We were totally wrong. Wrong predictions. Wrong candidate. Wrong strategy.
It hurts me to say this, but the only person who got this election right is Donald Trump. Right strategy, right message, right candidate.
But it was about much more than him. When did we become the party of bankers and not the working class? We collected money from the rich to buy ads in Michigan to tell out of work people that Trump is an awful human being.
They already knew that. They didn’t care. He was the only one listening to them.
Not just Hillary, the entire Democratic Party got out of touch with the people. Schumer (my favorite Senator) said that for each blue-collar voter we lose, we are gaining two in the suburbs. Even if it was true (turned out not to be) is that what we should have wanted? We have always been the party of the working class. The comfortable people do not need us.
Even if we had won, it would not have mattered. We would have been the mouthpiece of the elite, just another tool of oppression.
We tried to take the easy way to power. By cozying up to the people who already have power, we tried to get a share of their wealth. And thought we could buy influence among the downtrodden using it. No wonder the people were angry at us.
I admit I saw none of this a week ago. I too, was caught up in the mass delusion. Sam Wang had me convinced we had a >99% chance of victory. Numbers lie. Scientists herd just like lemmings. Only after falling off the cliff (about midnight on election night) did I wake up from the delusion.
Michael Moore warned us back in July. I thought he was being a left-wing loon.
Time to get back to basics. Forget the bankers. Stop the fundraising. Fire the pollsters and the consultants. Ctrl-C the data analysis. Get back in touch with the community. Listen.
We should not be telling people what they should want. We should be asking them what they want.
We should not be blaming our loss on bigotry. Surely, there are bigots in the Trump movement. Possibly right at the top. But the mass of people who voted us out of power also voted for Barrack Obama. And still approve of him by a clear majority. There is more going on here than prejudice.
We should not be asking “What is Wrong with Pennsylvania?” . Why didn’t we get Pennsylvania? Or Michigan or Wisconsin.
To effectively resist Trump, we need the base to trust us again. We need Barrack Obama to return to his roots as a community organizer. We do not need another Presidential Foundation. We need volunteers who will fan out to reach every community in the US. Even people who will never vote for us need to know we aim to represent them. They may not love us, but we need them to stop hating us.
This will take years. May be a generation. We will win.
