TheLeviathan

You don't get it. Neither did most of the left-wing or the Democratic party and that's why you're sitting here trying to make the best out of the ash heap that was last night. You haven't had even the slightest clue, from the get go, what was going on. And the worst part is, if you go with that last line and think that's the answer out of this, you're only going to make it worse. I've said it a dozen times - this isn't going away. Trump won not just the uneducated, he won the majority of white educated as well. This isn't "black lash". This isn't gender inequity. It's none of that easy crap. If you fall back on those kinds of explanations you're going to do exactly what the Republicans did when Obama mopped the floor with them - you're going to go down a much darker, more insulated path that will only further drive the wedge. They blamed angry black voters drummed up by the Dems. They didn't take a good, long look at themselves, they just played politics with the results, embraced the worst of themselves, and doubled down on the same mistakes. You know how Obama got elected? Much the same way Trump did. People are sick of the same crap in Washington. The same names, the same policies, the same glad handing and back patting. Obama was an outsider. Bernie was an outsider. Trump was an outsider. People are desperately trying to send the message of "enough!" and both parties seem to take that message as: "Gee, I must be doing things right. It's the other party pandering to X group. Well we won't stand for that, we got it right! They're just a bunch of *fill in easy cop out insult here*" Except neither side has it right. Neither side really gives a rip about the black voters that Obama brought out. Neither side gives a rip about the white voters that flowed out last night to vote for Trump. The greedy rich right wingers don't. The snooty urban liberals don't. And this election, like the ones before it, shows that people KNOW that they don't care. How many more open rejections will there have to be until one of the losers takes a good, long look in the mirror and tries to reach for sanity and healing rather than blame?

Not only is Trump going to win, he may win comfortably. Sweet Christmas.

That's probably a bit too conspiracy-theoryish for me, but I hear what you're saying. The gerrymandering thing is absolutely right, the House is pretty much locked in for the Republicans for as long as we can foresee.

That's a good question. I'm not sure, but doesn't this feel like an outright rejection of one party sort of like what propelled Obama up into prominence? It seems like another emotional shift built out of frustration. But I don't know if anything undoes crookedness, it would appear to be that some people think Trump is that solution. I tend to think we have to get to the root of the frustration and I'm not sure either party really wants to do that. I'm spitballing, kind of shocked. What do you think about your own question?

Some of it is ridiculous. It's based in racism and gender issues along with a host of other awful *@$% I can't stand, but what is true is that the left has long ignored the middle class. And, more importantly, openly despised the white lower class. As much as we justifiably lob bombs at the right wing for sucking up to their money base and the wealthy, the left is just as guilty sucking up to their base. The middle gets lost by both, but at least the right wing isn't openly hostile, that's the difference. And they are paying for their hostility tonight. I imagine in 4-8 years the right wing will pay for it similarly when a Trump presidency does nothing for them either.

My suggestion would be to go back and look at that discussion, it might be harder on the local level than you think. There are all kinds of ridiculous rules out there to suppress third party runs. In that conversation I pointed out how obnoxious the differences were in Illinois for third parties. They had to have exponentially more signatures, they had to field a candidate for every position, they constantly had their signatures challenged in expensive, time consuming court cases, etc. I agree with your general point, but what I'm pointing out is that while that would be great to happen, practically speaking the two parties make sure it's incredibly difficult and often bordering on the impossible.

Again though, this is easier said than done. Hell, a borderline third party candidate with a surging popularity base (Bernie) couldn't even get the Dems to give him a fair shot. Imagine what it's like if you're outside the party if they'll do that to someone who plays by their own rules?

If he closes out Michigan....Wisconsin may not matter.

Truth is a hard thing to dispel. The left is going to have to figure out that while a lot of the resentment leveled at them is ridiculous, there are kernels of truth in it too. Those kernels are central to what is happening tonight. At least, that's the vibe I get from the areas I'm from in rural Minnesota.

I think the edge Bernie would've had is that you can't call him "establishment". That may have been enough, but the problem for Bernie was always the fact that he couldn't turn out the non-white vote. Though, in his defense, it looks like Hillary may have had trouble with that too.

It's crazy to think that after months of talking about the Republican Party crumbling in the ashes of Trump....that it may in fact be the Dems doing that. Holy crap.

Stave off the inevitable rioting?

Possibly. The Dems may always look back at the decision to choose Hillary as their undoing. I think that will be another big take away from this race - did the Dems misread the tea leaves on Bernie vs. Hillary?

There's that too, but I wouldn't underestimate the other part of that. There is so much disdain for a lot of left-wing ideas and the way the systems seem rigged against non-urbanites that I lean towards that being a lot of the fuel for tonight. Some of that Hillary hate is wrapped in that disdain. She's sort of the poster child (not fairly) for that system.

I'm also shocked Neil Allen is staying.

Castro or Avila seem like the best bets.

Ohio and Florida have already flipped. That's nearly a 50 vote swing. I think, too often, those without experience in that large swath of America that like Trump underestimate how much of the country disagrees with their thinking. Clearly that's been the case this entire election and, even if he loses, the results demonstrate the truth of that discord.

Exactly, the wing that made Trump possible has already won the moral victory. Now they may win the war.

I'm really curious how you can say that at this point. Right now, things don't look that way at all.

That's the only hope at this point. Both candidates will have legit challenges in all of the major swing states from what it looks like now. But right now this is about worst case scenario for Clinton.

Don't you hate being right all the time? I do....

Holy crap....he's leading in far more swing states than I'm comfortable with. Also, with as close as these states are, there is no way this ordeal is over tonight.

Not encouraging unless you think about role-players in those situations. I have no problem swapping out Danny Santana, Robbie Grossman, or Centeno with grizzled vets. As long as those grizzled vets aren't stealing playing time away from the players that need it.

I think Santana can net a really solid AA player that is in the 40-70 range for Top 100 prospects. Something like that. His contract and performance in this offseason should make him a very attractive asset. I think Dozier can land you a near ready or ready young arm and 1-2 other pieces in the lower levels with upside.

Thanks for doing these, I'd love to do one (I did last season) but with so much hinging on trades that need to happen I don't even know where to begin. Trade speculation is fun, but it's also incredibly difficult to pin down. Plouffe, Santana, and Dozier need to be traded. Two of those three can net good to great value IMO. The other just needs to be gone.