The real reason Hillary lost.

She didn't.

I am utterly convinced that the reported vote totals do not reflect the actual votes cast.

Even if you set aside the caging and the purging and crosscheck - Hillary was on track to victory. Until she wasn't.

The very next day after the election, while the left was reeling in stunned confusion, the news and web were filled with smoothly written articles about "How Hillary lost" and "What went wrong", "How could the polls be so far off?".

As if these articles were written and poised and primed and ready to go.

Articles, and analysis, and commentary, which established the "reality" that the election was done; that an unknown groundswell of voters had emerged to tilt the result in favor of "a man who had the ability to reach the common people". They defined the victory and solidified that victory in the minds of the public to such a degree that even the left started pumping out articles about "How Hillary lost" and "What went wrong". You have seen a number of them right here on DU, where we are now fracturing along the coulda, woulda, shoulda lines instead of pushing forcefully for an accurate count. The disarray on the left has allowed precious time to slip away and let several iffy states get past the deadline to ask for a recount. ::cough:: Florida ::cough::

I find it highly suspicious that DU just happened to be hacked the evening of the election. This wasn't just casual vandalism. DU is the most fluid and quick moving aggregator of progressive political news out there. Muzzling DU silenced the voices that would have noticed improbable vote totals, or collected and promoted anecdotes of missing or altered votes and election improprieties. Silencing DU was a big part of what looks to me to be a plan to define the post election "reality" and keep the left off balance until it was too late to make a difference.

I still hope it is not too late.

I was not looking forward to four years of the Republicans doing everything in their power to make Hillary's presidency a misery, but I still prefer that to what four years of a Trump presidency would bring.