2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: How Bernie's campaign contributed to Trump's win. [View all]BlueMTexpat
(15,496 posts)who is happy about the GOPers' retaining the Senate (barf!), but absolutely horrified by Trump, told me a story at our post-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving yesterday.
She said that while she was riding in a taxi (Uber - which I don't use on principle), the driver told her that he had voted for Sanders in the primary but was planning to vote for Trump in the GE. When she asked whether he realized that the politics of Bernie and Trump were diametrically opposed, the driver didn't care. He just wanted someone to shake up the "establishment."
I keep posting this article - I actually had an OP about it, but not too many paid attention - because it describes exactly what we are dealing with in Middle America and it is a no-win situation. I will keep reposting it in the hope that more will read it. http://forsetti.tumblr.com/post/153181757500/on-rural-america-understanding-isnt-the-problem
To the extent that Bernie's campaign played into this narrow worldview and kept it going against Hillary, yes, his campaign did work against her. She fought valiantly and well. But with "friends" like this, her true enemies were able to overcome in the Rust Belt.