2016 elections - because it's never too early

[DGuller]

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.

Agreed, I really wish liberals would fucking stop with this checkboxes shit.  At some point not only did they become prime criteria for giving someone an important job, but the stigma of publicly discussing them went away.

[alfred russel]

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

That is still awful.

Maybe if we had elected Cruz or Rubio as the first hispanic president, he should have approached the podium in a way symbolic of the hispanic experience. The lights go dark, and he crawls along the ground through a small opening in a fence blocking his way, while border patrol agents eat donuts nearby. Then he pushes a lawnmower for a while, before entering a library where he stops to read books such as de tocqueville's Democracy in America. He is inspired, changes into a suit, leaves the library, and ascends to the podium as president elect.

[Phillip V]

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).

Don't forget that Obama had also helped blast away norms:  black first-term senator with a weird name from a northern Democratic state

[Caliga]

Maybe if we had elected Cruz or Rubio as the first hispanic president, he should have approached the podium in a way symbolic of the hispanic experience. The lights go dark, and he crawls along the ground through a small opening in a fence blocking his way, while border patrol agents eat donuts nearby. Then he pushes a lawnmower for a while, before entering a library where he stops to read books such as de tocqueville's Democracy in America. He is inspired, changes into a suit, leaves the library, and ascends to the podium as president elect.

[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).

Don't forget that Obama had also helped blast away norms:  black first-term senator with a weird name from a northern Democratic state

The only relevant norm that Obama did with was him being black. In almost everything else he's as mainstream as it comes.

Trump is a political dilettante with far from a prim and proper personal life and business history, and there he is.

[Legbiter]

Maybe Jeb! will try again.

[alfred russel]

I think the power of Barack Obama winning was in large part fueled by him refusing to be anything other than an american being elected president. Just the few times he acknowledged that he was a black man (in a context other than a lighthearted one) have been very controversial (Trayvon Martin shooting, the Gates Beer Summit).

He didn't need to talk about how ground breaking he was, and he didn't. People knew, and he diffused a lot of fear that would come with that by not mentioning it. He was so good on this point we probably got a black president a generation or two before the country was really ready for it.

I'm not sure why Hillary didn't take the same strategy.

[Valmy]

Because she lacks whatever magical charismatic power Obama has. Everything she did tended to fall flat.

[FunkMonk]

I think the power of Barack Obama winning was in large part fueled by him refusing to be anything other than an american being elected president. Just the few times he acknowledged that he was a black man (in a context other than a lighthearted one) have been very controversial (Trayvon Martin shooting, the Gates Beer Summit).

He didn't need to talk about how ground breaking he was, and he didn't. People knew, and he diffused a lot of fear that would come with that by not mentioning it. He was so good on this point we probably got a black president a generation or two before the country was really ready for it.

I'm not sure why Hillary didn't take the same strategy.

This is a really good point and something I admired him for, actually.

In Hillary's case, chalk it up to another campaign blunder I imagine.

[Caliga]

Obama is an amazingly skilled politician.  Hillary isn't.  She was a dedicated public servant and she was more than qualified to serve as president, but she wasn't even close to Obama on sheer political skill.

[FunkMonk]

Maybe Jeb! will try again.

It's Jeb! Get it right.

[Valmy]

Obama is an amazingly skilled politician.  Hillary isn't.  She was a dedicated public servant and she was more than qualified to serve as president, but she wasn't even close to Obama on sheer political skill.

Boy you are telling me. It was very frustrating being her supporter.

[CountDeMoney]

Obama is an amazingly skilled politician.  Hillary isn't.  She was a dedicated public servant and she was more than qualified to serve as president, but she wasn't even close to Obama on sheer political skill.

Boy you are telling me. It was very frustrating being her supporter.

True policy wonks simply don't get elected to high office (Al Gore, Gary Hart, Hillary Clinton).  And if they do, they're relatively ineffective with professorial approaches (Carter, Wilson, Obama ).

And besides, nobody likes the smartest kid in the class--especially if it's a girl.  #TracyFlick

[Admiral Yi]

Gary Hart, policy wonk? 

[Crazy_Ivan80]

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

That is still awful.

Maybe if we had elected Cruz or Rubio as the first hispanic president, he should have approached the podium in a way symbolic of the hispanic experience. The lights go dark, and he crawls along the ground through a small opening in a fence blocking his way, while border patrol agents eat donuts nearby. Then he pushes a lawnmower for a while, before entering a library where he stops to read books such as de tocqueville's Democracy in America. He is inspired, changes into a suit, leaves the library, and ascends to the podium as president elect.

now that would be one for the annals