It was this message, from which he never wavered. Branding designed to appeal to a massive, hidden electorate, buried deep within Americas heart. "Make America Great Again" sure rang true to this very specific voting block.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=shqblcQW2RI

We always talk about pain in America, but only certain types. Who would have guessed that all along, it was the Democrats failing to see the big picture. So caught up in in their moral problems of the day, they completely overlooked the pain and suffering of a massive voter demographic right here in the United States. Right in the middle of their own Democratic strong hold states and demographics.

They never heard anybody talking about the awful trade deals which have ravaged america's heartland. They never talk about the downside to technology, when a job can be given to a computer or idiot behind a computer. They never talk about the PAIN which has been felt for so many, for so long, in America's heartland.

We have all heard the story before. The town dependent on the factory or big business for decades fails when the business leaves. So often the case, the factory was purchased by Bain Capital, or one of the many knock offs which arose after Bain's success. It began outsourcing jobs after NAFTA was signed by Bill Clinton, something which increased under both the Bush and Obama administrations. Investments in technology centered around the countries urban hubs concentrated their wealth not only be percentages, such as the 1% v 99%, but also geographically. And so the jobs went. And then the companies. Each new passing politician selling them the same pitch, year after year, until it finally dawned on them that things would never change. This system systematically hurts them. Instead of hearing about these issues on the nightly news, they heard about fast food workers demanding more money. They heard about wall street golden parachutes. They heard about foreign investments. Their problems were never solved, and the system only got worse. The establishment had forgotten them, and done nothing for all their pain.

But there are no cameras here. No massive protests, no rioting, no intense scrutiny. Just people who accept reality, carry themselves with tremendous dignity, and quietly go on with their lives despite the hardship. This is the other pain in America, a pain as real and wide spread as the pain of racism, of sexism, of senseless violence, and all the other pain hear about much more often. Though these people despise sexism, will not tolerate racism, and loathe the senseless violence, they are not blind to their problems as so many others apparently have been. They dislike hearing negative words about Captain Khans family as much as anybody.

However, they also know that when Democrats say "we want an economy that works for everyone", it doesn't generally include THEM. It includes minority's, it includes muslims, but it does not include America's heartland. If Black Lives Matter was the awakening of hidden racial pain, Trump is the awakening of the hidden pain of Americas heartland.

This is the pain to which Donald Trump exclusively appealed to. The pain of a population ignored and left behind by the elites of the last few decades, despite their best intentions. It was this pain that propelled Donald Trump to the White House.

The silent majority truly is back, and they stood with Trump.

I, for one, feel a bit guilty that I didn't feel more sorry for a group whose problems I was totally aware of,

Good summary

After seeing Hillary's bad turnout number vs 2012 I also think Berniebros not giving a fuck is at the center of this election result. Hillary was the worst candidate imaginable to appeal to anti-Wall street, socialist leaning liberals and that was before the DNC tried to rig the primaries. Hillary was basically a neocon Republican running as a Democrat who screwed over the most popular liberal in the country and you wonder why turnout was bad?

Hillary may have squeaked it out had she been more inspiring to Bernie bros - again, choice of Kaine over Sanders, Warren, or even Booker looks idiotic.

Billary came full circle. Bill sky rocketed to fame as their aDC man who could speak the common mans language and understood their daily struggle. It was Bush and his buddies who were so out of touch. In 2016, it is clear that Trump was much more in touch with the common man of middle America, and it was Hillary who was out of touch.

As one place put metaphorically, "They have gone from Bill's secret trips to McDonalds after his early morning jogs to preaching veganism during $1 million speeches"

In a nutshell: that is an effective ad.

Why can't Excel be this reasonable about Marvel vs D.C.?

There is some truth to this.

However, the fact of the matter is the Democrats do this every decade or so. They think they have an overwhelming super majority. They can infight up until November and still win. The losing faction constantly bickers and bitches about not being treated fairly or that they are the "real" Democrats. 1968 McCarthy/Kennedy faction stomped their feet, stayed home or voted for the Freedom Peace Party or other 3rd party. In 1980 the Kennedy faction did the same. In 1992, having lost 3 landslides in a row they got in line, which they repeated in 2008 after the unifying Bush years. Then in 2000, Gore wasn't the special pony they wanted as Clinton wasn't this year. Then after the results, they are out in force being shocked or quick to shout "I told you so."

They can't be bothered to do do the work of canvassing, phone banking, or persuasion and use magical thinking quite often to fill in gaps in their narrative. I wonder how many Sander's voters were Republican ratfuckers in the Primaries. I know quite often that Sander's fans were following him around from event to event like Deadheads on a GD tour of the west coast. When they should have been working. My neighbors are Berniebros and they are worthless. When I worked for Brown '92 and Dean '04, I remember countless "very committed" assholes waxing poetic about Jerry or Howard. When I asked them when or if they were volunteering, it was always something along the lines of "Oh, that is for the little people." Fuck people like excel for constantly holding the Democratic Party to their petulant demands. Do the work of building coalitions and enacting change. Don't just show up every 4-8 years demanding "We have to go with the new guy" or I quit. Grow up.

Kaine may have been a mistake, but he was an appeal to those white communities. We won VA by more than Obama. Hillary had actual policies to try and address the white heartland's distress. The media never allowed her rallies or policies on these subjects to be heard by a wider audience, they could only cover e-mails and Trump. Not sure how Bumbling Bernie would have changed that dynamic. Just replace e-mails with is America ready for its first Jewish, Atheist, Socialist President.

Another Democratic VP choice like Warren would have excited some, but turned off others. That is the problem with identity politics. One group feels left out and may not show up. The Dems need to figure out how to address this dynamic. Obama was a terrible Democratic Party leader. He basically blew up the Democratic Party, because his personal popularity was not transferable and he did very little if any party building and eliminated successful programs. It was one of the reasons I supported Clinton over him in 2008. Bill and Barrack had numerous problems that Dem voters sublimated and projected onto their hand picked successors.

I grew up in Ks, Mo, and Va. These are my people, they are my family. They are petrified of having to share anything with Brown people. My Baptist grandmother called me in tears when Obamcare was passed. She was convinced all the money would come from Social Security and Medicare funds to fund those lazy people. I tried to explain to her that would not happen. She knew I was was an atheist liar. Bless her heart.

No the Trump supporters are not all racists, sexists, and selfish, and the Democratic Party and the left needs to quit talking in alienating terms. The Dems have supporters that fall into that category. However, the Trump subset of that group is much larger.

tl;dr

He has the better dentist.

People in the right states
1. Want to deport illegal immigrants and protect the borders.
2. Are opposed to abortion except in the case of rape or danger to the mother
3. Support the right to bear arms
4. Want to destroy the terrorists
5. Want to cut taxes
6. Want gay marriage to be a state issue
7. Want to repeal Obamacare and adopt a more patient centered healthcare system
8. Keep jobs in America
9. Restore the Patriot Act and keep ISIS from using the internet to terrorize
10. Support law enforcement and first responders
11. Revise the current environmental policies in place
12. Enhance education options and make college more affordable
13. Create high paying jobs and reduce the national debt
14. Rebuild the military
15. Protect Medicare and social security
16. Help veterans
17. Ensure energy is clean

thanks for all these bad opinions

The question was why he won. This is why.

Mods should lock all the election threads and delete any new ones that are made so we can get back to discussing film, tv, music, sports, video games and other topics that are an escape from my social media feed.

No, why, these threads are good for you to look back on in maybe 5 years and see your ignorance from young age.

Can't you still read locked threads?

And both parties change over time. Maybe in 2020 if Trump does not run again there will be a Republican candidate who I actually agree with.

Old people and ignorant people are why Trump won.

I was only 8 when Nader/Gore/Bush happened. I understood the reasons why it happened and the consequences, which is why I voted the way I did, but only now do I get the true depth of hard-heartedness I always saw in older generations in politics and in life.

This really does feel like the moment my generation lost its innocence. We thought we could know responsibility without knowing reality. I've seen the map of how we voted in most states but that doesn't really account for the people who stayed home or threw away their votes. 15,000 people wrote in Harambe, because they didn't realize apathy is not a solution.

But various factors:

1. Johnson did "spoil" states like Florida, but his supporters would have voted for Trump over HRC if forced to at gunpoint. It would have been worse if there was a Nader-Perot like figure running that presented a more attractive independent option.
2. Gutting the Voting Rights Act decreased turnout among reliable Democrat voters.
3. 8 years ago, celebrities endorsing Obama was viewed as "wow, all the cool celebrities are endorsing this cool candidate!"... some of these same exact candidates lending their support to Clinton is now viewed as the elites endorsing the establishment. Someone pointed out that Bill Clinton went from a guy who was known for his love of fast food to a vegan billionaire, and I think that's telling of their reputation nowadays.
4. Trump's movement is based on the twin pillars of A) surface level anti-establishment posturing and B) that it's okay to not be politically correct... which usually leads to the belief that its okay to not be correct.
5. Which leads us to the false equivalency between Trump and Clinton. The laziest possible "they're both equally as bad" mindset. There was a real choice there but we tried our hardest to pretend like there wasn't. We complained about how awful the debates were when she was tactful and knowledgeable and overall delivered solid performances and refused to stoop down to Trump's level like everyone in the primaries (which Sanders totally would have done). Which brings me to the last point...
6. Not a reason, per se, but I totally agree with what David said in the other thread regarding Sanders. He's way too far left for the majority of this country, and ultimately stands for the PC Status Quo that Trump supporters openly wanted to smash. Bernie isn't someone that connects to their id, isn't willing to break the rules and conventions like Trump did. I ultimately believe he was unstoppable, unfortunately.

Here are my top ten reasons why Hillary lost:

https://ventrellaquest.com/2016/11/10/t ... lary-lost/

It's the rural/urban divide.

This sounds so angering.

But are we sure Democrats are not doing the same?

What possible reason would Democrats have to suppress votes? The more people that vote, the better Democrats do.

No, the Dems were the ones challenging all these in court (and winning, but that doesn't mean it doesn't still happen, and sometimes the damage has already been done by the time the court rules).

Bottom line is that Trump tapped into a large portion of the American population by praying on their fears that white men won't be able to run things forever. A black man took over for eight years and ruined their country and now a broad wants to run things even further into the ground. And those people were never going to stay under the rock they live in on Election Day. Hillary didn't lose because she didn't have more support than Trump. She lost because his supporters were more adamant about voting, while her supporters (or Dems in general, because I know some Democrats didn't support her) just didn't bother voting.

Weed:
Those liberals were busy smoking or stoned and forgot or were unable to vote!

OK, I get that about having more people to vote in general, but it seems the Republican voting places made it particularly difficult for eligible but likely opposing votes to not being able to get cast. I imagine Democrats would prefer to do the same in mostly Democrat favoring counties to have the republicans locked out in some way. But then again, they all could just have everyone vote and just not count certain ballots. Although I'd hope no-one in charge of the votes counting would be that corrupt. I just wonder in general whether it's really feasible for the Republicans to obstruct the voting process so much without, well there being riots or something.

The Washington Post has an article discussing fatal errors Hillary Clinton made that probably cost her the presidency. First, Clinton took several states, especially Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, for granted. She didn't even poll Michigan until a few days before the election. Upon discovering it was a virtual tie, her superPAC poured millions into the Wolverine State, but by then it was too late. She didn't even set foot in Wisconsin. Her arrogance about carrying the Rust Belt without any work or effort ultimately did her in. It was especially stupid, because Donald Trump said loud and clear that his strategy was focused on winning the Rust Belt. She should have been smart enough to at least poll there to see how well he was doing. By the time she knew, it was all over.

Second, her main strategic approaches were (1) attack Trump, (2) attack Trump, and (3) attack Trump. It was a bad idea and she should have known better. The remarkable campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in the primaries should have told her that the electorate was looking for change. While she couldn't transform herself into an outsider, she could have picked a few issues that resonated (e.g., jobs) and hammered on them endlessly. She never gave anyone a reason to vote for her other than she wasn't Trump.

Third, she got too greedy and wasted resources in places like Arizona and Georgia, which were not necessary for victory. They were better employed in North Carolina and Florida, which were much more crucial. In the end she lost them all.

Fourth, when she finally did realize that the Midwest was a problem, her message was all wrong. She emphasized Trump's attacks on a disabled reporter. She should have talked exclusively about her plan to spend a trillion dollars to renew America's infrastructure and create millions of jobs in the process. That would have gone over very well in states hit by job loss.

Fifth, she did very little to rev up her base. They already knew that Trump was an ogre. She didn't have to tell them that. She should have given them something to look forward to when she was inaugurated other than a sigh of relief that it wasn't Trump. Remember the theme of Obama's first campaign: Hope.

Finally, she spent a lot of effort trying to tell Republican voters that it was OK to vote for a Democrat this one time due to extraordinary circumstances. It was a mistake. Trump held his base quite well. Elections nowadays are about getting your own base to the polls.

The bottom line here is that trying to win over Republicans was a fool's errand. It couldn't be done, and especially not with a candidate as disliked by Republicans as Clinton. What she could have done—and didn't—is focus mostly on getting her own supporters very excited and to turn out in large numbers. Due to her strategy, 6 million fewer Democrats voted in 2016 than in 2012. If all the 2012 voters had shown up, she would have won the Electoral College as well as the popular vote.