Good evening, my readers. Today felt like a political version of “The Day After”. People were noticeably distraught about Trump’s surprising victory, and concerned genuinely about the future of those around them, and this country in general. Politics is life and death for the most vulnerable, especially during times where hatred is actively cultivated. It is a frenzy at the moment. The wounds are still fresh, and pundits are out with the knives looking for those who they can assign blame to. Instead of looking at the exit polls, and seeing the demographic who is responsible for Trump’s win, nearly every constituency is catching blame. I’ve seen the pundits blame everyone from Milennials, to Black voters, to third party voters, as well as supporters of Bernie Sanders. Instead of taking any sort of responsibility for the Democratic National Committee forcing upon supporters of the Democrats a candidate with so many negatives, the losing side is attacking in all directions. No one is willing to face the fact that Bernie Sanders was likely the better match up. But, that is water under the bridge.
What faces us now is a situation where people are actually distraught. Many people were emotionally invested in a Hillary Clinton victory, and when they did not get it, things seemed to collapse in on them. To those of you that still may feel that way, I encourage you to not stay in that place too long. Think about it, if our ancestors, who many of us were exhorted to vote due to their sacrifices went through harsher conditions, why should we stay scared? This is electoral politics as usual, and life goes on. People may not want to hear it right now, but Hillary Clinton’s loss was the loss of the Democratic Party, not true progressive forces. Even now, there are protests emerging against President Elect Trump. People are already inveighing against Trumponomics and some of his plans for the first 100 days.
All is not lost, and who wins the White House is not the end of this issue.
Great post! I voted for Bernie in the primaries, and I reluctantly voted for Hillary during the primaries. I feel like the DNC is to blame for the outcome of this election; however, I’m so proud of the young people who are letting their voices be heard. What’s done is done. My hope is that the best of America will prevail.
I too am inspired by the young people protesting president elect Trump. They are wasting no time. Thanks for your commentary, Nedra!