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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Evidence is Overwhelming: James Comey Decided Who Our Next President Would Be--Mother Jones
Over at Vox today, a trio of researchers takes a broad look at the evidence that FBI Director James Comey affected the election. Their conclusion:
The evidence is clear, and consistent, regarding the Comey effect. The timing of the shift both at the state and national levels lines up very neatly with the publication of the letter, as does the predominance of the story in the media coverage from the final week of the campaign. With an unusually large number of undecided voters late in the campaign, the letter hugely increased the salience of what was the defining critique of Clinton during the campaign at its most critical moment.
The appeal of big-picture narratives about demographics, along with anecdotal evidence of big mistakes by the Clinton campaign in certain key states, makes it easy to point fingers. But looking specifically at the three Rustbelt blue states mentioned at the beginning of the article, no unifying picture emerges. Most stories mention Michigan, where Clinton didnt campaign, rather than Pennsylvania, where she campaigned intensely. Indeed, these three Midwestern states (Wisconsin being the third) provide essentially an A/B/C test of different campaign strategies and in each state she came up just short.
If it weren't for Comey, Hillary Clinton would have won the popular vote by about 6 points and the Electoral College by 70 or more. And that might have turned into control of the Senate as well, though that's a little more speculative.
Democrats clearly need to focus attention on state and local races, where they have done steadily worse throughout the Obama years. But at the national level, they should resolutely avoid the circular firing squad. They didn't lose because their message was unpopular or because they're out of touch or because they're insufficiently centrist or insufficiently leftist. That just wasn't the problem. The Democratic message was fine; Democrats are perfectly well in touch with their constituencies; and they weren't perceived as too unwilling to shake things up. Even with eight years of Democratic rule acting as a headwind, Hillary Clinton's default performance was a substantial win.
http://m.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2017/01/james-comey-decided-who-our-next-president-would-be
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Alice11111
(5,730 posts)Treason. I'll probably be investgated. Back to the McCarthy era.
Response to Alice11111 (Reply #1)
Post removed
Tess49
(1,580 posts)Alice11111
(5,730 posts)Tess49
(1,580 posts)zero sense to me. I agree with you. Comey for prison!
Alice11111
(5,730 posts)Tess49
(1,580 posts)Control-Z
(15,682 posts)Your response was totally uncalled for. You should delete your comment before someone alerts on you.
blm
(113,065 posts)Because he knew damn well Trump would be forced to quit.
JI7
(89,252 posts)i think as long as the republican base continues to support trump the republicans will not impeach him.
vlyons
(10,252 posts)he starts vetoing their bills. They then will bring a bill of impeachment in a nano-second to bring on Pence.
Comey intentionally subverted and sabotaged the presidential campaign. Even now, he is slow-walking the evidence of Russian interference in the election, just to make sure Trump is sworn in. At what point will he be held accountable? If this were a Democrat doing the same undermining of the election, Republicans would be leading riots in the streets!
2naSalit
(86,647 posts)certainly high crimes.
Nonhlanhla
(2,074 posts)The moment that thing broke, I told my mom that this is going to cost Hillary the election. The effect was immediately visible in the polls, and she never recovered sufficiently.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)when this POS dropped. We picked up on the shift the next morning while phone banking. Later in the day,our door to door canvassers reported the same feedback that we were getting with the phone bankers. Said the same to my spouse when I got home that night,babes Hillary is going to loose.
JHan
(10,173 posts)I hope History judges Comey for the POS he really is.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)volunteered on the same shifts as I,the young Lady said hi,and the next words out of mouth was,we saw History didn't we. Meaning a stolen Election.
progressoid
(49,991 posts)Scurrilous
(38,687 posts)StevieM
(10,500 posts)uponit7771
(90,347 posts)... and no hard consequences for it.
When democrats are in office (after the conclusion of some civil war cause there wont be LESS hacking under Russia influence) then every KGOP MoC who's a MiniPoot supporter should be "investigated" 1 - 2 weeks before their election...
See how that shit works out for them
Along with that there's the info that he sat on regarding the MiniPoot's campaign contact with a government that the intel agencies concluded was hacking one of the FEC registered (DNC at the time was at least affliated with the US government) political parties.
napi21
(45,806 posts)more hearings, on Bengazi, emails any other thing the Pubs can dream up and still convince all the Pubs there's something they should investigate. I really was hearinged out. I don't want the Con , but I don't want a damn Pub House because they will NEVER stop investigating their enemies.
SunSeeker
(51,574 posts)That would literally kill me.
The GOP will always be destructive assholes. That is no reason to leave governing to them. In fact, it is exactly why we should never leave governing to them.
iluvtennis
(19,863 posts)and FREE. I'm just not understanding why our leaders aren't taking action. Am I naive? Or is this just about party lines. Such a sad, sad time for our nation.
mythology
(9,527 posts)That's why nobody is talking about it.
BadgerMom
(2,771 posts)I know that Comey can serve a 10-year term. But I've also heard that he serves at the pleasure of the President. The worst outcome, had PBO axed him, would have been Republican screaming. Maybe Obama feared for his legacy, but ultimately, I think he richly deserved to lose his position. I wish he'd been charged.
snort
(2,334 posts)"We're not the Enemy"
world wide wally
(21,744 posts)rest of them are given due credit and their names live on with Benedict Arnold as synonymous with treason.
emmo115
(3 posts)Comey or Commie, what ever, yup according to law he should be in jail, what this tool did handed the election over to that orange faced freak with the dyed rat on his head.
I'm 63 years old and have never been so embarrassed to be an american.
pbmus
(12,422 posts)still_one
(92,219 posts)onecaliberal
(32,864 posts)yardwork
(61,650 posts)Now the same media are so careful with Trump. They're ALL traitors.
Gothmog
(145,321 posts)FarCenter
(19,429 posts)At least some faction must have assessed that Trump would be better for them than Clinton.
Clinton's track record in Egypt, Libya, Syria, etc. with the Arab Spring may have been sufficiently alarming that they decided Trump was the better option. Especially if they really do have the goods on Trump and can impeach him if he gets out of line.