Why Hillary Clinton is still losing supporters
ROCKVILLE, Md. — Democrats’ belief that new information revealed after Donald Trump’s election — as when the reports of Russian interference spurred calls on the left for a revote or, failing that, for “faithless” electors to abandon Trump — would change voters’ minds has taken another hit.
A Pew Research survey Wednesday showed a whopping 97 percent of all voters would cast the exact same vote they did on Election Day, including 99 percent of Trump voters and 96 percent of Clinton voters. As with the recount that saw Clinton lose votes and the Electoral College vote that saw her lose electors, only 1 percent of Trump voters regret their vote, while 4 percent of Clinton voters do.
Voters seem ready to move on.
Not so some on the left. Michael Moore tweeted Tuesday: “Trump is not president until 12 noon on Jan. 20th. So we’ll continue to fight hope to find a legal, nonviolent way to stop this madness.” New York Times columnist Paul Krugman similarly tweeted: “We should never accept this as OK. It may be the new normal, but that’s a new normal in which the America we knew and loved is gone.” Then there’s Keith Olbermann, who is advising his viewers not to refer to the incoming commander-in-chief as “President Trump.”
What’s the moral of this story? We still need to do a much better job of understanding why people voted for Trump and perhaps take a look at why the erosion of support was bigger for Clinton in this survey. After all, if people think new information about a possible conflict of interest at a Trump hotel or revelations of Russian-manufactured blog posts would change voters’ minds, they’re wrong. It suggests even a “revote” would change nothing.
Indeed, Team Clinton — Hillary, Bill, campaign chair John Podesta and others — are still casting blame on FBI Director James Comey, for reopening the investigation into Hillary’s email during the home stretch of the election.
They still prefer that to the introspection they so sorely need: asking themselves why they ignored or haughtily dismissed so many voters.
On a trip I took this week on Amtrak’s famed Capitol Express, which connects Washington, DC, with a series of cities in the Midwest, I struck up a conversation with three strangers in the dining car. The subject turned to the election.
Audrey and Robert, a Virginia couple, were heading to Montana to visit their daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren; Edward of Lancaster, Pa., was traveling to see his mother and brothers and sisters in Fort Wayne, Ind. All had voted for Trump — and all had noticed the way they were still being portrayed by the losing side.
“On Nov. 8 I went from a responsible, hard-working, upstanding citizen to an uninformed bigot who gleefully supports Russian interference in our elections and the destruction of our republic,” Robert said. “At least that’s what I have read in the newspaper or seen on television, so it must be true, right?”
Edward smiled, paused, and then said, “It is refreshing to hear your candor, it’s gotten to the point where you are afraid to not only express your opinion, but to stand by your opinion. Yes, I supported him and yes, I would do it again.”
“They’ve thrown everything at everyone who voted for Trump to deteriorate or place doubt in his supporters’ minds,” said Audrey.
“It astounds me that the press still doesn’t get it, that my party (Democrats) are blaming everyone but themselves for a poor message, poor messenger and the responsibility she bears for placing her email security in jeopardy . . . it’s not Comey’s fault. It’s hers,” said Elizabeth who was sitting in the booth across the aisle.
Elizabeth voted for Clinton, but wasn’t sure she’d do so again. “The way everyone is acting now post-election shows that no one, no one, has learned anything. She is just proving she deserved to lose,” she said.
What the political class astoundingly still doesn’t get is that people, even those who supported Clinton, are tired of Trump’s win being blamed on fake news, the Comey letter and the Russians.
They’re tired of every story about the election beginning with “But, Hillary won the popular vote.” And they’re tired of protesters protesting something they can’t change.
And they’re clearly not alone.
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