2016 Postmortem

The voters I know here in rural Vermont (some desperately poor), are well-informed, from all kinds of backgrounds, and with all kinds of political persuasions. I make it a point to talk with people from all walks of life, especially those with whom I disagree, because I always learn something from them.

If Democrats continue to view everyone who did not vote for Hillary as morons, racists, idiots, too stupid to know what's really going on, we're in big trouble. If we want to keep braying about how much better we are, how much smarter, how much more evolved, we're in big trouble.

Not all Trump voters are the same any more than all Hillary voters are the same. Some people vote strictly on which candidate is an R or a D. Some people vote on issues. Some people vote based on fear or anger, some on raw hope.

The Democratic cause is bigger than Hillary Clinton and the fact that she won the popular vote. Moving forward, we can not continue to support policies or candidates that result in the loss of the House, the Senate, governorships, and almost every state between the coasts. We have to listen and learn and stop pretending we know it all, because we don't.

The Democrats I know who did not vote for Hillary or just plain did not vote, felt their party left them long ago. Many of these folks were people who had worked hard for all kinds of social and economic issues in the past. They aren't ignorant and they aren't racists. They're simply fed up.

This air of superiority has to stop or Republicans will maintain control of everything again next time around. And, we should stop with this nonsense about how stupid and unplugged young people are. Rather than look down on them, we should give them reasons to stand with us.