2016 Postmortem

Like, I'm sorry. I get that you think your ideas are appealing and right, but instead of dismissing moderate/centrist/conservative dems as corporate sellouts from swing districts, start listening to them about what their voters want. Not every state or district is VT or CA and hell, even VT elected a Republican governor this cycle. Johnson beat Feingold and Teachout lost her race after explicitly calling out the big money donors back her opponent. At times, part of the progressive message turns off those that the populist message appeals to. Do people really think that out of work rural voters, who already believe that the government is the cause of the misery, would welcome more government interaction in various parts of their lives? Hell, every republican administration tends to show us the folly of vesting too much power in the government. I live in a relatively rural, small town and the sound of some progressive policies send some voters shrieking into the arms of republicans. And it is hard to "bridge social justice with economic justice" when one group looks at social justice for another group as an attack on their primacy. Look at the way welfare is viewed in this country. My county tried to eliminate busing the first chance they got. Extra funding to bring the urban schools up to par with the rural schools was looked at as a handout and shot down.