Posted on 04/24/2017 4:49:20 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The recent release of the Clinton campaign expose Shattered is causing yet another round of introspection about what Democrats did wrong in 2016 and how to fix the problem. The Clinton campaign’s own failures of targeting and messaging are already the subject of much discussion and have been rehashed ad nauseam. Matt Taibbi’s take on the navel-gazing, operative-centric view of the pundit and consultant classes is probably the best of the book’s reviews so far and well worth reading. A large number of powerful people still have a difficult time accepting the movements that coalesced behind Sanders on the left and Trump on the right as legitimate, authentic populist forces rather than a group of discontents mesmerized by cults of personality around Pied Piper candidates. They often cannot concede that there would still have been a massive movement of anti-establishment anger even had Sanders and Trump never run at all.
Which leads us to one of the least discussed failures of the establishment that helped lead us to this juncture: the effort to clear the field for Hillary Clinton. Sanders and Clinton supporters are still furious with one another to this day, as can be seen from the often hostile reactions on both sides to the unity tour currently ongoing between Tom Perez and Senator Sanders. Clinton backers accuse Sanders supporters of being racist and sexist fifth column betrayers of the party, while Sanders’ fans accuse Clinton’s of abandoning core economic principles and depressing youth turnout. Wildly unfair attacks are levied on both sides.
But the ongoing hostility isn’t the fault of either camp’s supporters. It’s the fault of the establishment that tried to clear the field for Clinton.
It is widely acknowledged that Democrats in positions of authority, including but not limited to President Obama himself, worked to clear the field of significant opposition to Clinton. President Obama directly pushed Vice President Biden out of the running, and other potential contenders from Elizabeth Warren to Cory Booker were discouraged from making a run. They did this under the misguided theory that a primary free of contention would give Democrats an advantage over a divided GOP field.
But this was a gigantic mistake born of a failure to gauge the mood of the electorate, and of a failure to understand that sometimes these intra-family arguments can lead to more good than harm. It is not at all clear that contested primaries in presidential elections are a bad thing. In the end, Democratic leadership was relieved that only candidates as supposedly marginal as Sanders and O’Malley ended up running in opposition to Clinton, as it was felt that neither would pose a significant threat to her nomination. We all know how that turned out.
Just as the Republican electorate strongly wanted a candidate who diverged from GOP laissez-faire orthodoxy on jobs and trade while more openly proclaiming his bigotries, so too did many Democrats–especially younger activists and angry marginal voters–yearn for a candidate to the left of careful Democratic center-left economic positions. Someone was going to fill that vacuum, whether it be Sanders, O’Malley or someone else. It was also clear that in the face of a more openly racist GOP and with the rise of Black Lives Matter and similar movements, identity issues were going to be in play for Democratic voters as never before.
Instead of a big, comparatively healthy primary like Republicans had in 2016 and Democrats had in both 2008 and 2004, Democrats last year got a shriveled mockery of one. The establishment ensured that economic populists were pitted one-on-one against the first woman candidate with strong loyalty from older Democrats of color, and that identity-conscious voters got boxed by Wall Street-friendly forces into falsely calling the emergent socialist consensus among young activists of all genders and colors the province of racists and sexists. It was almost perfectly designed to create maximum hatred and chaos within the liberal and progressive ranks.
Imagine an alternative universe in which Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders had all run for president. This supposed nightmare scenario of the DC consultant class would have been remarkably salutary. First, Warren would likely have won, uniting both the economic populist and feminist identity factions of the party, and she would likely have defeated Trump. Second, the presence of multiple economic perspectives and multiple identities would have made it much more difficult for a misleading economic populist vs. identity politics dynamic to arise. Booker and Clinton would have split the base of older people of color, while Sanders and Warren would have split the younger, rural white and economic progressive base. Biden would have taken some from all factions. As various candidates fell out and endorsed one another in complex ways, the multi-factional aspect of the conflict would have significantly reduced the partisan resentment. It would also have reduced the incentive for the DNC establishment to put its thumb on the scale on behalf of any one of the candidates, and it would have given the eventual winner far more legitimacy in the eyes of the electorate.
Had Clinton survived such a crowded field of Democratic stars, she would have come out much stronger for it and probably beaten Trump. Had she succumbed in the primary, a different nominee less prone to Clinton’s weaknesses as a candidate would likely not have overlooked the Rust Belt and underperformed with the Obama coalition in the general.
The present animosity between the Clinton and Sanders camps isn’t really the fault of either side’s supporters. Both have some legitimate grievances. It’s the fault of the foolish attempt to clear the field for Clinton and avoid the sort of healthy, long-overdue conversation about the party’s principles that primary elections are supposed to foster.
That Democrats are still forced to have these conversations now, in the midst of a Trump presidency, is unfortunate. But the party’s leadership, consultant and pundit classes have no one to blame but themselves.
Hillaryous. They’re all Clintoned. Rancid sides of beef, waiting to get chucked in a hearse.
After they realized they blew through other R candidates and was left with Trump hillary and Sanders, they got rid of the sure winner, Sanders, to focus on Trump.
hillary's slogan of "love trumps hate" put in the sight and mind of every democrat/socialist the word and man, TRUMP.
They wanted him, make no mistake about that.
Going by his articles, he makes David Corn look like William F. Buckley, Jr.
Without regard to Hillary’s baggage, she’s about as warm of a cold dead fish. And, she was and is a very poor campaigner. Add to this, the voters were ready for a Trump.
Plus Cruz passed on Cambridge Analytics to Trump. That was a huge part of the win.
“It was also clear that in the face of a more openly racist GOP and with the rise of Black Lives Matter and similar movements, identity issues were going to be in play for Democratic voters as never before.”
And openly calling us racist brought in even more votes. They still don’t get it, but it’s fun watching them try.
Hit and miss, to say the least.
++++
You saved me some time.
This was Hillary’s year. She ran. She lost. The “Better Man” won. Get over it Dems. Run better candidates and maybe you will win again.
Maybe.
They must've been rooting for Warren in the first place to come up with this questionable analysis.
I’m thinking the author lives in Colorado, if you get my drift.
1. Her arrogance turned off a LOT of voters. She thought the most populous blue states would carry the day, but woefully underestimated the power of the angry middle class voter. Paul Begala, James Carville and even her own husband--the troika that won the 1992 election--warned her she had to campaign on behalf of middle class voters, but she ignored that advice to her peril.
2. Hillary never could refute the devastating charges from Peter Schweizer's book Clinton Cash. Indeed, the entire private email server scandal happened because Hillary wanted to private server to hide much of the nefarious activities of the Clinton Foundation/Clinton Global Initiative.
Article must have been excerpted as it doesn’t have the usual, “Once upon a time” opening of fairy tales.
Clearing the Democrat field for Hillary elected Trump.
Blatant sexism elected Trump.
The ugly stew of racism elected Trump.
People hating Hillary because she is so professional, so polished, such a wonderful lawyer, so brilliant, so good, so righteous, and so much better than us elected Trump.
Robby Mook selecting the wrong travel stops for Hillary and spending heavily in the wrong states elected Trump.
Hillary’s lack of likability and lack of trustworthiness elected Trump.
Self-hating women elected Trump.
Hillary’s campaign team failing to hone her message and get voters to the polls elected Trump.
Wikileaks elected Trump.
FBI investigation elected Trump.
Email scandal elected Trump.
Men elected Trump.
Misogyny elected Trump.
FBI Director Comey elected Trump.
Lower-level FBI agents pressuring their Director (because that’s how professional relationships work) elected Trump.
Tim Kaine gave Hillary Virginia, but he also elected Trump.
White women elected Trump.
The Russians elected Trump.
Rural voters elected Trump.
The working class voting against their own interests elected Trump.
Fake news elected Trump.
Facebook elected Trump.
Supermarket tabloids elected Trump.
Celebrity (The Apprentice) elected Trump.
White male resentment elected Trump.
Over-shaming Trump supporters elected Trump.
Rejecting Bernie elected Trump.
Reagan democrats elected Trump.
Gary Johnson and Jill Stein voters elected Trump.
Backlash against political correctness elected Trump.
There are many terrible reasons for President Trump’s victory, but there are two things that were not a factor. First, Hillary was the perfect candidate; nothing she did harmed her candidacy in any way. Second, President Trump was the worst candidate imaginable; nothing he did helped his candidacy at all, except with racists, sexists, bigots, and the rest of the basket of deplorables.
How can a long article about the Democrat’s selection process not mention the super delegates? Even if Hillary lost the primary she would still have been the party’s nominee unless she crashed horribly. A five way race would hide any crash.
Look, the bottom line is unless the democrats accept someone like former Mississippi Congressman Gary Eugene “Gene” Taylor (and retired Coast Guard officer), the democrat party will never be able attract enough of middle America to support the democrats platform of faggotry, illegal immigration, higher taxes, weak defense, weaker America around the world, and globalism.
Gene Taylor was in my opinion a true Kennedy democrat, who I believe Kennedy himself would never be nominated by today’s democrat standards. Gene Taylor was the last of the true Blue Dog Democrats that the current progressives loathed and aided in defeating Gene Taylor in 2011 while highlighting the fact that that he voted against Barack Obama for president in 2008.
The democrats need to become Americans again.
Currently everyone on their bench is a American hating as ISIS.
No more Clinton! No more Bush!
Starting November 2014 this was the dominant theme when people started to focus on 2016. No more Clinton! No more Bush! was in left wing media, in right wing media, in mass media, in blogs and personal emails between people. It was the focus of many jokes by comedians at all levels.
How did the Democrat consultant class (including Mike Murhpy) miss this?
If she would have run against a strong democratic field, I think her health problems would have been more difficult hide and likely wouldn’t have been the nominee.
I was very worried about Warren, because she has (correctly) identified the bank/money question problem.
However, she doesn’t control her emotions well and says a lot of crazy stuff. The more she speaks, the less popular she gets.
Biden was the one who would have beaten Trump, and if Fauxcahontas turned down his VP slot at the October 2015 pow-wow, we really dodged a bullet then. Biden know (correctly) that she would have been his strongest running mate.
They still don’t get it..........The American people have had all they want of the Clintons, who have worn out their welcome. Pushing a “return” of Hitlary in 2020 is not receiving favor nor is pushing the “ugly daughter” idea being swallowed. Simply stated the American people don’t want the Clintons anywhere close to having political control over the U.S.
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