Culture not economics determined the 2016 race

[CincyDem]

4. Yep.

Cliff notes hit the spot.

To me, this raises what I expect to be a long term issue for the vitality of our party.

Trump ran against "The Other", appealing primarily to a straight white population that has come to rely on their white privilege as a key element of their identity - either consciously or subconsciously. What they know is that they are fast moving into the role of minority (vs. "The Other&quot that puts the benefits of being straight white at risk. Coincidentally, the lower the education and skill levels, the greater the role of white privilege plays in defining identity. They are a highly cohesive group, easily identified by their singular skin color and, as with all tribes, they are prepared (even willing) to give up the community benefits (health care, welfare, environment, worker safety) for the tribal benefits (white is right). Think about why the ponytail that Russia destroyed our electoral process is not an issue with this group - to see the answer, look at Putin...is he wearing this group "identifier".

The Other is the cultural salad bowl of American that demographers predict will be the majority by 2040 Unfortunately, The Other lacks a cohesive source of identity. As a result, there isn't a singular unifying message, a tribal code if you will, that allows The Other to assert it's majority role in the political arena. Successful "others" in our society have done so because of who they are rather than what they are.

We are the party of The Other. Trump honed that to a fine point in 2016. Just like the optical illusion of the two women's faces vs. the vase in the middle, by defining one side of the struggle with such precision, he defined the other - - if we choose to see it. If Trump Davidians, as you called them (probably appropriately so) are the vase, Democrats are the faces of the two women.

Trump Davidians are not the majority in this country...but as long as they retain cohesiveness in the face of our fragmentation, they will be the leadership.

Trump is the sadness on this country that has arisen from successfully exploiting that fragmentation. The most obvious is the HRC vs. Bernie "wings" of the party. Until we can create a cohesive "tribe" of others that can focus on where we want to go versus where we came from, we're going to be saddled with Trump and Trump-like leadership.

On edit: I would add that until the Democratic Party as a group can shift from tolerance (i.e. The Big Tent that lets everyone it) to proactive inclusion (The Big Tent that actively pursues and actively accepts everyone in it), we going to be watching the country's decisions get made at the big boy table where the tribal cohesion overpowers any personal "pet peeves" individuals may have. Republicans thrive on finding 51% agreement among themselves to move forward - Democrats fail on finding 1% disagreement among themselves to argue. (And that's why we're more susceptible to the siren song of the third party).