11-09-2016, 02:13 PM
(11-09-2016, 01:18 PM)BlueTiki Wrote:(11-09-2016, 01:05 PM)HairOfTheDog Wrote: Making it ALL about race is just as shortsighted as claiming that race has LITTLE/NOTHING to do with it, in my opinion.
You're absolutely correct.
The alleged white demographic that screwed the pooch was ignored.
Perhaps too much pandering to traditional minorities was a failure . . .
Group politics, is by nature, exclusionary.
Unfortunately, I have no idea how to be successfully and sincerely inclusionary . . . when it comes to politics.
Only how I act as a person.
You might be right about group politics being exclusionary by nature. I'm inclined to believe that part of it is instead nurture and systemic. Minimizing that, to me, is a goal worth pursuing in any society and goes beyond how I act as a person.
You might be right about over-pandering too. In my eyes, there was definitely some pandering by Clinton and company. But, there was also a sincere attempt to address the inequality and stagnation that spurred some of the anti-establishment energy during this election cycle. Bernie got it more right, but I do think Clinton, as flawed and self-serving as she is sometimes, genuinely cares about people in general. I don't have that confidence in Trump, but that might change with time, depending on his actions.
Trump certainly pandered heavy-handedly to white working class rural America, and some more specific elements of society with his birther campaign. I personally dislike the way Trump pandered a whole lot more than the way Clinton pandered, but do acknowledge that Trump's message resonated strongly beyond one demographic.
It's not always majority rule in this country; Clinton got more votes than Trump. But, Trump and his supporters blazed the traditional electoral map and his victory is legitimate. I don't suspect Clinton will cry, 'rigged!'.
Anyway, I'm glad Trump preached unity in his victory speech. I'm glad Clinton preached unity during her campaign and her concession speech. And, I'm glad Obama is doing the same. They're just words, but I think they're the right words and they can help set the tone.