't say we were on-message. That just says or leaves open the possibility that Trump was a horribly offensive fucking bigot, that garnered a massive reaction vote for the other candidate.
Get back to the rest of the country, and what have we delivered?
I keep raising this warning, and I don't think anyone takes it seriously.
2010:
"Right now if we dont get positive changes to the agenda, were going to have a hard time getting members out to work," said United Steelworkers International President Leo W. Gerard, in an interview.
Theres no use pretending any longer.
The biggest threat, of course, is apathy from a Democratic constituency that has a history of mobilizing for elections.
"You're just not going to be able to go to our membership in the November elections and say, 'Come on, let's do it again. Look at what the Democratic administration has done for us!'" Gage said. "People are going to say, 'Huh? What have the Democrats done for us?'"
Kim Freeman Brown, the executive director of a D.C.-based nonprofit called American Rights at Work, acknowledged "frustration" with the lack of movement.
"I implore Congress to listen to the voice of their constituents who want change, and so far we haven't delivered good enough on that promise," she said. "To the degree that we don't address these real bread-and-butter issues, we will have failed America's workers."
http://www.politico.com/story/2010/02/unions-bash-dems-warn-of-fallout-032781
Ok, so that was 2010, right? 7 years later, maybe not the issue anymore? Explain the non-Hispanic white working class vote then. What have we, as Democrats(TM), delivered for working class labor in the last 8-10 years? The ACA? I feel, overall that it was a benefit for them, but it has a lot of painful realities, and people don't always think of you fondly for administering terrible tasting medicine they needed, but didn't know they wanted.
What else have we delivered? I'm at a loss. No massive jobs bills. No massive infrastructure bills. Trump said he would. He's lying of course, but he's made noises about infra, and if people don't give US the benefit of the doubt, the snake oil he's peddling sounds a lot more enticing. People can switch brands on us. If they don't think we're delivering, maybe try the other guy.
We're behind the 8 ball now. We're in no position to actually start delivering for people like Labor Unions. We missed the opportunity.
I hope the anti-trump outrage vote is enough to see us through in 2018 and 2020, because without some political capital, we're spent. Votes are solidified and earned by delivering on interests. We've been soft on delivery for as long as I can remember, and at some point, people just stop believing in you.
Edit: This one is an anecdote, but my mom is a Union Democrat. Quite proud of it. But she, and my brother, historically Democratic voters, voted for Trump. Mostly because of Hillary's position on the TPP, and the linkage to NAFTA that the republicans were able to (whether it's based on fair analysis of the TPP or not) forge in the press. She made up her mind on pretty much that single issue, and hid her position from me, because she didn't want to argue about it. 'Free trade' was a bright red line for her, and she actually voted for Trump over it.
I'm still fucking flabbergasted over it, but I do think the signal is there, in the noise. If we look closely. If we look beyond the issues of this one single election. If we look for clues why a huge chunk of our base didn't turn out.