The Democrats Screwed Up

NYTimes ^ | NOV. 11, 2016 | Frank Bruni

[aquila48]

We geniuses in the news media spent only the last month telling you how Donald Trump was losing this election. We spent the last year telling you how the Republican Party was unraveling.

And here we are, with the Democrats in tatters. You might want to think twice about our Oscar and Super Bowl predictions.

Despite all the discussion of demographic forces that doomed the G.O.P., it will soon control the presidency as well as both chambers of Congress and two of every three governor’s offices. And that’s not just a function of James Comey, Julian Assange and misogyny. Democrats who believe so are dangerously mistaken.

Other factors conspired in the party’s debacle. One in particular haunts me. From the presidential race on down, Democrats adopted a strategy of inclusiveness that excluded a hefty share of Americans and consigned many to a “basket of deplorables” who aren’t all deplorable. Some are hurt. Some are confused.

Liberals miss this by being illiberal. They shame not just the racists and sexists who deserve it but all who disagree. A 64-year-old Southern woman not onboard with marriage equality finds herself characterized as a hateful boob. Never mind that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton weren’t themselves onboard just five short years ago.

Political correctness has morphed into a moral purity that may feel exhilarating but isn’t remotely tactical. It’s a handmaiden to smugness and sanctimony, undermining its own goals.

I worry about my and my colleagues’ culpability along these lines. I plan to use greater care in how I talk to and about Americans more culturally conservative than I am. That’s not a surrender of principle or passion. It’s a grown-up acknowledgment that we’re a messy, imperfect species.

[spodefly]

Yes, you stepped on your crank.

No, we will not buy your work in the future.

You have proven yourselves untrustworthy.

[Impy]

A 64-year-old Southern woman not onboard with marriage equality finds herself characterized as a hateful boob. Never mind that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton weren’t themselves onboard just five short years ago.

Sentence of note.

[Ann Archy]

No bench for sure......they are considering Keith Ellison for DNC Chair!! LOL!!! An America Hating Black Muslim!! Maybe he;s gay so they could have a FOUR-FER!!

[AdaGray]

Total joke. Nobody believes anything these elitists write anynmore.

[Altura Ct.]

They shame not just the racists and sexists who deserve it

Who exactly is this? Define specific real life examples of who and what this is? What the hell makes you the arbiter?

[ConservativeMind]

Great way to put it. BTTT.

[madprof98]

Exactly right. They’re sorry because they got caught. End of story.

[nathanbedford]

His presidency will end with Democrats in possession of 11 fewer Senate seats (depending on how you count), more than 60 fewer House seats, at least 14 fewer governorships and more than 900 fewer seats in state legislatures than when it began. That’s a staggering toll.

To add the staggering toll, Republicans now control 66 of 99 statehouses.

Yet, Frank Bruni is historically correct when he observes:

But new presidents typically get an electoral whupping after their first two years, and there’s every reason to believe that Trump will govern — or fail to — in a fashion that prompts one.

Putting aside the author's negativity, we dare not ignore the lessons of history. 2, 4,6 or 8 years from now our overwhelmingly favorable prospect in a 50 statehouses might be entirely altered just as the count in Congress might turn toward our disfavor. Only the arrogant believe that they are politically invulnerable and we must count the possibility that this moment of opportunity is transitory.

Now is the time to proceed when it is utterly safe to do so against any downside risk coming from the liberal side toward an Article V amendment process to enshrine conservatism in the Constitution, that is, to restore the Constitution to its original intent by invoking the very remedy laid out in the Constitution. Now is the time, the risk is virtually nonexistent, on a mathematical basis it is practically impossible that conservatives cannot find 17 statehouses among 66 to stop any untoward leftist amendment.

We should be proceeding in Washington with the Trump administration in parallel with Article V reform in the statehouses which we control. We will not control Washington for ever, the demographics are dead against us. Now is the time to enshrine in the Constitution the values which animated us to support Donald Trump and defeat Hillary Clinton.

[jmaroneps37]

Stopped reading after “a “basket of deplorables” who aren’t all deplorable.” Scumbag thinks he is sooooooo erudite, so much smarter than everyone else because HE knows that at least some Trump supporters are not deplorable. Gee thanks Einstein now go away.

[PGalt]

Criminals sometimes overplay their hand. It’s very unusual that a cabal of criminals would screw up this bad. The history of HIllaryous Rotten Criminal is that EVIL. Very hard to paper over. Americans have memories and aren’t that devoid of rational thought, yet. Who will emerge from the collectivist/socialist/criminal ‘rat cesspool to carry the germ?

Enemies domestic ALERT!

[Red in Blue PA]

Re: I plan to use greater care in how I talk to and about Americans more culturally conservative than I am.

Yeah, sure. This will last all of one week.

If that.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

I worry about my and my colleagues’ culpability along these lines. I plan to use greater care in how I talk to and about Americans more culturally conservative than I am. That’s not a surrender of principle or passion. It’s a grown-up acknowledgment that we’re a messy, imperfect species.

Blah, blah, blah, blah.

Get back to me when non-white skin color and/or having a vagina are no longer THE major qualifications for POTUS. Or when culturally conservative Americans is no longer a code for racist or any type of (fill in the blank)ism.

[djpg]

One obvious reason that the liberal press avoids like the plague: Maybe the American public has moved a bit to the right this time.

[Lopeover]

The democrats caused what was happening to the middle class!

[petercooper]

BOOM!

[nathanbedford]

test

[Hardastarboard]

Donald Trump is VERY shrewd, and very smart. I watched him carefully as he went from delivering the message but with an undisciplined, shotgun style, to staying on point, and repeating the right message. He's an incredibly quick learner.

He also was smart enough to choose the right campaign manager instead of one of those perpetual losers Steve Schmidt or Mike Murphy. This guy will get it done.

AdminMod - this is an all time great FR thread, IMHO. The folks I addressed directly in this post, and everyone else, almost to a person, were incredibly articulate and on point in their comments.

I don't know if there's a best of, or sticky or something for FR, but this one needs to be on it. Oh, and make sure that it is hidden from any liberals who might want to understand how to win in 2018 and 2020. There's a LOT of really good advice in here.

[frnewsjunkie]

obama has created the division in our country.. he’s created the riots.. encouraged them to keep on taking to the streets ... he created blk lives matter... he set out to change everything that was good, to bad and worthless... he and his liberal kind, do not look at the end result of their actions.. even after the results stare them in the face, they just blame everyone else for their failures...

Tuesday, the rest of us spoke loud and clear. Enough!

[ex91B10]

Also this line:

Donald Trump’s victory and some of the, yes, deplorable chants that accompanied it do not mean that a majority of Americans are irredeemable bigots (though too many indeed are).

[dirtboy]

It’s a grown-up acknowledgment that we’re a messy, imperfect species.

He still doesn't get it. The source of the condescension is their sense of moral superiority when nothing of the sort is actually present.