I need to vent because I am really pissed. Some of these views may have already been shared here in other diaries. I strongly believe that Democrats lost yesterday because they have no spine!
Way back since Nixon and Reagan; on through Fox and right wing hate radio, Democrats have allowed to opposition to define them. Democrats apologize for their position on issues. Hell, they won't even call themselves liberals - we have to be called progressives - a name I hate! Can you imagine a conservative ashamed to call them self a conservative? Their yard signs try to out do each other in who is the most conservative. I can't remember the last time I saw a yard sign with someone saying they were a liberal. It was probably before Reagan. Democrats lost yesterday because many of their candidates ran away from the core values of the party. Hundreds of thousands of people did not vote because they had no one to vote for who stood for something. There was no one that represented these voters.
The corporate wing of the Democratic Party can go screw themselves, because they sure as hell have screwed us. Many Democrats have been brain washed into thinking that liberals cannot win; that the U.S. is a right of center country and that they have to be Republican lite.
People may not realize it, but this is a left of center country and high percentages of people have liberal values. They just don't know it. High percentages of people support keeping or expanding Social Security and Medicare. People that understand the ACA support it. A majority of people are concerned about global warming, support choice, don't want U.S. military intervention around the world. Republicans are really good at snappy little bumperstickers that brain dead people like; while Democrats are really bad at educating people on issues such as the ACA.
Dems must get better at being proud of the core values of the party and explaining them in a way people can understand. I would guess that yesterday the vast majority of voters voted against their own self interest. That is the fault of the Democrats for not making these voters understand how issues affect them personally.
I don't know what the solution is; but I do know it's not Hillary type corporate Democrats who stand for nothing and are basically moderate Republicans. We need to re-energize the party from the bottom up with liberals who are true to our values and proud of them.
Thanks for listening to a very proud liberal.