I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

Are you serious? Democrats ignored/excluded/offended blue collar middle class whites more than Republicans? Free trade isn't an idea espoused by Democrats. Union busting isn't a Democratic value. Cutting taxes for the rich while pretending it will create jobs and benefit working class people isn't a Democratic principle. Fighting investment in job-creating and desperately needed infrastructure projects was not a part of the Democrat approach. Permitting companies to take jobs overseas while protecting that income from taxation is something all politicians permitted.

If you're talking about pretend issues like reverse racism and forced gay cake-selling, then yeah. They were completely ignored and excluded. But if all it takes is the siren song of a race-baiting bullshit artist who has spent his life shitting on the very people who voted for him in overwhelming numbers, the conclusion you drew above just doesn't make any sense.

TM

I agree with all of this. That said, Democrats haven't been able to deliver for their constituents for six years because of Republican obstructionism, and they haven't found a way to make Republicans pay a price for that obstructionism. Obama couldn't do it, and Hillary didn't try.

Originally Posted by SEC_Chick

So, in thinking this way, doesn't it make more sense to blame a Trump victory on the African American and other Democratic constituencies who didn't vote this year, than on a few Libertarian voters in a swing state? And then isn't Hillary primarily to blame for not getting out the vote or inspiring voters to come out for her, or visiting Wisconsin, or any other minor things that could have changed the outcome?

I've already said a few things about where I think Hillary went wrong, but saying that she is "primarily to blame" is nuts, and lets the people who actually voted for Trump (or for a third-party candidate) off the hook.