Sanders' message must be the left's message if we hope to survive
It has always been my motto that whenever I see the truth I join it regardless of where I was before. That's what I hope the left can do now. The economy has always been our staple issue and right now it's playing second fiddle to social issues. We can't win with that strategy. That has just been proven. The two must be equal priorities. The rust belt turned red and we need to ask ourselves why.
This election should have made it clear to anyone who is looking with open eyes that the Democratic Party has forgotten a whole section of working class people, and I don't mean white people, I mean the people affected by free trade, people of all colors, who are not only unemployed but dying off from suicide, drug use, and despair. These people live in the rust belt. Remember Roger and Me? The voters there don't care that republicans opposed the auto bailout, they care that Trump was the only one still speaking to them.
It's disappointing that many Democrats, rather than look at how they lost and trying to learn from it, are just accusing trump voters of all being racist and wanting to change election rules so that we can win next time without having to look at ourselves and change anything about our focus or message.
Is it really our message that we want to eliminate the electoral college so we can essentially say fuck you to working people in the rust belt and ignore their suffering? Do we think they don't see that we want to get rid of the electoral college so that we can ignore them? Are we not aware that the loss of jobs has decimated places like Michigan that were once thriving economically and solidly blue? Is this how we react when our supporters leave us because we aren't listening to them anymore? By calling them all racists and leaving them behind?
"The jobs are gone and never coming back" is a strategy guaranteed to tombstone the Democratic Party. Already Trump is positioning himself as the fighter for the forgotten blue collar workers who used to vote blue by his opposition to NAFTA and TPP. If you disagree you've already forgotten the asskicking the rust belt just gave us. Trump is taking what should be OUR message! And the only person I see on the left who seems to be aware of this is Bernie Sanders.
Some leaders like Schumer are starting to listen but I fear the establishment will, as a whole, not fully get on board and instead revert solely to social issues. Raising the minimum wage alone won't solve this problem. I can't live off 15 dollars an hour. We need something substantive to replace all those jobs that went to Mexico and China or we are fucked. We can't all get degrees and work at Google, and we can't have everyone else just working in the service sector one paycheck away from homelessness.
Democrats need to remember their roots. We have to hear the message the people have sent. They didn't vote for racism, they voted for economic survival. They care about social issues, but they care more about feeding themselves and their families first. Just as you would. Don't we care about the people in the rust belt?
Lead the way Sanders. I am behind you.
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