The Politics Thread

[Juliajms]

I think we are seeing people focus on that demo because the Clinton campaign made the conscious decision not to go after them, which was clearly a mistake in retrospective.  There's no reason it has to be either or. The key is to try to convince this block of people that they have more in common with poor and middle class non whites than they do with millionaires and billionaires. Shouldn't be that hard because it's clearly true. I have a feeling four years of Trump might make it a lot easier, but who ever is in charge is going to have to actually try.

Edited January 10, 2017 by Juliajms

[ReddFoxx]

Bernie Sanders is saying that he will listen to Jeff Sessions and isn't confirming that he will vote against him. That says a whole lot about his character.

 

The biggest mistake that the Clinton campaign made was not focusing enough on Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which are the cornerstone of Democratic electoral wins. Had more black voters shown up in all three of these states, Hillary Clinton would be President on January 20th. There's was not a whole lot that could be done to win over voters who bought into Trump pushing racial resentment. He brought out a lot of racist folks who generally do not vote. As long as the platform is economically fair, that's all that Democrats need to do. Once some of these Trump voters get their fill of him, they'll change their tune come 2020. The people that Democrats need to win back are the soft voters who bought into Trump being an outsider, yet voted Democratic further down ballot. It's a matter of microtargeting.

Edited January 10, 2017 by ReddFoxx

[NothinButAttitude]

 

Hillary f-cked up by not focusing on ALL the states. She didn't even try here in GA, and we turned purple here and almost became blue had she attempted to try here. 

 

I think going forward, Democrats need to focus on ALL 50 states b/c they could win many of them back if they put forth the right candidates. 

[GregNYC]

 

If you look at the numbers, liberal white women, blacks, latinos, muslims and other minorities is not enough to bring you over 50%. You will lose all the time. You need the white working class males from the rust belt to win.

[quartermainefan]

 

I have no problerm with the son-in-law.   Franklin had Eleanor, JFK had Bobby,  Bill had Hillary...the guy is said to be bright.  Yeah, he has business deals but he is said to be divesting.    Plus he is from NY and he is Jewish.  Enough with the southern christians already.   Finally someone in government who won't pretend he listens to country music on his way to church on sunday with a rifle in his pick up.   And he is not railing against the gays while adopting a wide stance somewhere.   This guy looks better then just about every elected republican.

[Juliajms]

A NY Jew who was clearly ok with Trump using anti Semitic symbolism to wink and nod to the white supremacist because he knew his family would be safe. F*ck everyone else who attends synagogue or the JCC without the secret service and body guards. I have no doubt he's behind this idea of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem too.  Sure, that seems pro Israel, but it's not going to be doing anyone any favors if it sets off another Middle East war.

 

Still if it were just Kushner I wouldn't really object, but Trump's whole cabinet is filled with awful people. He's got a labor secretary who doesn't even think there should be a minimum wage! An attorney general who hates gays, and made a point of blocking black judges in Alabama. It's ludicrous. 

 

Anyway, good to see you around Q.

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[Khan]

 

She certainly does, because that's what it's going to take to survive the next several years with Trump.  Americans need to be willing to ignore his and his minions' statements and speak for themselves.  Complacency just won't cut it anymore.  (If I didn't realize that during the election, when I didn't vote because I felt both candidates were equally odious, then I certainly realize that now.  No way would Hillary Clinton have subjected us to this kind of abuse.)

[Khan]

 

Unfortunately, there will always be those who are traitors to their races.  There will always be individuals who will not stand with their brothers and sisters, because they are concerned more with self-preservation and survival.  Their actions might make it more challenging for the others to fight -- but believe me, when the others (in this case, the Jewish Americans) DO achieve their victory, the Jared Kushners of the world will go down with the rest of their enemies.

Edited January 10, 2017 by Khan

[marceline]

 

And that is a perfect example of why he couldn't and won't gain traction with black voters.

[Khan]

 

Yep.

[JaneAusten]

You know what else is needed? The restoration of the VRA. It's interesting to me how everyone wants to talk about those poor white male voters but not one person of importance wants to mention the first major election since the VRA has been gutted. No talk about how millions of black and Latino voters across states got their names removed from voting rolls due to voter cross check just because their names sounded black or Latino. Or how those same states removed hundreds of polling places in minority areas. Anyone read the article about the Wisconsin AG and how she told someone they weren't putting a polling place close to Univ of Wisc in Green Bay because most students vote democratic? Oh many of these people were given provisional ballots in those states mentioned but guess what. Those ballots never get counted. I'm not suggesting those white voters get ignored and Hillarys campaign clearly made a tactical error, but this over emphasis on one demographic while ignoring the VRA gutting and its impact infuriates me. Again I wonder how white men would have felt if their names were randomly dropped from voting rolls and how would the press have covered that then? I think I know the answer to that. And not one word from that so called inspiration Bernie Sanders about any of this other than identity politics. Oh and don't forget he doesn't believe Sessions history on attacking black judges or discriminating against minorities is a disqualifier to being AG and who has no issue with gutting voting rights.

Edited January 10, 2017 by JaneAusten

[DramatistDreamer]

I agree about the need for the restoration of the VRA @JaneAusten. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen under Trump's watch, IMO. I don't know why people don't want to acknowledge the role of gerrymandering and voter suppression. It's as if those concepts are somehow too complex to dissect therefore it gets diminished, if not completely ignored.

[JaneAusten]

Well I'm happy to hear that gerrymandering is the issue Obama is going to focus on post presidency. I think people might pay attention. And Perez allegedly is going to focus on the VRA. Glad someone is worried about those things. I guess that leaves Bernie and his book tour free to appeal to this white men.

[Roman]

Sessions' confirmation hearings have been interrupted twice by protesters. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

I know that Eric H. Holder actually started the group and Obama is joining him. I've read that the group is currently developing its team, which is encouraging since it's well needed. I just assume that most of the work that this group does won't receive much media attention, which is fine, the objective is to make those changes whether it is done quietly or not.

Yes, I think I may have heard something to that effect about Perez, which, if true, is also good news. For now, it seems that he may be the frontrunner for Chairman of the DNC, so if this is a platform that is given priority, so much the better.