Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: This message was self-deleted by its author [View all]portlander23
(2,078 posts)7. It's not about white guys
Stop Obsessing Over White Working-Class Voters
Joshua Holland
Rolling Stone
Adopting a platform of economic justice is not the same as reaching out to white male racists. Voters across demographics did not show up for Clinton in the numbers they did for Obama.
Joshua Holland
Rolling Stone
If, on the other hand, Trump energized just enough Republican-leaners who stayed home in 2012, and Hillary Clinton failed to turn out just enough Democratic partisans, then we can attribute this disaster to factors that aren't specific to this group. It may be that she was an unpopular candidate who faced a perfect storm of media coverage tainted by a tendency toward false equivalence, hackers releasing her campaign's internal emails, a clumsy intervention by FBI Director James Comey and latent misogyny all of that while running against a celebrity who dominated nearly every news cycle. If that's the case, then the solution, whatever it is, should be the same for blue-collar white Democrats as it is for Democrats in general running a better candidate who's more focused on a progressive economic agenda, for instance and we shouldn't indulge in a lot of handwringing over this one group of white people.
Based on what we now know, there's good reason to believe this last analysis is the correct one. According to the exit polls, Clinton underperformed Barack Obama's 2012 results among not only non-college educated whites, but also white men; black men and women; Hispanic men and women; Asian men and women; men and women of other races; every age group except voters over 65; liberals, moderates and conservatives; Protestants, Catholics, adherents of other religions and those who claim no religious affiliation; married men and unmarried men and women; union and non-union households; self-identified Democrats; straight people; people who think undocumented immigrants should be given legal status; and people who think the country is going in the right direction. In that sense, the commentariat's intense focus on non-college whites already seems a bit odd.
Adopting a platform of economic justice is not the same as reaching out to white male racists. Voters across demographics did not show up for Clinton in the numbers they did for Obama.
Cannot edit, recommend, or reply in locked discussions
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
Recommendations
0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):
98 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations

I didn't want to vote for her at all. I felt it more important to repudiated Trump
TheKentuckian
Nov 2016
#95
Al the condescending "dank memes" from college kids woulda slayed them in the rust belt!
bettyellen
Nov 2016
#18
Gawd, I sure don't miss this myopic, simpleton approach full of innuendo and attacks
R B Garr
Nov 2016
#37
I know people who did vote for her- but had already trashed her w RW smears for months
bettyellen
Nov 2016
#26
Old numbers- the demographics we're not even in yet. Biased speculation at best...
bettyellen
Nov 2016
#19
Deflection and memes. Not a single honest reply to my questions but instead a dumb RW meme.
bettyellen
Nov 2016
#43
Too well stated to get many dissenting replies I wager. People will just start a 10th thread to
JCanete
Nov 2016
#13
I would trade for where we were in 1988 from where we are today in a second (and I was there).
Midwestern Democrat
Nov 2016
#73
Yes, we did. I think we can get the pendulum swinging back but I do think we need to
Midwestern Democrat
Nov 2016
#77
Apparently at least until we lose the popular vote by at least 10 points and
TheKentuckian
Nov 2016
#96
Bernie best learn to say what he means, he's not always gonna have you around to explain it.
emulatorloo
Nov 2016
#63
what should be abandoned is the TERM "identity politics" -- it's a put-down of solidarity
cloudythescribbler
Nov 2016
#69
That is a good point. I don't think that term was coined by an anti-oppression activist.
Ken Burch
Nov 2016
#76
Before Bernie got in, nobody, to my recollection, was claiming there was a huge chasm
Ken Burch
Nov 2016
#79