I was disgusted when I left the November meeting. If we had been Republicans, we would have been discussing how the system is rigged and that the president elect has no mandate. But we accept the Republican frame that Trump has a mandate, especially Bernie supporters because they want to tell you “I told you so.” All this will do is allow Democratic opposition to Trump melt away, just like what happened after the 2000 election.
As a Clinton supporter, I felt that the party wanted to purge me. There is plenty of blame to go around. But the shouts that Bernie would have won, simply cannot be proven. Had Bernie been the nominee, the Republicans would have been just as dirty and used red baiting. For example, they would have talked about Bernie’s praise of Daniel Ortega and Fidel Castro, and Jane Sanders mismanagement of Burlington College.
The real reason why we lost this election, and don’t forget that Hillary could win by as much as 2 million votes, is because after eight years of Democrats holding the White House, GDP has been growing only about a one percent annual rate over the last couple of years, and Democrats never sold the idea of Obamacare to the public. Under these conditions, charges, whether true or false, against the incumbent party stick.
Obamacare has been rejected by the public. While some have rejected it by not going far enough most have rejected it because they believe it constitutes socialized medicine. If the public rejects Obamacare as socialized medicine, what do you think they will think about a single payer system? Even Vermont recently rejected the idea of a single payer system. The Republicans out framed us on that issue.
We also failed to defend Obama. For heaven’s sake, when Obama became president the economy was collapsing. Today the unemployment rate is 4.9%. If the Republicans had been the incumbent party, they would be echoing how their policies caused an economic miracle. By not defending Obama, people wanted change. To most Americans, change means going in the opposite direction, the Republican direction. It does not mean accelerating in the direction you are already going. This may seem illogical, but that’s the visceral action of most people.
The Clinton campaign is not without blame. From hindsight, some of her strategic moves can be questioned. Also, as a donor, I gave a contribution one month and then a few weeks later another contribution. When I got my credit card statement, I discovered that there was fine print saying that these were monthly installment payments. I decided to keep the two monthly installment payments going, but it did reinforce the idea that the Clinton campaign was sleazy.
As a volunteer for both Obama and Clinton, I can tell you that the Clinton campaign was a rusty machine. I also felt that I was just another number. I go to the campaign office and pick up the addresses that I am going to canvass. I drive back home to get a printout of the directions to the turf. Because its raining, I make plastic covers to protect the literature on the clipboard from becoming wet.
I fly to Florida to help the Clinton campaign. I tell them about my concerns about the long flight and what actions they could take to address my concerns. In the end, they do the exact opposite of what I asked for as if they were punishing me for asking. Again, they provide me no map of my turf, but this time I have no printer. They also don’t tell me that without a sun pass, I will have to put coins in a toll machine every few miles I travel, this is very annoying especially when I discover I’m going to travel over a hundred miles a day. Fortunately, I buy a sun pass, but I’m annoyed because it is one of many expenses the campaigned failed to notify me about when they asked me for the help.
When volunteering for Obama, my concerns were always addressed. There always seemed to be an Obama organizer you could meet at the nearest Starbucks.
As a Clinton supporter, I felt that the party wanted to purge me. There is plenty of blame to go around. But the shouts that Bernie would have won, simply cannot be proven. Had Bernie been the nominee, the Republicans would have been just as dirty and used red baiting. For example, they would have talked about Bernie’s praise of Daniel Ortega and Fidel Castro, and Jane Sanders mismanagement of Burlington College.
The real reason why we lost this election, and don’t forget that Hillary could win by as much as 2 million votes, is because after eight years of Democrats holding the White House, GDP has been growing only about a one percent annual rate over the last couple of years, and Democrats never sold the idea of Obamacare to the public. Under these conditions, charges, whether true or false, against the incumbent party stick.
Obamacare has been rejected by the public. While some have rejected it by not going far enough most have rejected it because they believe it constitutes socialized medicine. If the public rejects Obamacare as socialized medicine, what do you think they will think about a single payer system? Even Vermont recently rejected the idea of a single payer system. The Republicans out framed us on that issue.
We also failed to defend Obama. For heaven’s sake, when Obama became president the economy was collapsing. Today the unemployment rate is 4.9%. If the Republicans had been the incumbent party, they would be echoing how their policies caused an economic miracle. By not defending Obama, people wanted change. To most Americans, change means going in the opposite direction, the Republican direction. It does not mean accelerating in the direction you are already going. This may seem illogical, but that’s the visceral action of most people.
The Clinton campaign is not without blame. From hindsight, some of her strategic moves can be questioned. Also, as a donor, I gave a contribution one month and then a few weeks later another contribution. When I got my credit card statement, I discovered that there was fine print saying that these were monthly installment payments. I decided to keep the two monthly installment payments going, but it did reinforce the idea that the Clinton campaign was sleazy.
As a volunteer for both Obama and Clinton, I can tell you that the Clinton campaign was a rusty machine. I also felt that I was just another number. I go to the campaign office and pick up the addresses that I am going to canvass. I drive back home to get a printout of the directions to the turf. Because its raining, I make plastic covers to protect the literature on the clipboard from becoming wet.
I fly to Florida to help the Clinton campaign. I tell them about my concerns about the long flight and what actions they could take to address my concerns. In the end, they do the exact opposite of what I asked for as if they were punishing me for asking. Again, they provide me no map of my turf, but this time I have no printer. They also don’t tell me that without a sun pass, I will have to put coins in a toll machine every few miles I travel, this is very annoying especially when I discover I’m going to travel over a hundred miles a day. Fortunately, I buy a sun pass, but I’m annoyed because it is one of many expenses the campaigned failed to notify me about when they asked me for the help.
When volunteering for Obama, my concerns were always addressed. There always seemed to be an Obama organizer you could meet at the nearest Starbucks.