Why Hillary Lost: The Great American Lie

[yallerdawg]

HuffPo, by Bros4Hillary's Alex Mohajer

As of December 9, Hillary Clinton had won 65,746,544 votes nationwide for president, to Donald Trump’s 62,904,682 votes. In other words, Hillary Clinton, the first female major-party nominee for president in American history, won more votes than any white male to ever run for that office, ever, including her opponent, the man who would go on to become the president-elect.

Clinton’s massive popular vote victory is important in that not only does it dispel shameful myths that this superb, historic candidate FAILED us in some way, but serves to highlight one of the real problems: the electoral college system of apportioning votes is no longer fair or representative. This is not to say that the electoral college must necessarily be abolished. But at the very least, it must see reforms that address the country’s vastly shifting demographics.

Hillary Clinton, accused of having lost the 2016 presidential election because she neglected to address the needs of the white working class, did in fact WIN the white working class. CNN exit polls out of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania showed that she fared better than her opponent on the economy throughout the rust belt and nationwide.

Allowing revisionists to shape the narrative and lay fault at the feet of Hillary Clinton for losing, whether expressly or impliedly, is a historic injustice that, if allowed to continue, only hurts us as a nation and as a democracy. It allows a shift in conversation away from crucial global and sociopolitical issues facing our society, and towards petty partisan squabbles and the unproductive blame game. If we do not respond to threats to our democracy, the epidemic of fake news, the various interventionist forces in our election, and demand action be taken, we are more culpable than either of the candidates in this election. Indeed, we are complicit in the downfall of democracy itself.

The truth? Hillary Clinton did not lose the 2016 presidential election. We did.

Much, much more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-hillary-lost-the-great-american-lie_us_584da08ce4b0151082221ca2

[ucrdem]

1. K'n'R

. . . and it ain't over yet.

[ZoomBubba]

3. I think it's over ...

... for Hillary at least. Even if the Republicans' hands are forced by Trump and he's removed from the presidency before inauguration, I don't see them agreeing to give the election to Hillary. We'll probably have some sort of compromise where a run-of-the-mill Republican is made president ... probably Pence. Not a result we'd like, but at least we'd have someone predictable in domestic policy and status quo on foreign.

[ucrdem]

4. Hard to say.

For awhile it looked like the R's were all going to fall in line like they usually do but now R senators including McCain are calling for investigations. I imagine making fools out of Romney and Rudy didn't help. But if both parties and the CIA are publicly calling for his hide before he even takes office, after losing the popular vote by 2% and refusing to divest his graft-ready hotel operations, I'd say he's skating bigly on thin ice.

[ZoomBubba]

5. He is ...

... but I think it's going to take a huge public guffaw for them to feel secure enough to act on it. Right now they're scared crapless about their base turning against them before 2018. Unless their hands are forced, I don't see them acting.

[ucrdem]

7. Yes there's that.

He's still big with his RWNJ base but did you notice that his triumph tour wasn't much of a triumph? The hall in Ohio was half empty and that's the last I heard of it.

[ZoomBubba]

8. What surprised me ...

... is that he didn't Tweet about SNL at all this weekend, even though they spent the entire episode trolling him.

I do wonder if he'll act against John Cena though. Cena's boss is Trump's appointment to the Small Business Administration.

[yallerdawg]

6. Gore lost by 537 votes in 2000?

Or by 1, technically?

I don't see tens of thousands of votes being reversed, or an Electoral College revolution.

Not in the America we know which tends to stick with the photo finish results and keeps it's blinders on.

[ZoomBubba]

9. I see ...

... a bunch of people waiting with knives who will swarm in and turn on this presidency when it's politically beneficial to do it. I don't think the electoral college thing will happen, but I see him being declared unfit for president ... he can only keep going down the track he's going so far before Republicans decide that he's not only going to damage the country, but their party. Because most of them outperformed Trump, it might be better for them to act sooner rather than later.

[True_Blue]

27. Maybe a new election?

I'm not sure what can be done, but Americans simply can't allow their democracy to be hijacked by a hostile foriegn power.

[ZoomBubba]

28. I doubt it ...

... if he's stopped from taking office, Pence would likely take over and we'd have a predictable, right-winger. If not we'd probably have congress decide on a compromise candidate ... which will be a Republican, maybe one getting an electoral vote from a faithless elector. Right now, the other two GOPers likely to get faithless electoral votes are Pence and Kaisich.

Whatever happens, I don't see any chance of Hillary being selected. After such a radical step, they're going to want to select someone that isn't going to incite an armed rebellion in the middle of the country.

[Jean-Jacques Roussea]

2. Read the comments

It's a Bernie/Trump jerkfest. People aren't going to be convinced by op-eds opposing their viewpoints anymore. Chances are that they won't take the time to click the link on their Facebook feeds to read it.

We need to return to the days of PSAs in the middle of tv shows

[world wide wally]

10. Trump can be nothing but a series if Constitutional crisis.

I hope the Dems will just keep moving from one reason for impeachment to the next as the GOP Congress keeps shutting them down.

[yallerdawg]

12. As "historic" as his victory in the primaries was...

more Republicans voted for Not Trump.

This imbecile is on his way to unanimous contempt by both parties!

[Aviation Pro]

11. No honeymoon for you...

....POTUS-e. But they'll be a bunch of moonshine thrown your way soon (if you get what I mean).

The bloodless coup is coming.

[world wide wally]

14. We just witnessed the bloodless coup

[hueymahl]

13. Kinda tired of this arguement

Fine, she won. Let's all agree to call it that.

The real question is, what are we going to do as a party to make sure our next nominee does not suffer a win like she did?

[yallerdawg]

15. Funny.

Your question is all about "her."

[hueymahl]

16. Sorry, I don't think I have had enough coffee yet

What exactly are you talking about?

[yallerdawg]

17. "Tired of this argument."

"Fine, she won."

"...make sure our next nominee does not suffer a win like she did."

Coffee kickin' in yet?

[hueymahl]

20. Nope, not really

You are emphasizing the female gender, so maybe you are trying to snidely discredit my post with some type of sexist attack?

I don't really know what is going on inside your head.

But since the entire OP was about Hillary Clinton, our first female nominee who should be president now, I don't see the relation or any justification for attacking me for me using the female pronoun.

So, just to make sure you can read and not get distracted by gender-biased pronouns, here is my post, rewritten:

Kinda Tired of this Argument

Fine, our nominee won. Let's all agree to call it that.

The real question is, what are we going to do as a party to make sure our next nominee does not suffer a win like this nominee did?


So, any real comment to this? My point, put in a much more boring and pedantic way, is that there is a lot of rhetoric being expelled to prove that our candidate was really the bestest candidate in the world and really won because that makes everything so much better. I would prefer to stop having that argument and focus on what needs to be done so that our next candidate does not "win" in the way our current candidate did and we can actually have a Democratic President.

And yes, the coffee is starting to kick in.

[yallerdawg]

22. As the OP suggests...

we can at least reform the Electoral College.

If the Electors reflect the will of the people, then our nominee with the most votes wins.

If you read the article at the link, you would be aware of the profound impact of sexism on this election.

Gender-neutral is the best course.

[hueymahl]

23. Fair enough

I am probably not as sensitive to that kind of stuff as I should be. Even now, I don't quite get the criticism of my post, but I hear it and will think about it going forward.

That said, reforming the electoral college would be a good way to fix things. Almost f'ing impossible to do, however. The best argument I have heard is that the electoral college was put in place exactly for the reason to prevent a shit-stain like Trump reaching office. If they can't do their duty even in this most extreme case, then it serves no purpose whatsoever.

[DK504]

18. Yes, she won

She won the popular vote and yet here we are creating the lists for all the impeachable offenses Trump has already committed, none of the babbling idiots on the TV machine are speaking one damn bit of truth and the Pig Elect refuses to go to Intel briefings.

Hillary also lost because of Comey, flat out, period, THE Reason. He should have been fired and brought up on charges.

Kinda tired of talking about how Hillary lost. All the reasons TV media morons refuse to address.

[Coyotl]

19. Today, the Dem margin is approaching 3 million votes, 2.83 as of Friday

Are there any large blocs of votes outstanding? NYC boosted the margin to over 2% and from 2 & 2/3rds million past 2 & 4/5ths. One more bump like that and we surpass the 3 million mark.

[ananda]

21. So true.

The American people have just suffered
a great loss, of the election, of our democratic
ideals, and for many of us our freedom and
security, not to mention the possibility of
financial distress and ruin.

[LittleGirl]

24. You know what makes the electoral college void?

All of the states have popular vote results.
Every last one of them.
Why is the presidential election different that all of the other candidates in the states?
Because it doesn't favor Dems (right now).

[KPN]

25. Alex Mohajer lacks objectivity and credibility.

A simple Google shows that he's always been all in on Hillary.

His article does make some good points about white working class voters in MI, WI and PA; Comey; and Russian interference. While Mohajer is correct in that there is more than meets the eye in the outcome of the election, he purposefully misses the elephant in the room that Hillary did in fact did lose the 2016 election; an election that should have been a slam dunk for Democrats given GOP disarray, their primary season clown circus, and the candidate they ultimately settled on. While there are indeed a myriad of reasons Hillary lost, she did lose. If Hillary's favorability and trustworthiness ratings had not been so poor, the election would have been hers in a landslide. In the end, Mohajer's article is more about opinion and less about facts.

[yallerdawg]

29. You agree with Kellyanne Conway's snark:

"It’s always something other than Hillary Clinton’s fault"

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/top-trump-aide-says-it%e2%80%99s-always-something-other-than-hillary-clinton%e2%80%99s-fault/ar-AAltrTM?li=BBnbfcL

[KPN]

31. No. I just don't agree with the message that

Hillary was not a problem, that it was all those other things. In my opinion, Hillary was not a strong candidate for current times. That was my feeling prior to the primaries and through the primaries. When she won the nomination, I supported and voted for her. I actually was inspired by her convention speech and had great hope for her. But she was, in my view, one of the reasons that Trump won the GE ... and it makes absolutely no sense to discount that. The Democratic Party establishment has done a relatively inadequate job on the income and job front for decades now. Hillary is and was the definition of establishment. She also brought a lot of baggage with her into the campaign, some of which she deserved and some not.

I do think that Comey influenced the outcome and have every reason to suspect that Russia may have influenced the outcome as well. But I still think this election should have been a slam dunk and it was not. The author of this article has his head in the sand in that regard. Ignoring your weaknesses is a recipe for future failure. That's all.

[zipplewrath]

38. My preferred expression

She lost, and yes, I agree, she was a weak and flawed candidate.

But the "reasons" she lost are really far bigger than her. She participated in much of the causes, but these causes have been building for years. The democrats were ripe for the picking in the rust belt. Some of us had been warning for years. Just never thought for a minute it woulda been Vladimir Trump.

[KPN]

44. Well said. I like it!

[bettyellen]

34. It's pretty obvs, isn't it?

[bettyellen]

30. And you have credibility after pushing the email scandals? Seriously?

[KPN]

32. What??!!!

You bare mistaken. I never pushed the email scandals. The only thing I ever pushed was Hillary's ties to Wall Street and her husbands neoliberal policies -- that I happen to believe have failed the American working class.

I'm pretty sure my credibility, tolerance and open-mindedness matches and possibly exceeds yours any day madam.

[bettyellen]

33. You complained about Consortium "News" email crap being taken down here....

Not enough RW propaganda for you here? You guys can't admit how played you were.

[BlueProgressive]

41. Consortium News is now "RW propoganda" ?!

That is obviously delusional.

[KPN]

43. You obviously lack any objectivity regarding this discussion if you

equate Consortium News with RW propaganda. My objection was about DU censoring sources just because they didn't align exactly with some people's view of the world. The emails had nothing to do with it.

At its base level, being progressive -- above everything else -- is about being thoughtful and open-minded. That's where tolerance comes from.

You've shown your true colors in this exchange -- not that you haven't also in the past. My gut response: Who the hell are you to cast stones about credibility?

[Jakes Progress]

35. You mean you pushed the gop mantra.

Whew. At least you were so very helpful. So you worried about Hillary's ties to wall street, but don't much care about trump's?

Yeah. That's really open-minded. At least you got what you wanted. Hillary won't be president.

[KPN]

45. What are you talking about?

Hillary people blaming Dems who ask questions and raise concerns is getting old, especially when the people they are blaming voted for Hillary. Have you ever heard of introspection? Geesh!!

[Jakes Progress]

49. Pot. Meet Kettle.

[KPN]

50. BS -- you're are now changing the topic by responding out of context.

You essentially called anyone who was concerned about D Party/Hillary's Wall Street tether hypocrites for not bashing Trump re: the same. That is a canard -- pure bullshit. You misdirect, bash and project. We see your game.

zWe are not going away. Get used to it.

[alexmohajer]

46. You simply make my point

I don't hide or deny the fact that I've been all in for Hillary for a long time. And this is in fact an opinion editorial. However, I use facts and sources throughout the piece to substantiate my opinion. That's what we do. The responsible ones, anyway. Whereas I am troubled your regurgitation of words like "settled." Revisit my argument. WHY were' Hillary's favorability and trustworthiness ratings so poor? And how can you possibly claim Democrats settled on her when she earned more primary votes than any political candidate from either party in history, and more GENERAL ELECTION VOTES than any other candidate in history (second only to Obama, and she ties his 2012 total). My point of course is that you are MAKING my articles point.

[erpowers]

26. Thank You

I am so glad Huffington Post has put out this article. More people need to say this. This myth needs to be exposed. This myth allows Donald Trump to pretend to be a populist. There are too many Democrats pushing the false talking point that Hillary Clinton lost the election because she did not and could not talk to white working class voters and that Democrats need to take up Trump's populist agenda. The polls show she won white working class voters.

Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party had to deal with a version of this myth throughout the campaign. Even during the campaign the media was claiming that Donald Trump had tapped into the frustration of the white working class. However, Bill Maher pointed out that the average Trump supporter was not a part of the working class, white or otherwise.

[Jakes Progress]

36. You beat me to it.

I saw this and was going to post.

There are many reasons trump will be inaugurated. All of those who helped that happen and ducking and pointing fingers at the others who helped.

Fact. If you did not vote for Hillary or if you spent much of the last year vomiting up right-wing talking points (lies) because you are easily lied to, then you are responsible.

[yallerdawg]

37. I just posted some of the mellow stuff!

It really is an inciteful article!

[MadDAsHell]

39. "the unproductive blame game." - To be fair, the Clinton campaign itself started the blame game...

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/hillary-clinton-aides-loss-blame-231215

I think many Democrats would like nothing more than to get our focus together for stopping Trump and winning 2018, but and important step in that process is for the Clinton campaign to stop coming on the news every few days to tell us the new person or entity that is to blame for their loss. It's not getting us anywhere.

[JHan]

47. Humans beings are capable of multi tasking..

There may be any number of factors responsible for the result. We can consider many reasons at once* k?

The reason Comey and the hacking are valid causes is because leaked emails affected enthusiasm and contributed to the false equivocations between her and Trump and...

Comey's letter had several effects:

1) For unsure dems , it dampened their enthusiasm to vote for her because it was a reminder of the email "Scandals". We got two weeks of bullshit coverage on Comey's letter with unfounded reports that Hillary may be indicted. If you don't think this would affect a Candidate I don't know what to tell you.

2) Comey's exoneration motivated Trump supporters, riled up by a week of him pushing the indictment lie, because they would have seen the exoneration as a clear example of the system once again being "rigged".

3) Low information voters who were still stupidly undecided would have been inundated with BS email coverage two weeks before the election.

[Hekate]

40. KnR

[quaker bill]

42. This finally tops it off

It was not Hillary. It was virtually all of western culture that failed to elect her. It is all of us and everything we did that failed her.

Fascinating.

[EL34x4]

48. Yay! Another "Hillary really won" thread!

I needed a little pick me up. It's depressing watching Donald Trump assemble his cabinet.

[forgotmylogin]

51. This is why I hate hearing people say HRC/Democrats "blew it"

It's just adding insult to injury. Now we can concentrate on directing our invective toward our Short Fingered Vulgarian in Chief.

[SlimJimmy]

52. I stopped reading at that point.

I don't actually trust CNN to tell me the truth any longer. And to be honest, I'm having a hard time believing some of things I'm hearing on the other progressive channels as well. I used to get most of my news specifically from MSNBC. But I'm slowly changing from that practice.

CNN exit polls