I was a Bernie Sanders supporter, but after he lost, as a real Democrat, I supported Hillary Clinton one hundred percent. She would have made a much better president than what we are stuck with today. The excerpted snippets from Clinton’s new book, “What Happened” create unnecessary dissension especially since she blames for her loss where it doesn’t belong.
Hillary Clinton is not your ideal Democrat, but she does represent a dying faction that is decidedly Republican Lite in policies. As people stop voting based on labels, both Democrats and Republicans will need to present policies and not excuses to help the masses.
After Hillary Clinton won the primary, there were a lot of Bernie Sanders supporters who promised they would never vote for her precisely because they thought she did not get it or wasn’t progressive enough. I agreed with all of them, but pragmatically I preached it was the only option we had lest we harm the country as we are doing right now.
But it is now time for Progressives to regroup. The last thing we need as we gear up for the 2018 primaries is a false narrative rehashing why Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election. It is selfish and a face-saving antic that cannot work because most understand the real reason why Hillary lost. The country shifted left. It shifted away from Wall Street, Conservatism, and labels.
One might ask then why did Republicans win so much. The answer is, in fact, many; gerrymandering, voter suppression, straight ticket voting, sexism (by both men and women), and a few other minor reasons. Had a real well-liked progressive run against Trump, it would have been a landslide. The polls show that support for the Progressive policies wins overwhelmingly.
I recently read Colin Kalmbacher’s article titled “Hillary Blames Obama’s Climate Change Rules For Her Campaign’s ‘Biggest Gaffe’” that should make every Progressive blood boil. He wrote.
As bits and pieces from her losing campaign memoir continue to trickle out like the weak stream from a paid kompromat artist in some tawdry-if-fanciful Russian spy drama, the former secretary of state seems intent on blaming everyone under the sun–including her never-to-be predecessor, Barack Obama.
The latest drip-drip release from What Happened? contains an altogether gem-like case of deflection. Part of a review by Mark Landler in the New York Times, reads:
She made a connection between Mr. Obama and what she called her biggest gaffe of the campaign: telling voters in Ohio, “We’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.” Mrs. Clinton insisted that the line was taken out of context, but said Mr. Obama had fed the narrative of Democratic hostility toward coal miners by announcing a plan that set state-by-state targets for carbon emissions reductions, and a framework for meeting them, at the White House, next to the head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Clinton also blamed Bernie Sanders for “lasting damage” in the 2016 election. Really? Hillary Clinton did a lot for the Democratic Party. She was a stalwart in supporting women’s rights, minority voting rights, and much more. That was necessary to move us forward. However, she has lost touch with the poor and middle-class along the way. It happens.
We should thank Hillary Clinton for the valuable service to the poor, minorities, women, and many others in the past. But please, Hillary must stop trying to justify losing anymore. Times have changed, and we need leadership willing to forget old notions of our failing economic and social model and move on to one that works for all Americans.