Hacker News Reader

Comment by qyv | Hacker News Reader

Disclosure: Canadian here.

Trump won because the Democrats railroaded their best candidate in favor of someone who is profoundly unlikeable and untrustworthy. Regardless of if she is truly a criminal, or not, the Democratic party choose a candidate who is under investigation by the FBI instead of a candidate that had real honest to god connection with the working people of the country. The voters have literally said that even Trump is better than what the Democrats have tried to ram down their throats this election. This election was lost, not won.

View on HN

They should have woken up quickly when they noticed Bernie's level of support. He wasn't supposed to be that popular. Especially with younger people. On paper it looked like "oh she's a woman, young people would like that". When it didn't happen, it was time to listen, not throw everyone from that camp under the bus.

I don't even know how DNC will recover from that. It is viewed as a failure, a cesspool of corruption and anyone with morals would stay away from it.

> This election was lost, not won.

So true. They had it in their pocket. Bernie would have wiped the floor with Trump. But of course corruption gets in the way...

You're not kidding. Wikileaks posted this on twitter just earlier. They even wanted to be up against Trump:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cwy_92NWEAAwyqe.jpg:large

Well, guess that worked out great for them. The DNC is the biggest screw up of this whole election I think.

I wonder how the people who dreamt up that scheme and manipulated the media into pushing Trump so they could go up against him are feeling this morning.

+1 Totally agree.

Democrats lost this. She was deep in Benghazi / Emails / Foundations .. which is all public. Trump might have same picture, but its not public not even his Tax record ! Bravo to american public !

Its a slap to the democratic establishment for not understanding the dynamics. Bernie or for that matter Elizabeth would have been right candidates.

I also think Hillary used a lot of other celebs for campaign - Beyonce, Perry, Michelle / Obama, Muslim family ... rather than talking about her strong points / achievements (none ?), and I saw the women card thrown a lot. On the other side it was just Trump and his bullshit.

Elizabeth Warren is fierce, I believe she would've been a strong contender in terms of competence. But I'd be surprised if Bernie didn't have a stronger base and of the two would seem as the less controversial choice.

Personally, I would've loved to see a Warren / Sanders ticket. I'd be surprised if Trump / Pence could've held a candle to that in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio. Maybe Florida would've swung the other way as well then, although who the hell can tell? I swear that state is like a different planet. (Not necessarily a bad thing.)

she was deep in emails...

she was deep in email...

emails!

https://youtu.be/XvuM3DjvYf0?t=1m

Also Canadian (damn, we sound so smug now), I've been saying the same thing. But seems Americans think Socialism is a bad word. They've forgotten the opportunity they had with Bernie.

On the flipside, seems the "potentially" closest candidate to Bernie in this election is Trump. He actually has talked about controlling Wall Street, bringing back manufacturing jobs, less military, and if you look at money raised during this election, I'd say he has won the Presidency without bringing tons of big dollars in to politics (I could be wrong on some of these).

Of course, their methods are completely different and they differ hugely on other issues.

I'm not suggesting that Trump is a good replacement for Bernie, but you can see how Bernie supporters would see him as a better alternative than Clinton.

As a Conservative in America (and, as of this year, a former Republican), I watched what was my party railroad one or two good candidates in favor of someone who is a cartoon villain. So I know the feeling.

I am pretty sure the voters tell that to the losing side each election. while its easy to lay claim that Sanders could have won it is anything but easy to prove. true he had support but not among groups known to show up to actually vote. he also did not have support of many Clinton voters and there is no guarantee he would get them.

The US is pretty consistent in flipping the White House. That in itself is amazing and a good thing. The sad part is all the hate that comes out on this site which is sadly typical of people not thinking but reacting

> The sad part is all the hate that comes out on this site which is sadly typical of people not thinking but reacting

This is the least hateful and despairing and probably the most balanced and reasoned discussion I've seen anywhere on the internet so far.

> support but not among groups known to show up to actually vote

The same people that helped Trump just win the White House: Poor, mostly white, mostly working class, mostly men.

I may not completely understand the US primary system, but wasn't Clinton chosen by the US democrat voters? (She won the popular vote, not just because of the super-delegates).

I don't really understand why she won instead of Sanders, maybe he was too much on the left for many democrats?

Yes, in the same way that Trump was chosen by US replicablican (and later, all) voters.

That said, it was a poor choice by the Democrats. They messed up. Whether it was the DNC or the rank-and-file democratic voters, IDK, but they somehow, in some way, managed to chose a more unwinnable candidate than the Republican Donald Trump.

You're right, but there are also psychological effects at play. If Sanders was seen as the lead candidate, his support might have gained momentum and given him the election, especially if the superdelegates weren't in the picture.

Election fraud https://news.vice.com/article/new-york-lawsuit-voter-registr...

Awesome. After hearing for months about how voter fraud was a completely negligible concern, and how the Republicans were over blowing the problem because they're a bunch of reticent KKK sympathizers consolidating the white vote...some Democrats file a voting fraud case.

America elected FDR for 4 terms. The idea that Bernie is too far left for the US is comical.

Indeed, Bernie was the only real leftist choice, which is what got young people so excited for him. Clinton though is center-right at best, and a DINO (Democrat in Name Only).

This is what happens when reasonable people don't take the responsibilities of a Democracy seriously.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com