2016 Postmortem

portlander23

(2,078 posts) Sun Dec 4, 2016, 06:25 PM Dec 2016

"Then I saw Donald Trump, and he got out there and showed he was serious about keeping jobs" [View all]

Last edited Sun Dec 4, 2016, 06:59 PM - Edit history (1)

Democrats' Task: Rebuild the Blue Political Wall in Midwest
Associated Press (via Fortune)

Dubuque’s Rebecca Thoeni, a lifelong Democrat until recently, said Clinton did not seem to reach out to her or her peers in 2016.

“Then I saw Donald Trump, and he got out there and showed he was serious about keeping jobs,” said Thoeni, who attended a Dubuque Trump rally in January. “He explained things in layman’s terms. That’s what changed me.”

After railing for months against the North American Free Trade Agreement, enacted under President Bill Clinton, Trump won [Macomb County, MI] by 48,000 votes. Clinton received 176,238 votes, compared with Obama’s 208,016 in 2012 and 223,754 in 2008.

“In counties decimated by trade deals, decades of talking points don’t pay the bills,” said Robert Becker, who ran Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ winning campaign for the Michigan Democratic presidential 2016 primary. “For the party’s future, we have to be honest that the jobs being created in the country aren’t being created in this part of the country.”

It's beyond tragic that Trump was able to move rhetorically to Clinton's left on jobs and trade. The Democratic Party mistakenly aligned itself with the President on TPP in spite of how unpopular it was, and this is part of the fallout. Trump is full of shit, but he's winning on optics with the Carrier deal and if we're not careful, he'll take credit for sinking TPP, which really belongs to progressive activists.

If this isn't a wake-up call, I don't know what is. It's time to put failed free trade policies in the past and become a party of the 99%.

41 replies

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"Then I saw Donald Trump, and he got out there and showed he was serious about keeping jobs" [View all] portlander23 Dec 2016 OP

Good analysis cilla4progress Dec 2016 #1

NAFTA was passed by a republican Congress and left for incoming Pres Clinton TheDebbieDee Dec 2016 #37

I also heard Thomas Friedman cilla4progress Dec 2016 #38

The writer needed to interview me and lots of people like me who weren't moved by Trump.. JHan Dec 2016 #2

Were you someone who voted for Obama twice and then Trump this past November? EL34x4 Dec 2016 #20

Yes whole year they've been asking why... JHan Dec 2016 #23

But, without the TPP China is free to take over even more of our trade... TreasonousBastard Dec 2016 #3

China and Russia...it'll create a void, both countries will scoop it up. JHan Dec 2016 #5

In terms of trade the 1,000,000 dollar question is... nycbos Dec 2016 #4

Ask Germany how they do it realmirage Dec 2016 #6

What makes Germany successful runs counter to everything Trump proposes. Garrett78 Dec 2016 #17

Google the percentage of Germans realmirage Dec 2016 #18

Read again what I wrote. And do some research on the German economy. Garrett78 Dec 2016 #21

Yep.. JHan Dec 2016 #25

It seems simple answers for complex problems are all the rage. Garrett78 Dec 2016 #28

I think it's motivated reasoning: we choose the information that fits in with our biases. JHan Dec 2016 #30

That's certainly a factor, as well. People believe what they want to believe. Garrett78 Dec 2016 #31

I read it. Here's the data you should consider realmirage Dec 2016 #33

You're not addressing the nature of those manufacturing jobs vs. ours. Garrett78 Dec 2016 #34

You can't argue against the facts I just gave you realmirage Dec 2016 #35

Your data has zero context. You're ignoring the nature of those jobs. Garrett78 Dec 2016 #36

Smoot-Hawley is overblown portlander23 Dec 2016 #9

Of course trade protectionism wasn't the cause. nycbos Dec 2016 #13

It certainly spawned retaliation portlander23 Dec 2016 #15

This is the message of our future if we want to survive realmirage Dec 2016 #7

He didn't move to Clinton's left. He went populist- andym Dec 2016 #8

NAFTA was a right-wing idea portlander23 Dec 2016 #14

Incorrect-- Free trade is strongly associated with FDR (progressive) and then both parties andym Dec 2016 #19

Complete nonsense portlander23 Dec 2016 #22

You obviously didn't read the article or much else on the history of free trade andym Dec 2016 #32

Anyone who believed what Trump was saying mcar Dec 2016 #10

The wake-up call here ... NanceGreggs Dec 2016 #11

I know he lost me at "rhetorical left" anyway ismnotwasm Dec 2016 #40

Not Your Grandmothers Wisconsin elleng Dec 2016 #12

Suggestion: you might want to put quotation marks around your thread title. Ken Burch Dec 2016 #16

An earlier article about Rebecca Theoni... SidDithers Dec 2016 #24

No words for this kind of idiocy mcar Dec 2016 #29

Wow. Democracy is dead. "He explains it in layman's terms." lostnfound Dec 2016 #41

I remember the many TPP threads here. mia Dec 2016 #26

Idiots MFM008 Dec 2016 #27

Nancy will take care of it. coco22 Dec 2016 #39