Why "Moderate" Democrats Gave Donald Trump the Election

While there are many arguments over why the Democrats lost in the 2016 Presidential election, there was one common thread throughout this election that was the biggest factor in costing Hillary Clinton the presidency; the loyalists who were 1. so dedicated to her winning that they saw no issue in subverting the democratic primary process from within the DNC and 2. acting condescendingly and dismissive when voters who wanted real liberal change protested their actions in support for Bernie Sanders. It was easy for moderate establishment Democrats to dismiss or brush away Senator Bernie Sanders' supporters as pie in the sky dreamers, while feigning interest in issues that effect people's lives, such as the high cost of college or the increasing wealth divide between the richest and poorest Americans. Unfortunately for them, they lost in the end; just as they similarly lost with Al Gore in 2000, John Kerry in 2004, or (surprise!) Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic primary.

If anything, the Democratic primary of 2016 was an exaggerated repeat of the 2008 primary, when the same Hillary loyalists scathingly attacked then Senator Obama, using the same tired reasoning that Hillary had more experience, even though we know that that does not necessarily translate into being either a good candidate, or an effective for officeholder. In the 2008 Democratic primary, the so-called party moderates claimed that Obama lacked experience and an understanding of "the way Washington works". They assumed that, rather than attempting to change the system, it would be more beneficial to the country if they attempted to have "moderate" changes from within the system; in other words, turn the Democratic party into Republican lite.

Perhaps the biggest issue that plagued the Clinton campaign was the idea that Secretary Clinton was somehow entitled to the Democratic vote. When Barack Obama won the primary in 2008, there was a quick effort to rectify the differences between Obama and Clinton supporters. After the Hillary Clinton win in this primary, however, there was not the same attempt to bridge the gap between her supporters and Bernie Sanders' supporters. Rather, there was complaining because Sanders' supporters would not come to heel (ironically, this was the same attitude that Trump supporters had after he won). There is clearly a disconnection between the "New Democrats" of the nineties and the millennial liberals of the present that remains going forward.

In both that election and this one, there was no solid policy reasoning given for why Secretary Clinton should be President. For example, Bush said he would cut taxes, Obama said he would get healthcare passed, and Trump said he would "Build a wall". While each one of these statements was different in its' message (and at least one of them is doubtful both in implementation, and in effectiveness), they all left an impression with people that carried through the campaigns and helped to get all three candidates elected. Saying, "I'm with her" is hardly an effective rallying cry to your supporters, especially when compared to the ideas of hope and change that were brought up in 2008. This 'reasonable' progress that the Democratic moderates talk about are akin to the triangulation of the early and mid-nineties. In a time when the Republican party is becoming increasingly conservative, this 'compromise' is tantamount to doing nothing is neither beneficial to the party nor the country.

Hopefully the Trump win is enough of a slap in the face to the moderate Democratic establishment that they, at the very least, pretend to be true progressives, although I suspect that is unlikely to happen. If the last sixteen years of their candidate losing, either before or after the primary doesn't convince them, then perhaps it is time for the establishment to take a back seat to actual liberals and progressives.

Xavier Jackson is a contributor/editor of Black Intellect Journal & a former urban studies major at The Center for Urban & Global Studies at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.