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[Melkezadek]

It's great that your so enlightened, but most people are not or badly informed. You can go on all day about how it's supposed to be, but it's not. And Hillary should've known that.

There are a mass of people who flipped or stayed home because they didn't feel like Hillary wasn't talking to them. Partly because she literally didn't talk to some of them.

Being enlightened has nothing to do with it. How badly informed can a person be where they don't turn on their television and see and hear the things Trump is saying? Why are you coddling lazy thinking? If someone was unable to process the very real danger this man posed, then I don't know what to tell you.

And I appreciate the condescension. My family is a wreck and we really are scrambling to try to figure out what we are doing from here on out. Keep talking down to us and continue to coddle your rural white voters. They seem to need it more than ever.

 

[Deku Tree]

The point would have gone ignored. Many here (myself included) would have supported this on the basis that the presidential election is over and she's fund raising for downticket races.

How did those down ballot races go?

 

[Monster Zero]

Being enlightened has nothing to do with it. How badly informed can a person be where they don't turn on their television and see and hear the things Trump is saying? Why are you coddling lazy thinking? If someone was unable to process the very real danger this man posed, then I don't know what to tell you.

And I appreciate the condescension. My family is a wreck and we really are scrambling to try to figure out what we are doing from here on out. Keep talking down to us and continue to coddle your rural white voters. They seem to need it more than ever.

Are you blaming the voters for the politcion not being appealing enough? Never blame the voters

 

[SpecX]

The point would have gone ignored. Many here (myself included) would have supported this on the basis that the presidential election is over and she's fund raising for downticket races.

Maybe not of a proper analysis looked at her schedule and the team kept in mind odds were against them being the first female prez. I thought she was going to win as well, but I did find it strange she was in California again everytime I saw it on the news. I'm just sad nobody on her team realized this as well till after the loss hit them.

 

[StormKing]

It's the substance that bothers me. Obama pressured Joe Biden into not running, despite knowing full well that Hillary was an extraordinarily unpopular and flawed candidate, however good a 'fit' she might be for his legacy. Biden would've walked Trump.

Obama has blame to share in this catastrophe too, but like always you will never see him admit any fault. Much easier to criticise the 68 year old woman for not having the energy of a 47 year old man.

Yes, Obama does share some blame for moving Biden out of the way and clearing the field for Clinton.

However, the majority of the blame rests with Clinton for her terrible campaign.

Shouldn't she at least have the energy of a 70 year old man? If she really wanted to be president she should have out campaigned Trump.

Instead of going to all those fund raisers she should have been campaigning in rural areas like her advisers wanted her to.

 

[FF Seraphim]

Being enlightened has nothing to do with it. How badly informed can a person be where they don't turn on their television and see and hear the things Trump is saying? Why are you coddling lazy thinking? If someone was unable to process the very real danger this man posed, then I don't know what to tell you.

And I appreciate the condescension. My family is a wreck and we really are scrambling to try to figure out what we are doing from here on out. Keep talking down to us and continue to coddle your rural white voters. They seem to need it more than ever.

Its clear with this election that the Dems needed to coddle the rural white vote to actually get into office. Hillary failed to do that which is why she lost the way she did. There is no other way to look at it.

 

[Melkezadek]

Are you blaming the voters for the politcion not being appealing enough? Never blame the voters

Not being appealing enough? Did they need look into her policy positions? Did they not see what her platform was on education, gun control, police reform, immigration reform?

Or are you talking about the appeal she lacked with the voter wanting to have a beer with her? Yes, I'm blaming the voters for not using their critical thinking skills to prevent an almost assured catastrophe. And I blame people like you for enabling that type of lazy thinking. That is what cost is the election. People wanted her to chance into a completely different person.

Its clear with this election that the Dems needed to coddle the rural white vote to actually get into office. Hillary failed to do that which is why she lost the way she did. There is no other way to look at it.

And now we're seeing the Left abandon minorities, women, and others to win the next election; talking down to them and dismissing their fears and concerns over the future of their place in this country.

It makes me fucking sick.

 

[SamVimes]

Not being appealing enough? Did they need look into her policy positions? Did they not see what her platform was on education, gun control, police reform, immigration reform?

Or are you talking about the appeal she lacked with the voter wanting to have a beer with her? Yes, I'm blaming the voters for not using their critical thinking skills to prevent an almost assured catastrophe. And I blame people like you for enabling that type of lazy thinking. That is what cost is the election. People wanted her to chance into a completely different person.

So like what we can do is learn from these election and maybe try to reach some voters that feel ignored or you know, just make everyone smarter and more informed. Either way works.

 

[Chariot]

The point would have gone ignored. Many here (myself included) would have supported this on the basis that the presidential election is over and she's fund raising for downticket races.

How did those down ballot races go?

.

Being enlightened has nothing to do with it. How badly informed can a person be where they don't turn on their television and see and hear the things Trump is saying? Why are you coddling lazy thinking? If someone was unable to process the very real danger this man posed, then I don't know what to tell you.

And I appreciate the condescension. My family is a wreck and we really are scrambling to try to figure out what we are doing from here on out. Keep talking down to us and continue to coddle your rural white voters. They seem to need it more than ever.

Obviously very uninformed. We currently have Facebook facing anger because they might have accidentally swayed people with their algorithms that are tailored to fit your taste and opinion building automatically an echo chamber of news for you. Google took responsibility already by announcing that it would remove fake news side that were able to advertise made-up shit. Internet and social networks are big, I don't know how it currently compares to the telly, but it's a big player in any case.

And I don't know why you're bringing your family in this. I have no beef with your family. We're talking about the very real fact that Trump won, partly because Hillary was throwing money parties with the rich in New York and chilled out instead of getting her ass out with the dirty workers. That's what Trump did. He showed his face and reminded them that they were not forgotten by him. How would your family suffer by Hillary throwing a dozen fundraisers less and showing the Rust Belt that she wasn't some mythical creature that disintegrates when not in a city?

And now we're seeing the Left abandon minorities, women, and others to win the next election; talking down to them and dismissing their fears and concerns over the future of their place in this country.

It makes me fucking sick.

Thank Hillary Clinton for throwing a very winnable election. She had the assets, support and connections, but blew it with hubris. Fact is: the democrats lost almost everything when they were about to win everything.

 

[Goro Majima]

How did those down ballot races go?

wouldn't it, you know, help with down ticket races in the rust belt if she had went and held rallies there?

They didn't go well obviously!

When you see how much money she raised also you kinda have to wonder what happened to those races? It's like turnout was depressed across the country on the left...which is why I'm not hopeful for the turnout in 2018 when they didn't come out for a presidential election that also included much of the same stuff that people will vote on in 2018. Apparently if Clinton didn't motivate people to vote for her, fuck the local elections for some reason.

 

[Audioboxer]

Not being appealing enough? Did they need look into her policy positions? Did they not see what her platform was on education, gun control, police reform, immigration reform?

Or are you talking about the appeal she lacked with the voter wanting to have a beer with her? Yes, I'm blaming the voters for not using their critical thinking skills to prevent an almost assured catastrophe. And I blame people like you for enabling that type of lazy thinking. That is what cost is the election. People wanted her to chance into a completely different person.



And now we're seeing the Left abandon minorities, women, and others to win the next election; talking down to them and dismissing their fears and concerns over the future of their place in this country.

It makes me fucking sick.

The reality is if she actually campaigned like Obama and went to the rust belt instead of countless fundraisers and won the election would you still be saying the same things? If no, then there. You have to deal with how elections get won, not how smart you yourself are. As I said on the last page America isn't some blob of group-think, and the correct response isn't to be angry or dismissive of that but just to accept it and do what is needed to win. None of us are asking the campaign to have done radically crazy things. Just similar things to what Obama done to have 10m more voters than now in 2008, and at least 6m more in 2012.

Otherwise you have a Dem party with a leader campaigning like this again in 2020 and we lose again and people come online to say how it's not the campaigns fault but dumb people should stop being dumb. Vicious cycle. Nothing changes.

I mean do you want Clinton's campaign again in 2020? Do you want the next Dem leader to ignore the rust belt just to continue teaching those dumb folks some lesson?

 

[ultratruman]

Yes, Obama does share some blame for moving Biden out of the way and clearing the field for Clinton.

However, the majority of the blame rests with Clinton for her terrible campaign.

Shouldn't she at least have the energy of a 70 year old man? If she really wanted to be president she should have out campaigned Trump.

Instead of going to all those fund raisers she should have been campaigning in rural areas like her advisers wanted her to.

I agree that the majority of the blame rests with Clinton and the campaign. It just bugs me to see Obama immediately blaming Hillary's stamina, while offering no contrition himself, and all the people painting him as the king of enlightened leadership.

Hillary, despite her historic flaws, could have beaten Trump if she'd ran a competent campaign. But at the same time, Obama was the strongest source of the structural manipulation in the Democratic primary that lead to her candidacy being forced upon everyone in the first place. IMO that was a bigger deal than how many rallies she attended, which were always lacklustre, half-empty events anyway.

 

[FF Seraphim]

And now we're seeing the Left abandon minorities, women, and others to win the next election; talking down to them and dismissing their fears and concerns over the future of their place in this country.

It makes me fucking sick.

What? They can do both. They can address the issues affecting minorities and talk about the economy and job security that a lot of blue collars worry about. It just takes a lot more time and effort. Obama did it, so can the next person running.

 

[Melkezadek]

The reality is if she actually campaigned like Obama and went to the rust belt instead of countless fundraisers and won the election would you still be saying the same things? If no, then there. You have to deal with how elections get won, not how smart you yourself are. As I said on the last page America isn't some blob of group-think, and the correct response isn't to be angry or dismissive of that but just to accept it and do what is needed to win. None of us are asking the campaign to have done radically crazy things. Just similar things to what Obama done to have 10m more voters than now in 2008, and at least 6m more in 2012.

Otherwise you have a Dem party with a leader campaigning like this again in 2020 and we lose again and people come online to say how it's not the campaigns fault but dumb people should stop being dumb. Vicious cycle. Nothing changes.

I think the mistake people are making is that if Hillary did exactly what Obama did that she would have won it. I'm not sure that is necessarily true. Obama was an anomaly. There is no guarantee that the same people would have voted for Hillary like they did Obama. Hell, hasn't it been seen that many who voted for him in 08 and 12 voted for Trump? I don't think it was that simple.

UOTE=FF Seraphim;224527299]What? They can do both. They can address the issues affecting minorities and talk about the economy and job security that a lot of blue collars worry about. It just takes a lot more time and effort. Obama did it, so can the next person running.[/QUOTE]

But we aren't seeing people do both, as present on this and several threads that have popped up on GAF these last couple days. We're not allowed to call out racism/bigotry anymore. We have to stop complaining and figure out why rural white America didn't vote.

 

[Croatoan]

It used to be called "Clemsoning", from hence forth it will be called "Pulling a Hillary". Let it be known.

 

[Audioboxer]

I think the mistake people are making is that if Hillary did exactly what Obama did that she would have won it. I'm not sure that is necessarily true. Obama was an anomaly. There is no guarantee that the same people would have voted for Hillary like they did Obama. Hell, hasn't it been seen that many who voted for him in 08 and 12 voted for Trump? I don't think it was that simple.

But the alternative you are suggesting is just to call people dumb and lacking in critical thinking faculties? How is that doing anything positive to help?

Many of us suggesting Hillary should have at least tried harder with some of these people and that might have been the difference between winning and losing a swing state. Ultimately as long as the EC system is in place it doesn't matter if someone has the same amount of votes as Obama, it matters if they win in the places needed like he did. Hillary couldn't have done any worse in swing States considering she lost them to fucking Donald Trump.

Again, I ask what do you want for 2020? The same type of campaign Hillary ran or something more like Obama?

 

[Melkezadek]

But the alternative you are suggesting is just to call people dumb and lacking in critical thinking faculties? How is that doing anything positive to help??

That isn't what I'm suggesting at all. I am saying that we need to stop enabling it. Stop coddling to it. Not being afraid to call spades, spades. Not dismissing their concerns, but not accepting their apathy.

 

[Cesare Borgia]

It's the substance that bothers me. Obama pressured Joe Biden into not running, despite knowing full well that Hillary was an extraordinarily unpopular and flawed candidate, however good a 'fit' she might be for his legacy. Biden would've walked Trump.

Obama has blame to share in this catastrophe too, but like always you will never see him admit any fault. Much easier to criticise the 68 year old woman for not having the energy of a 47 year old man.

Obama did not pressure Biden not to run. He simply explained the reality of the situation, which was that the entire democrat establishment was lining up behind Clinton and he didn't want to see his friend get embarrassed in the race. Biden wasn't pushed out by Obama. The same thing happened to Romney last year, when Jeb Bush's people simply had too much establishment money and power, convincing him not to run.

You can take the lazy gender stuff elsewhere. She didn't have "the energy" of an overweight 70 year old man either apparently. Trump out worked her too. Ultimately it's not about energy, it's about not wanting to work for votes, not wanting to actually campaign, and believing you're entitled to the presidency.

 

[Audioboxer]

That isn't what I'm suggesting at all. I am saying that we need to stop enabling it. Stop coddling to it. Not being afraid to call spades, spades. Not dismissing their concerns, but not accepting their apathy.

That isn't a solution to win an election, it's an emotional response to call people out (which I can sympathise with but it's not a viable solution). Take that way of thinking into an election campaign and you will lose even worse. Can you imagine the next candidate running for the Democrats standing on stage and saying I'm going to call you lot out, spades being called spades, deal with it. That would be the basket of deplorables on steroids, and we all know how that worked out for Hillary.

So I'll ask the same question a third time, what do you want for 2020? The same type of campaign Hillary ran or something more like Obama?

 

[Principate]

Not being appealing enough? Did they need look into her policy positions? Did they not see what her platform was on education, gun control, police reform, immigration reform?

Or are you talking about the appeal she lacked with the voter wanting to have a beer with her? Yes, I'm blaming the voters for not using their critical thinking skills to prevent an almost assured catastrophe. And I blame people like you for enabling that type of lazy thinking. That is what cost is the election. People wanted her to chance into a completely different person.



And now we're seeing the Left abandon minorities, women, and others to win the next election; talking down to them and dismissing their fears and concerns over the future of their place in this country.

It makes me fucking sick.

Enabling what kind of lazy thinking? The world isn't how you want it to be. The quicker you realise this the quicker progress will be made in terms of achieving your goals. No body enabled this sort of thinking. This sort of thinking as existed for the entirety of human civilization and is in many ways a dominant type. Not everyone makes the same judgements based on the same factors. Knowing this is the difference between a mediocre-good leader and a great one. You cannot force reality into your set view point then moan when it doesn't fall in line.

Clinton and the democratic party don't need to abandon minorities, and Clinton barely even won the female vote so it's arguable if many women in America even give a crap about the things you think they should. White people make up the majority of population, If you want to win the majority of the votes in most states you will have to pander to them in certain ways just like everyone else. This is common sense. Doesn't mean you have to start spouting racist or dog whistle garbage but we live in a democracy. If your unwilling to do even that then you shouldn't be running for president in the first place.

 

[Boney]

This brainwash that if democrats reached out to workers would mean that they would be selling out urban minorities is pathetic.

 

[StormKing]

Obama for all his faults won his elections.

Hillary lost hers.

That gives Obama more cachet than Hillary.

That's why when Obama says that Hillary should have showed up everywhere and then we see that she attended all these fundraising events while Trump was campaigning his ass off in the Rust Belt, we agree with Obama.

Go ahead and blame Obama if you wish.

We'll blame the person who ran one of the worst presidential campaigns in American history.

 

[entremet]

This brainwash that if democrats reached out to workers would mean that they would be selling out urban minorities is pathetic.

It really is.

 

[Basileus777]

Trump was not putting in the work. Or rather, if he did, it wasn't paying off. He got even less votes than Mitt Romney.

This wasn't a Trump victory so much as it was a Hillary loss. Her campaign completely fell asleep at the wheel with the rust belt states which resulted in a series of narrow losses that ultimately cost her the election.

This narrative is wrong. Trump way outperformed Romney in all of the crucial swing states (well other than Wisconsin) that he flipped that decided the election. Trump's work paid off.

 

[Melkezadek]

This brainwash that if democrats reached out to workers would mean that they would be selling out urban minorities is pathetic.

It's not brainwash at all. We're seeing it already. I suppose it's easy to ignore, though. Apathy has been the reoccurring theme in this election. Why should I expect different now?

 

[Goro Majima]

This brainwash that if democrats reached out to workers would mean that they would be selling out urban minorities is pathetic.

Dividing up labor on racial lines plays right into the right wing's hands. Somebody needs to word this into a mantra and repeat it until it's burned into the minds of every politician on the left.

You can take the lazy gender stuff elsewhere. She didn't have "the energy" of an overweight 70 year old man either apparently. Trump out worked her too. Ultimately it's not about energy, it's about not wanting to work for votes, not wanting to actually campaign, and believing you're entitled to the presidency.

The "It's Her Turn" stuff is so damn cringe worthy in retrospect.

 

[Dude Abides]

This brainwash that if democrats reached out to workers would mean that they would be selling out urban minorities is pathetic.

I didn't realize urban minorities didn't work. You learn something new every day in political threads.

 

[Principate]

It's not brainwash at all. We're seeing it already. I suppose it's easy to ignore, though. Apathy has been the reoccurring theme in this election. Why should I expect different now?

Seeing what, what your saying doesn't logically make sense. Tell me explicitly why it is impossible to gain white working class votes as well as minority votes. Keep in mind Obama did this successfully twice.

 

[MechaX]

There are a mass of people who flipped or stayed home because they didn't feel like Hillary wasn't talking to them. Partly because she literally didn't talk to some of them.Some did, but PoliGAF drowned them out. Michael Moore knew exactly what was going on in the Rust Belt and he was well informed, not a magic prophet. This could've been seen by the campaign. Or people could've read his words if PoliGAF and other Clinton Supporters didn't went on to ridicule them.

Even Joe Biden went on record noting that there was going to be some problems in the Rust Belt months before the major campaigning even started.

 

[BasicMath]

He's right.
Hillary Clinton and the DNC's incompetency are to blame for the loss. Only them and nobody else.

Why GAF and pretty much every media outlet out there is hunting for culprits is beyond me.

 

[GoldenEye 007]

Yeah I don't get it either. There is no reason why speaking to rural voters means you're abandoning minorities. It makes no sense to suggest such a thing and nobody is or was advocating for that.

Targeted messaging is more what people are looking for. And the fact is that rural issues will not be the same or as important to those voters as things going on in urban and suburban centers. Accept it otherwise these losses can easily continue the second someone "exciting" isn't running for office. See: Democratic mid-term results after 2006.

Edit: And yes, Clinton ignored advice from Biden, Obama, Bill Clinton, Democratic leaders in the rust belt that her approach was a problem. She dismissed them and assumed that either people would fall in line in those areas or even worse that she could afford to lose those voters and make it up in urban areas.

 

[Glendemonium]

You know how bad you lost when Obama points out where you messed up.

He's not wrong.

 

[mercenar1e]

people in Hillarys camp begged her to campaign differently but she refused lol shes been in politics for 30 years and she doesn't even know how to campaign properly.. Bill tried changing her mind as well but it didn't work out.

keep looking in every nook and cranny for people to blame.

 

[Boney]

"For every vote we lose in rust belt states we'll win two or three suburban republicans".

That was their literal strategy

I didn't realize urban minorities didn't work. You learn something new every day in political threads.

They do. Democrats just don't protect them either in that respect.

 

[CoffeeJanitor]

She got outworked. No excuses.

 

[Melkezadek]

You literally have people saying that bigotry, racism and sexism shouldn't be called out, or else you will alienate the white, rural voter.

Do people not see the problem with that? Mind you, that doesn't mean we ignore their concerns, as I've already stated. You aren't addressing both, you're trying to hush up one side so you can appeal to another to win the next election.

 

[TheLaughingStock]

Is it? I can only imagine Obama foaming within. He brawled himself through eight years of harsh resistance. There are things he didn't get done at all and some things he had to compromise a lot on, but in the end he had a few meaningful changes he could be proud about. And now Hillary Clinton, who got all the backing she could ask for form the democratic side flushed it all down the gutter, forcing him to give the White House to a mad man all while keeping up a nice façade so the country wouldn't break down immediately. How would you feel about this?

Obama and his team have no one to blame but themselves. They conned the American people with rhetoric about how transformational they were going to be and got burned hiding behind a self proclaimed label of pragmatism when they failed to deliver. Now most of the legacy chasing legislation will be erased and it's a fitting end for a group of folks who chose what they thought was politically possible over what were the right things to do time and time again.

 

[btrboyev]

Obama is right. Hillary thought she deserved it and would easily take it. For weeks up to the campaign, all we heard was they aren't taking the big poll leads for granted and it now looks like they certainly were.

From every campaign here on out, democrats need to spend almost the entire campaign on 5 or 6 states it seems. Clinton completely ignored the entire Midwest.

 

[andythinkpad]

She is too old, you can't push a 70 year old to work any harder.

Why did the Democrats nominate a 70 year old anyway?

 

[Audioboxer]

She is too old, you can't push a 70 year old to work any harder.

Why did the Democrats nominate a 70 year old anyway?

She did work hard, she just didn't work wisely.

Also Trump,

Born: June 14, 1946 (age 70)

 

[DrForester]

He's not wrong. All these reports that she flat out ignored WWC and didn't even do polling in those states in the finale month. She was arrogant, she was stupid. She made the exact same mistake she did in the 2008 primary and apparently learned nothing from it.

Said it before, and I'll say it again. Screw her.

 

[Principate]

You literally have people saying that bigotry, racism and sexism shouldn't be called out, or else you will alienate the white, rural voter.

Do people not see the problem with that? Mind you, that doesn't mean we ignore their concerns, as I've already stated. You aren't addressing both, you're trying to hush up one side so you can appeal to another to win the next election.

But that has nothing to do with whether democrats so work to win rural whites or not and whether it would mean they'd be ignoring minorities. That just means Bigots are trying to normalise their bigotry. You should always fight the latter but it doesn't mean you shouldn't try to find common ground with the former. The two aren't necessarily the same people.

 

[BigDug13]

She is too old, you can't push a 70 year old to work any harder.

Why did the Democrats nominate a 70 year old anyway?

People wanted Biden to run and he's 4 years older. People wanted Warren to run and she's Only two years younger. Trump is 70 and won.

Age was not the issue. (Clinton is 69)

 

[Cagey]

Seeing what, what your saying doesn't logically make sense. Tell me explicitly why it is impossible to gain white working class votes as well as minority votes. Keep in mind Obama did this successfully twice.

Apparently purity of messaging and wokeness are more important than winning elections and instituting policies. The millennial social justice set had the election run the way they wanted: rural whites don't matter, if they care about emails or Benghazi or immigration or appear open or not against a racist's racist platform then fuck em, we're moving forward without them, stay salty lol, focus on Trump's hatred and assume people care about that more than anything else, they're not worth the time of day for any issue if they're receptive or not rejecting Trump's bigotry.

Trump is the fucking president now.

I'd rather have done what it took to won and felt good for four to eight years than have campaigned "right" and deal with Trump and his band of evil henchmen working against everything.

Marcellus Wallace had some words to say about pride.

 

[Sephzilla]

it's like she learned nothing from the 2008 primaries

Or the 2016 primaries

 

[GoldenEye 007]

You literally have people saying that bigotry, racism and sexism shouldn't be called out, or else you will alienate the white, rural voter.

Do people not see the problem with that? Mind you, that doesn't mean we ignore their concerns, as I've already stated. You aren't addressing both, you're trying to hush up one side so you can appeal to another to win the next election.

Yeah? Otherwise you keep losing elections and there is zero hope in advancing any social issues because you're sitting at home or marginalized in Congress with nothing to do. And in fact, you stand to even lose progress and move backwards on already established social issues.

Yeah some voters are full stop racist/sexist and they are of little hope. But that does not explain the voters that previously went for Obama twice jumping ship. They were abandoned by the Clinton campaign and it allowed Trump to fill the vacuum with an economic message. He spoke directly to them. Very few people will give a shit about social issues or how mean/sexist/racist someone is if they can't put food on the table and they're the only ones speaking to them about getting them back to work.

You're completely mischaracterizing what people are calling for.

 

[btrboyev]

Obama and his team have no one to blame but themselves. They conned the American people with rhetoric about how transformational they were going to be and got burned hiding behind a self proclaimed label of pragmatism when they failed to deliver. Now most of the legacy chasing legislation will be erased and it's a fitting end for a group of folks who chose what they thought was politically possible over what were the right things to do time and time again.

So blame Obama who had 6 years of complete obstruction in congress for not getting enough done? Get serious dude.

Facts matter by the way. Obama's administration took us out of recession and we are back on track Economically after a disastrous republican rule.

 

[SamVimes]

You literally have people saying that bigotry, racism and sexism shouldn't be called out, or else you will alienate the white, rural voter.

Do people not see the problem with that? Mind you, that doesn't mean we ignore their concerns, as I've already stated. You aren't addressing both, you're trying to hush up one side so you can appeal to another to win the next election.

They're two different things. First off, calling 50% of republican voters deplorable is fucking idiotic and guarantees that if someone from the other 50% was thinking of changing their vote that won't happen anymore.
Second of all, how was Hillary addressing minority concerns while doing fancy fundraisers? Whose concerns was she addressing exactly? Why couldn't she show up to at least pretend like she cared?

 

[DrForester]

Yes, Obama does share some blame for moving Biden out of the way and clearing the field for Clinton.

How did Obama move Biden out of the way? Did he have Biden's kid taken out?

 

[Ron Mexico]

That isn't what I'm suggesting at all. I am saying that we need to stop enabling it. Stop coddling to it. Not being afraid to call spades, spades. Not dismissing their concerns, but not accepting their apathy.

In an attempt to call a spade a spade, what would the specific harm be in actively campaigning in areas like the rust belt?

Should people have known enough to make an informed decision? Ideologically, sure. My follow up question then becomes, why leave that up to an ideological position when you can just cement what you need by taking an active role (read: campaign in person).

How many people can pick Noam Chomsky out of a lineup?

I don't disagree whatsoever with calling out bigotry, racism, sexism or anything of the like.

Rather, the rural voter was alienated because Clinton didn't even make the attempt to reach them.

Correlation vs. causation and all that fun stuff.