9 ms·

Dear Democrats, Read This If You Do Not Understand Why Trump Won

69 points by J0rdanVa1dez 10y ago

moyta 10y ago
I was in Michigan just after caucusing for Bernie at home, and the sheer amount of people for Bernie or bust among the White, Asian & Black communities was palpable. 10 million less people turned out to vote compared to 2008, and those were nearly exclusively 10 million Obama voters. Voters like this African American gal I met in eastern Michigan who did not vote after Bernie lost, or that of this great group of young Asian Americans who also supported Bernie but switched or did not vote after his loss due to extended family & friends (from the west coast nonetheless) telling them Trump was the only option.
- zappo2938 10y ago
  We all made a decision and we all have to live with it. That gal decided at the time to do what is best for her future.
  - moyta 10y ago
    I don't disagree that we have to live with the outcomes of our decisions, but I doubt that decision to not vote was in her best interest. She did make me want to spend some time in Northern Michigan & Traverse City, wish I had a few weeks back out there.
- drusepth 10y ago
  >10 million less people turned out to vote compared to 2008, and those were nearly exclusively 10 million Obama voters. This is crazy. Neither Hillary nor Trump even received as many votes as John McCain did back in 2008 (60M) [1], who still lost to Obama by another 10 million votes. It's crazy to actually see how many fewer people voted this election compared to the past two, for whatever reasons. [1] https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/npA9xOL8_g_akHquHjzBBFn1RSfBl6i6vduPavkf3JBMOB_12tWcdsBGNdP_TMCo9pB2DIlfOMs=w1920-h1080-rw-no https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/npA9xOL8_g_akHquHjzBBFn1RS...
  - moyta 10y ago
    I mean shit, I would vote for McCain if he had been an option this election. He is a very honorable man, and a goddamned national hero, and I say that as a person who conflicts with most of his beliefs. His tireless opposition to torture is something I wish Obama had, and I truly can respect a person who can stand up and say essentially "I was tortured in Vietnam, how DARE we do this to others. We are not them!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F-YIA-lhQ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F-YIA-lhQ0
  - yolesaber 10y ago
    Given two of the worst presidential candidates in recent history compared to 2008 when you had two great candidates (and I say this as a hardcore leftist), it's not that surprising people stayed home.
    - moyta 10y ago
      Damn straight, if I could have the choice I would have thrown my vote away on John McCain this election, I might not agree with most of his positions, but you can definitely respect him. His enduring fight to end and prevent our use of torture is quite heartening, even as a bleeding heart, housing first progressive.
baldfat 10y ago
A) People thought it was in the bag. I live in PA and it was a 6 to 8 point lead. B) Seriously heard and had emails saying that there would be Trump supporters watching our polls (I live int he third largest city in PA) C) Very little enthusiasm for Hillary compared to the Super Star Status of Trump. D) People don't understand that the Democrats had little national power besides the White House and didn't take the election seriously E) Facts and truth was thrown out the door so there was little to no dialog between the parties. The demonizing of Democrats was unreal. People really believe Hillary is a Satan Worshiper and that Obama is secretly helping ISIS.
- smoyer 10y ago
  I live in the third largest city in PA (when there's a home Penn State football game) and I agree whole-heartedly with your points. Since State College is surrounded by rural areas, it was clear that the excited voters (as a potential measure of which people will head to the polls) were for Trump. I find it a bit ironic that there are protests against Trump in the cities as for years, the cities in PA have determined how the state voted. In an election where the rural constituent was finally mobilized, it's like they're throwing tantrums because they didn't get their way. As a US citizen, I have to trust the system and believe that, while I didn't vote for Trump, he's exactly what the people want. I don't like his rhetoric but I do understand the anger of the "common man", who's watched policy driven by the self-appointed elites drives them from the middle class. Until now they haven't stood a chance - corporate money buys policy and ensures increasing corporate profits while making the former middle class poorer. I won't say that there's not a race war going on, but I believe that part of the problem is that there's an underlying class war simmering out-of-sight.
  - baldfat 10y ago
    YOUR THE 4th size city still :) The Penn State community boasts that during home games at State College the stadium is the 4th largest city by "population" in the state. It follows Philadelphia (1,517,550), Pittsburgh (334,563), Allentown (118,032), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver_Stadium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver_Stadium I worked the polls for 5 hours. I asked everyone going in to the gym to play basketball if they voted. I got two responses from the players. A) "Of course I voted" B) F* that B The majority of the white voters were for Trump and would vocalize there displeasure with Hillary.
qznc 10y ago
> This is the problem with America today, the technology that was supposed to bring us together actually isolated us into echo chambers and drove us further apart. Everybody knows where the other echo chamber is. As a democrat, you are free to watch Fox or read Breitbart. The hard thing is to read it open minded. The average democrat HN visitor probably looks there and stops after two sentences. Then leaves ranting about the bullshit there. The crux is that this the same in reverse. If a Trump supporter watches CNN, he stops after two sentences. Then leaves ranting about the bullshit there. I have no idea how to fix this.
- russelluresti 10y ago
  I see a lot of people blaming the technologies, and I think that's a problem. The technology is just a tool. Tools that we choose how and when to use. If an echo chamber exists, it's only because we, as individuals, create it. We like and comments on posts on Facebook that agree with our existing opinions and we unfollow the people who have different opinions. Our own actions create the echo chamber. We also get our news from one or two sources, and we avoid the sources that lean the other way. Not all media has a liberal bias - there are many media outlets with conservative views, we just choose not to read them. The tools aren't to blame - we are. The result we see and the America we live in are direct consequences of our actions. To rid ourselves of the echo chamber, we have to change our own actions. We have to specifically search out information that challenges our beliefs. We have to interact with people who have different values.
- wiz21c 10y ago
  Thanks for reminding the obvious. That's very helpful nowadays.
- dev360 10y ago
  I recently switched to Wall Street journal and I have been impressed by their reporting on politics. I felt like they reported objectively on this election, at least to the point where a bias was not distinguishable. Their tech news are also really good - you end up reading lots of stories that will be on the front page of HN throughout the day.
LeanderK 10y ago
I immediately stop reading when i see sentences like "The Media Lied To Us About EVERYTHING". This is stupid and i don't trust the author anymore. It's a huge red flag. Did the NYTimes ever openly lie (That's not publishing false information)? I only read it for american/international news, but they always seemed very trustworthy and many trustworthy people declared it trustworthy (the guardian and my favourite newspaper, the german sueddeutsche Zeitung are all working with it). I know about the emails and the investigation, that's nothing new. Please don't write articles about how everybody forgot about wikileaks and how much leaked emails you were posting in social media, because i don't care. These are not facts, they don't help me understand how trump won. Also it was a very, very close race. Especially in Florida, i was glued to the screen. EDIT: i read the whole article. Its clickbait. It never even starts trying to explain how hillary lost. It just states things not supported by facts like "Bernie Sanders Would Have Beat Trump". I would like to see Bernie beating Trump, but it is 100% opinion. No facts supported this claim. A third of the article is a positive outlook for the trump-presidency, which has nothing to do with the headline and what i expected to read. Also the first third is all about the leaked wikileaks emails, but no facts are presented that support the conclusion that they were even that important. I doubt it, of course it's a scandal, but the candidates were too different to let the emails be the decisive factor. I want to understand how hillary lost, but i want facts, polls, interviews, data and experts analysing the data. Not somebody rambling about how he knew it all along.
- mjburgess 10y ago
  She "stole" the PEOPLE'S CHOICE?!!?! Bernie. Just another sore loser who's own echo chambre prevents him from realising most democrats voted for clinton, and no preference the DNC staffers had changed that.
  - jsmith0295 10y ago
    Um...yes, it did. They manipulated everything they could to limit his exposure and got a decent number of African American voters to fill out absentee ballots towards the beginning of the primary before they had any idea who the other candidates were.
acranox 10y ago
Uh, does this guy not care about the candidates policies? People who went from sanders to trump don't make sense to me when you consider their positions on many major policies.
- rahoulb 10y ago
  I'm not in America, but I am English and have watched similar events happen with Brexit and the impression I get is this is about rejecting the status quo, not about what comes in its place. Sanders said "Take power from the 1%". Trump said "Make America great again". Hillary said "America is already great". Which of those statements will resonate with the people who have been struggling for years and can't see much hope for their children? Which of those statements gives the impression that the candidate doesn't understand that so many people are actually struggling?
  - dev360 10y ago
    bingo
- dev360 10y ago
  I think the top portion here is key (in Bernies own words): “Donald Trump tapped into the anger of a declining middle class that is sick and tired of establishment economics, establishment politics and the establishment media. People are tired of working longer hours for lower wages, of seeing decent paying jobs go to China and other low-wage countries, of billionaires not paying any federal income taxes and of not being able to afford a college education for their kids - all while the very rich become much richer." http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-statement-on-trump http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sander...
ilolu 10y ago
When Hillary lost to one of the worst candidates ever in Trump, then its her fault. But from what I seen in social media, Hillary's supporters are just blaming everyone else for the loss rather than finding fault in their candidate. I have even seen tweets claiming all Trump's voters (60 million people) are sexist, racist etc. It could just be a simple fact that people value other things more than just sexism and racism. Trump just sold people a better future to this voters than Hillary did. Whether he is going to solve any issues of his voters, is a different thing.
- mannykannot 10y ago
  The issue that the democratic party should probably be taking a look at is how Clinton set herself up as the presumptive candidate even before the primaries.
- vertex-four 10y ago
  How Trump won is a different question from whether Trump's voters are directly responsible for the harm that will be caused to minority groups in the next 4-8 years. Hillary can be an awful candidate and Trump's supporters can have caused harm towards people on the basis of race and gender - it's not an either/or.
  - travmatt 10y ago
    Can't wait to see - the voting rights act is effectively dead, I wonder how effective Pence will be in pushing conversion therapy on the LGBT community.
  - choko 10y ago
    You make these statements as if they are a certainty. If you would step from the echo chamber for just a moment, perhaps you might see that many of the accusations thrown at the Republican candidate were trumped up by the media. I'm optimistic that he's not half as bad as CNN would lead us to believe.
- allengeorge 10y ago
  While I'm sure that sexism and racism does play a role for some voters, I believe (anecdotally, without data-based evidence) that its influence is overstated. Commentators who simply point to those factors are demonizing the "other" and perversely, are making it even harder to achieve consensus on issues. After all, how can you respect your opponent if they're sexist or racist? That aside, broadly, Hillary lost because she: - Represented the establishment - Was uninspiring - Was followed by the aura of 'scandal' (Benghazi and the email server are the two I've heard the most) I think people were simply tired of establishment politicians who they felt never listened to them and never worked for their interests anyways - and just wanted someone radically different. It also helped that Trump's message "Make America Great Again" is trivially inspiring and broadly resonates. People feel that there's something wrong - that the social contract is gone, and they want to be part of a future where that greatness and their part in it exists again.
notacoward 10y ago
Dear Sanders supporters (like the author and BTW like me as well). He also lost. You also need to get off your high horse, talk with people who are unlike you instead of talking down to them, and learn something from what happened. That's what Sanders himself is doing. "I told you so" looks no better on you than it does on the Trump supporters. In fact, it looks the same.
Joeboy 10y ago
I don't expect this to be popular, but maybe one route out of this meme-driven, post-truth, clickbaity echo chamber political dystopia is that we get over the idea that it's terrible to pay (or charge) for news. Twenty years ago it seemed great that the net was disrupting traditional news outlets. Now we've played that out a bit, it seems like we miss the kind of work you can do if you have revenue that isn't coming from advertisers or lobbyists.
- cholantesh 10y ago
  >Now we've played that out a bit, it seems like we miss the kind of work you can do if you have revenue that isn't coming from advertisers or lobbyists. Isn't a lot of the print outlets' revenue generated through advertising, though?
Wellshit 10y ago
I, as a 6" 3' that identifies as a straight non-binary queer Tuvaluan pink unicorn with two horns and a permanent rainbow above my head, and with a slightly left leaning penis with 3 white hairs on my face and with shoe size 9 whose name begins with Hor and with an ID that end in 237 feel totally discriminated by the fact that there never was a president/multibillionaire with these characteristics. I offer myself to fill those gaps and avoid this heinous act of discrimination.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- vertex-four 10y ago
  That is not the issue and you know it. Hillary could've been almost literally anyone else on the Democrat side and Trump would still have been an incredibly bad outcome for minorities. Many of Hillary's "supporters" - and definitely 80% of people panicking on Twitter - are in fact just terrified of Trump.
  - Wellshit 10y ago
    Those kinds of people are afraid of anything that resembles what was once called "normalcy". Get your effin' genitalia and neurosis out of politics please. There's people dying all over the world because you want to sell iPhones. And you keep discussing this crazy concept of safe spaces. God, thank you so much for placing me on the other side of the pond.
    - yolesaber 10y ago
      Trump wants to overturn Roe v Wade. Pence wants conversion therapy for LGBTQ people. How about you get your fucked up politics away from my body?
      - moyta 10y ago
        Why do these conservatives want to legislate people's bodies in the first place, it seems highly unAmerican to me & screams of a nanny state like the USSR. If I want to fuck guys or gals or dress like a he, she or a schlee that should be none of the government's business. It affects no one else, and legislating people's private lives is just a great way to destroy American families and waste taxpayer money. I also believe this needs to extend to substances used by people, if my grandmother wants some OxyContin for recreational use, let her have at it, there ain't no good reason to deny a ninety year old woman or anyone the right to eat, drink or smoke whatever they want so long as it is not negatively impacting others.
lordnacho 10y ago
The bit about corporate news being biased towards Hillary makes little sense. In so far as corporates are profit-seeking, Trump is a much better circus to cover. He gets attention, and attention is advertisement dollars. So if you're going to favour someone, it should be Trump. Heck he'll now provide interesting soundbites for years. Also you cannot dismiss EVERYTHING as being lies. It's just not how lying works. A lie is a slightly modified truth, not a complete fiction. It's also pretty much the same as the hysteria that is being written about, to claim that everything is a lie. The real story of why he won is a lot less exciting than everyone makes it out to be. He basically said he'll fix everything that's wrong, somehow. Especially whatever is wrong about the job market at the lower end. Economics seems to have gotten buried amid all the name-calling during the campaign, but not in the ballot box. And economics has been the major topic in every election, and every election an establishment candidate has been elected and turned out not to fix the issues. Hillary wanted to talk about all sorts of things that aren't economics: racial equality, gender issues, foreign policy, experience in government, Trump being himself, and so on. Well, she got Trumped because people didn't care that his style is a bit narcissistic, didn't care that he has zero experience, and didn't care that he has no actual plan. People took a punt on Trump because why buy more of the same thing that doesn't work? On Bernie, I agree with the article. He talked about a real economic alternative, and would have had a chance.
billy8988 10y ago
This notion, Bernie would have definitely beaten Trump is just a ludicrous assumption. 66% americans view socialism very negatively and Trump would have the same message against Bernie that he hadn't done anything in the last 40 years of public service. Only thing that would be going for Bernie would be his "trustworthiness".
aplomb 10y ago
If there is one thing made clear - there is no such thing as journalistic objectivity. It's just a feel good myth we all tell ourselves as we consume our value affirming sources in a feed back loop.
williamle8300 10y ago
The DNC is an organization that's rotten from the inside out. Don't forget about Wasserman being the fall man for all of their shenanigans.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
Wellshit 10y ago
That's exactly the problem. It's uncivil if I do it, but justified if they enforce it. Double standards much? To be clear: I don't give a flying f* about what you do with your body, but don't fire me if I happen to use a personal pronoun that doesn't match your feeling. You had no problem in disregarding my opinion, and felt the need to protect their views. Please take the time to view this video https://youtu.be/kasiov0ytEc https://youtu.be/kasiov0ytEc And don't you dare cut me off of my right to free speech because you don't agree with me. I won't be offended if you ignore me.
thecity2 10y ago
This guy should have just sent this letter directly to Thiel. Would have been a much faster way to ask for a job.

69 points by J0rdanVa1dez 10y ago

moyta 10y ago

I was in Michigan just after caucusing for Bernie at home, and the sheer amount of people for Bernie or bust among the White, Asian & Black communities was palpable. 10 million less people turned out to vote compared to 2008, and those were nearly exclusively 10 million Obama voters. Voters like this African American gal I met in eastern Michigan who did not vote after Bernie lost, or that of this great group of young Asian Americans who also supported Bernie but switched or did not vote after his loss due to extended family & friends (from the west coast nonetheless) telling them Trump was the only option.

zappo2938 10y ago
We all made a decision and we all have to live with it. That gal decided at the time to do what is best for her future.
- moyta 10y ago
  I don't disagree that we have to live with the outcomes of our decisions, but I doubt that decision to not vote was in her best interest. She did make me want to spend some time in Northern Michigan & Traverse City, wish I had a few weeks back out there.
drusepth 10y ago
>10 million less people turned out to vote compared to 2008, and those were nearly exclusively 10 million Obama voters. This is crazy. Neither Hillary nor Trump even received as many votes as John McCain did back in 2008 (60M) [1], who still lost to Obama by another 10 million votes. It's crazy to actually see how many fewer people voted this election compared to the past two, for whatever reasons. [1] https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/npA9xOL8_g_akHquHjzBBFn1RSfBl6i6vduPavkf3JBMOB_12tWcdsBGNdP_TMCo9pB2DIlfOMs=w1920-h1080-rw-no https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/npA9xOL8_g_akHquHjzBBFn1RS...
- moyta 10y ago
  I mean shit, I would vote for McCain if he had been an option this election. He is a very honorable man, and a goddamned national hero, and I say that as a person who conflicts with most of his beliefs. His tireless opposition to torture is something I wish Obama had, and I truly can respect a person who can stand up and say essentially "I was tortured in Vietnam, how DARE we do this to others. We are not them!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F-YIA-lhQ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F-YIA-lhQ0
- yolesaber 10y ago
  Given two of the worst presidential candidates in recent history compared to 2008 when you had two great candidates (and I say this as a hardcore leftist), it's not that surprising people stayed home.
  - moyta 10y ago
    Damn straight, if I could have the choice I would have thrown my vote away on John McCain this election, I might not agree with most of his positions, but you can definitely respect him. His enduring fight to end and prevent our use of torture is quite heartening, even as a bleeding heart, housing first progressive.

baldfat 10y ago

A) People thought it was in the bag. I live in PA and it was a 6 to 8 point lead. B) Seriously heard and had emails saying that there would be Trump supporters watching our polls (I live int he third largest city in PA) C) Very little enthusiasm for Hillary compared to the Super Star Status of Trump. D) People don't understand that the Democrats had little national power besides the White House and didn't take the election seriously E) Facts and truth was thrown out the door so there was little to no dialog between the parties. The demonizing of Democrats was unreal. People really believe Hillary is a Satan Worshiper and that Obama is secretly helping ISIS.

smoyer 10y ago
I live in the third largest city in PA (when there's a home Penn State football game) and I agree whole-heartedly with your points. Since State College is surrounded by rural areas, it was clear that the excited voters (as a potential measure of which people will head to the polls) were for Trump. I find it a bit ironic that there are protests against Trump in the cities as for years, the cities in PA have determined how the state voted. In an election where the rural constituent was finally mobilized, it's like they're throwing tantrums because they didn't get their way. As a US citizen, I have to trust the system and believe that, while I didn't vote for Trump, he's exactly what the people want. I don't like his rhetoric but I do understand the anger of the "common man", who's watched policy driven by the self-appointed elites drives them from the middle class. Until now they haven't stood a chance - corporate money buys policy and ensures increasing corporate profits while making the former middle class poorer. I won't say that there's not a race war going on, but I believe that part of the problem is that there's an underlying class war simmering out-of-sight.
- baldfat 10y ago
  YOUR THE 4th size city still :) The Penn State community boasts that during home games at State College the stadium is the 4th largest city by "population" in the state. It follows Philadelphia (1,517,550), Pittsburgh (334,563), Allentown (118,032), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver_Stadium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver_Stadium I worked the polls for 5 hours. I asked everyone going in to the gym to play basketball if they voted. I got two responses from the players. A) "Of course I voted" B) F* that B The majority of the white voters were for Trump and would vocalize there displeasure with Hillary.

qznc 10y ago

> This is the problem with America today, the technology that was supposed to bring us together actually isolated us into echo chambers and drove us further apart. Everybody knows where the other echo chamber is. As a democrat, you are free to watch Fox or read Breitbart. The hard thing is to read it open minded. The average democrat HN visitor probably looks there and stops after two sentences. Then leaves ranting about the bullshit there. The crux is that this the same in reverse. If a Trump supporter watches CNN, he stops after two sentences. Then leaves ranting about the bullshit there. I have no idea how to fix this.

russelluresti 10y ago
I see a lot of people blaming the technologies, and I think that's a problem. The technology is just a tool. Tools that we choose how and when to use. If an echo chamber exists, it's only because we, as individuals, create it. We like and comments on posts on Facebook that agree with our existing opinions and we unfollow the people who have different opinions. Our own actions create the echo chamber. We also get our news from one or two sources, and we avoid the sources that lean the other way. Not all media has a liberal bias - there are many media outlets with conservative views, we just choose not to read them. The tools aren't to blame - we are. The result we see and the America we live in are direct consequences of our actions. To rid ourselves of the echo chamber, we have to change our own actions. We have to specifically search out information that challenges our beliefs. We have to interact with people who have different values.
wiz21c 10y ago
Thanks for reminding the obvious. That's very helpful nowadays.
dev360 10y ago
I recently switched to Wall Street journal and I have been impressed by their reporting on politics. I felt like they reported objectively on this election, at least to the point where a bias was not distinguishable. Their tech news are also really good - you end up reading lots of stories that will be on the front page of HN throughout the day.

LeanderK 10y ago

I immediately stop reading when i see sentences like "The Media Lied To Us About EVERYTHING". This is stupid and i don't trust the author anymore. It's a huge red flag. Did the NYTimes ever openly lie (That's not publishing false information)? I only read it for american/international news, but they always seemed very trustworthy and many trustworthy people declared it trustworthy (the guardian and my favourite newspaper, the german sueddeutsche Zeitung are all working with it). I know about the emails and the investigation, that's nothing new. Please don't write articles about how everybody forgot about wikileaks and how much leaked emails you were posting in social media, because i don't care. These are not facts, they don't help me understand how trump won. Also it was a very, very close race. Especially in Florida, i was glued to the screen. EDIT: i read the whole article. Its clickbait. It never even starts trying to explain how hillary lost. It just states things not supported by facts like "Bernie Sanders Would Have Beat Trump". I would like to see Bernie beating Trump, but it is 100% opinion. No facts supported this claim. A third of the article is a positive outlook for the trump-presidency, which has nothing to do with the headline and what i expected to read. Also the first third is all about the leaked wikileaks emails, but no facts are presented that support the conclusion that they were even that important. I doubt it, of course it's a scandal, but the candidates were too different to let the emails be the decisive factor. I want to understand how hillary lost, but i want facts, polls, interviews, data and experts analysing the data. Not somebody rambling about how he knew it all along.

mjburgess 10y ago
She "stole" the PEOPLE'S CHOICE?!!?! Bernie. Just another sore loser who's own echo chambre prevents him from realising most democrats voted for clinton, and no preference the DNC staffers had changed that.
- jsmith0295 10y ago
  Um...yes, it did. They manipulated everything they could to limit his exposure and got a decent number of African American voters to fill out absentee ballots towards the beginning of the primary before they had any idea who the other candidates were.

acranox 10y ago

Uh, does this guy not care about the candidates policies? People who went from sanders to trump don't make sense to me when you consider their positions on many major policies.

rahoulb 10y ago
I'm not in America, but I am English and have watched similar events happen with Brexit and the impression I get is this is about rejecting the status quo, not about what comes in its place. Sanders said "Take power from the 1%". Trump said "Make America great again". Hillary said "America is already great". Which of those statements will resonate with the people who have been struggling for years and can't see much hope for their children? Which of those statements gives the impression that the candidate doesn't understand that so many people are actually struggling?
- dev360 10y ago
  bingo
dev360 10y ago
I think the top portion here is key (in Bernies own words): “Donald Trump tapped into the anger of a declining middle class that is sick and tired of establishment economics, establishment politics and the establishment media. People are tired of working longer hours for lower wages, of seeing decent paying jobs go to China and other low-wage countries, of billionaires not paying any federal income taxes and of not being able to afford a college education for their kids - all while the very rich become much richer." http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-statement-on-trump http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sander...

ilolu 10y ago

When Hillary lost to one of the worst candidates ever in Trump, then its her fault. But from what I seen in social media, Hillary's supporters are just blaming everyone else for the loss rather than finding fault in their candidate. I have even seen tweets claiming all Trump's voters (60 million people) are sexist, racist etc. It could just be a simple fact that people value other things more than just sexism and racism. Trump just sold people a better future to this voters than Hillary did. Whether he is going to solve any issues of his voters, is a different thing.

mannykannot 10y ago
The issue that the democratic party should probably be taking a look at is how Clinton set herself up as the presumptive candidate even before the primaries.
vertex-four 10y ago
How Trump won is a different question from whether Trump's voters are directly responsible for the harm that will be caused to minority groups in the next 4-8 years. Hillary can be an awful candidate and Trump's supporters can have caused harm towards people on the basis of race and gender - it's not an either/or.
- travmatt 10y ago
  Can't wait to see - the voting rights act is effectively dead, I wonder how effective Pence will be in pushing conversion therapy on the LGBT community.
- choko 10y ago
  You make these statements as if they are a certainty. If you would step from the echo chamber for just a moment, perhaps you might see that many of the accusations thrown at the Republican candidate were trumped up by the media. I'm optimistic that he's not half as bad as CNN would lead us to believe.
allengeorge 10y ago
While I'm sure that sexism and racism does play a role for some voters, I believe (anecdotally, without data-based evidence) that its influence is overstated. Commentators who simply point to those factors are demonizing the "other" and perversely, are making it even harder to achieve consensus on issues. After all, how can you respect your opponent if they're sexist or racist? That aside, broadly, Hillary lost because she: - Represented the establishment - Was uninspiring - Was followed by the aura of 'scandal' (Benghazi and the email server are the two I've heard the most) I think people were simply tired of establishment politicians who they felt never listened to them and never worked for their interests anyways - and just wanted someone radically different. It also helped that Trump's message "Make America Great Again" is trivially inspiring and broadly resonates. People feel that there's something wrong - that the social contract is gone, and they want to be part of a future where that greatness and their part in it exists again.

notacoward 10y ago

Dear Sanders supporters (like the author and BTW like me as well). He also lost. You also need to get off your high horse, talk with people who are unlike you instead of talking down to them, and learn something from what happened. That's what Sanders himself is doing. "I told you so" looks no better on you than it does on the Trump supporters. In fact, it looks the same.

Joeboy 10y ago

I don't expect this to be popular, but maybe one route out of this meme-driven, post-truth, clickbaity echo chamber political dystopia is that we get over the idea that it's terrible to pay (or charge) for news. Twenty years ago it seemed great that the net was disrupting traditional news outlets. Now we've played that out a bit, it seems like we miss the kind of work you can do if you have revenue that isn't coming from advertisers or lobbyists.

cholantesh 10y ago
>Now we've played that out a bit, it seems like we miss the kind of work you can do if you have revenue that isn't coming from advertisers or lobbyists. Isn't a lot of the print outlets' revenue generated through advertising, though?

Wellshit 10y ago

I, as a 6" 3' that identifies as a straight non-binary queer Tuvaluan pink unicorn with two horns and a permanent rainbow above my head, and with a slightly left leaning penis with 3 white hairs on my face and with shoe size 9 whose name begins with Hor and with an ID that end in 237 feel totally discriminated by the fact that there never was a president/multibillionaire with these characteristics. I offer myself to fill those gaps and avoid this heinous act of discrimination.

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vertex-four 10y ago
That is not the issue and you know it. Hillary could've been almost literally anyone else on the Democrat side and Trump would still have been an incredibly bad outcome for minorities. Many of Hillary's "supporters" - and definitely 80% of people panicking on Twitter - are in fact just terrified of Trump.
- Wellshit 10y ago
  Those kinds of people are afraid of anything that resembles what was once called "normalcy". Get your effin' genitalia and neurosis out of politics please. There's people dying all over the world because you want to sell iPhones. And you keep discussing this crazy concept of safe spaces. God, thank you so much for placing me on the other side of the pond.
  - yolesaber 10y ago
    Trump wants to overturn Roe v Wade. Pence wants conversion therapy for LGBTQ people. How about you get your fucked up politics away from my body?
    - moyta 10y ago
      Why do these conservatives want to legislate people's bodies in the first place, it seems highly unAmerican to me & screams of a nanny state like the USSR. If I want to fuck guys or gals or dress like a he, she or a schlee that should be none of the government's business. It affects no one else, and legislating people's private lives is just a great way to destroy American families and waste taxpayer money. I also believe this needs to extend to substances used by people, if my grandmother wants some OxyContin for recreational use, let her have at it, there ain't no good reason to deny a ninety year old woman or anyone the right to eat, drink or smoke whatever they want so long as it is not negatively impacting others.

lordnacho 10y ago

The bit about corporate news being biased towards Hillary makes little sense. In so far as corporates are profit-seeking, Trump is a much better circus to cover. He gets attention, and attention is advertisement dollars. So if you're going to favour someone, it should be Trump. Heck he'll now provide interesting soundbites for years. Also you cannot dismiss EVERYTHING as being lies. It's just not how lying works. A lie is a slightly modified truth, not a complete fiction. It's also pretty much the same as the hysteria that is being written about, to claim that everything is a lie. The real story of why he won is a lot less exciting than everyone makes it out to be. He basically said he'll fix everything that's wrong, somehow. Especially whatever is wrong about the job market at the lower end. Economics seems to have gotten buried amid all the name-calling during the campaign, but not in the ballot box. And economics has been the major topic in every election, and every election an establishment candidate has been elected and turned out not to fix the issues. Hillary wanted to talk about all sorts of things that aren't economics: racial equality, gender issues, foreign policy, experience in government, Trump being himself, and so on. Well, she got Trumped because people didn't care that his style is a bit narcissistic, didn't care that he has zero experience, and didn't care that he has no actual plan. People took a punt on Trump because why buy more of the same thing that doesn't work? On Bernie, I agree with the article. He talked about a real economic alternative, and would have had a chance.

billy8988 10y ago

This notion, Bernie would have definitely beaten Trump is just a ludicrous assumption. 66% americans view socialism very negatively and Trump would have the same message against Bernie that he hadn't done anything in the last 40 years of public service. Only thing that would be going for Bernie would be his "trustworthiness".

aplomb 10y ago

If there is one thing made clear - there is no such thing as journalistic objectivity. It's just a feel good myth we all tell ourselves as we consume our value affirming sources in a feed back loop.

williamle8300 10y ago

The DNC is an organization that's rotten from the inside out. Don't forget about Wasserman being the fall man for all of their shenanigans.

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Wellshit 10y ago

That's exactly the problem. It's uncivil if I do it, but justified if they enforce it. Double standards much? To be clear: I don't give a flying f* about what you do with your body, but don't fire me if I happen to use a personal pronoun that doesn't match your feeling. You had no problem in disregarding my opinion, and felt the need to protect their views. Please take the time to view this video https://youtu.be/kasiov0ytEc https://youtu.be/kasiov0ytEc And don't you dare cut me off of my right to free speech because you don't agree with me. I won't be offended if you ignore me.

thecity2 10y ago

This guy should have just sent this letter directly to Thiel. Would have been a much faster way to ask for a job.