<\/p>\n

Some friends and I gathered on the Friday after the election for a post-mortem. Everyone had a different idea of what had gone wrong.<\/p>\n

I ticked off James Comey, new laws in swing states aimed at suppressing Democratic turnout, and the many who couldn\u2019t stand Donald Trump but couldn\u2019t bring themselves to vote for Clinton\u2014or vote at all\u2014because they preferred “principle” over compromise, or didn\u2019t think the outcome mattered\u00a0either way.<\/p>\n

\u201cStop blaming people for not voting!\u201d one friend countered. \u201cThe problem is that it was the wrong nominee, and until the Democrats put forward a candidate who inspires young people, they\u2019ll continue to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n

This sparked an indictment of neo-liberalism and Debbie Wasserman Schulz.\u00a0When someone said the 2020 ticket needed a person of color and a woman, preferably Elizabeth Warren, I asked, \u201cDid you not get the memo from this election?\u201d<\/p>\n

We certainly couldn\u2019t conduct a proper post-mortem without a shout-out to racism and misogyny!<\/p>\n

Not to mention Trump\u2019s celebrity status and shrewd manipulation of the media, his constant lies bleeding together to obscure the stain of falseness; the lack of civics education; a post-factual electorate; the demonization of Hillary; her failure to reach out to working-class white men or articulate a clear message; the steady drip-drip-drip of Fox News and Emailgate; Anthony Weiner! (Oy vey, Anthony Weiner!<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Our host calmly interjected how hard it is for the incumbent party to ever win a third term.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe Biden would have won,\u201d someone said wistfully.<\/p>\n

\u201cMichael Moore nailed<\/a> it,\u201d said another.<\/p>\n

This, and the existence of an empathy gap, was about all we could agree on, though empathy for one another was in short supply.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could call ourselves the Friendly Fire Salon!\u201d I joked.<\/p>\n

It\u00a0was\u00a0like Rashomon<\/em>, where blind men correctly describe one aspect of an elephant, but nobody sees the whole.<\/p>\n

Now there\u2019s not only an elephant in the room, but one on the way to the White House, too.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

Care to add your two cents and what your discussions have been like?<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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