2016 elections - because it's never too early

[Valmy]

This happens pretty consistently to them. I imagine it will go about the same as the other times it happened, so not particularly interesting.

It will go like this: The Republicans will get into power and fuck up. The Democrats will come back. Then Republicans will stop them and the Democrats will retreat again. And then we start again.

[Tamas]

I have found the best summary of the election:

[alfred russel]

I have found the best summary of the election:

It omits the part of Comey pushing her off balance.

[FunkMonk]

The Democrats will now control next to nothing above the municipal level. Donald Trump will be president. We are going to be unpacking this night for the rest of our lives, and lives beyond that. We can't comprehend even 1 percent of what's just happened. But one aspect of it, minor in the overall sweep, that I'm pretty sure we can comprehend well enough right now: The Democratic Party establishment has beclowned itself and is finished.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/11/the_democratic_party_establishment_is_finished_after_trump.html

It'll be interesting to see how the Democrats will unfuck themselves after the Trumpslide.

You may not know this but the Democratic party is legendary when it comes to fucking themselves over. When I was a Republican I used to laugh at their ability to lose what seemed like sure things. Just like what happened two nights ago 

[Legbiter]

It's just that they seem unusually proficient at it this year, even for them.

[Caliga]

Apparently among black men, the Clinton/Trump/Other breakdown was 80/13/7.

That is a rather bad result for Hillary.

An ex-boss of mine was a black Republican who I am guessing voted for Trump.  We talked politics often and he was a Republican because he grew up with nothing (on a chicken farm in rural southwest Georgia), worked his ass off, and became a big shot in corporate finance.  He told me he hated how the Democrats gave handouts to black folks because he felt it was keeping them down and believed America was about hard work and making your own way in the world.

About five years ago he sold all of his property to a developer who built an outlet mall, retired, and moved back to Georgia.  Great boss... I miss him.

[grumbler]

They'll never win a democratic primary.

If you think they won't, then they are a shoo-in.

[FunkMonk]

It's just that they seem unusually proficient at it this year, even for them.

It was an epic meltdown, that's for sure.

I don't like saying it, but that's what it was. Epic. Fucking. Meltdown.

[alfred russel]

A side of this I haven't seen mentioned is the radicalization of the 2 parties.

Generally in the primaries, there is a wingnut insurgency that gets put down in part on electibility concerns. The Republicans broke with orthodoxy and nominated the radical anyway. This was supposed to be their modern day Goldwater moment. The democrats put down a popular leftist for a mainstream candidate with high negatives.

The electability argument is going to be harder to make in the future.

[Zanza]

I've seen a lot of folks online clamoring for Tammy Duckworth.

Female
Half Asian
War Hero
Part of the Sanders faction

How about finding someone who has policies that appeal to a majority of the electorate instead of ticking boxes on the diversity bingo chart? Clearly it is possible to have an old white (orange) man elected too.

[FunkMonk]

I've seen a lot of folks online clamoring for Tammy Duckworth.

Female
Half Asian
War Hero
Part of the Sanders faction

How about finding someone who has policies that appeal to a majority of the electorate instead of ticking boxes on the diversity bingo chart? Clearly it is possible to have an old white (orange) man elected too.

Nah it's much easier to put people in categories and pick from that.

[Phillip V]

I've seen a lot of folks online clamoring for Tammy Duckworth.

Female
Half Asian
War Hero
Part of the Sanders faction

How about finding someone who has policies that appeal to a majority of the electorate instead of ticking boxes on the diversity bingo chart? Clearly it is possible to have an old white (orange) man elected too.

We don't need policies, we need cool factor.

Al Gore, John Kerry, Mitt Romney, and Hillary Clinton were boring.  Obama and Trump are marketing gold.

Unless the economy melts down or the Trump Administration has some other disaster, Democrats need to unveil some new media stars.

[alfred russel]

I heard that Hillary had a glass ceiling over the conventional hall on election night, and it was going to somehow break during her acceptance speech.

I don't know if that is true or not, but if it is true, it definitely makes me feel better about Trump winning. 

[The Larch]

The electability argument is going to be harder to make in the future.

It seems to me that Trump's victory has blasted away a fair number of received wisdom on how a presidential candidate has to conform to certain norms for electability purposes, not just on political positions but on background and personal life as well. If somebody with as many negatives and skeletons in his closet (and in the open) as Trump can get elected, anyone can get elected (as long as they're a while male, I guess).

[Caliga]

I heard that Hillary had a glass ceiling over the conventional hall on election night, and it was going to somehow break during her acceptance speech.

I don't know if that is true or not, but if it is true, it definitely makes me feel better about Trump winning. 

It wasn't a literal glass ceiling; it was some machines rigged to spew confetti that looked like glass shattering IIRC.