Democrats: Where the hell are You?

Four weeks ago Hillary Clinton conceded the election to Donald Trump. It was one of the saddest, most surreal days ever. 

Why did the Democrats lose?

{mosads}These last few weeks have shown us why. The party lacks the anger and outrage of Donald Trump and the Republican base. But the party should be angry. The list of things we should be angry about could fill a book: the outdated and undemocratic Electoral College, massive state gerrymandering, hours of free television coverage of Trump, voter suppression, James Comey — and that’s just for starters.

First the facts. Hillary Clinton received nearly 63 million popular votes to Donald Trump’s 61 million. She lost the election in “battleground states,” but only by a total of 92,000 of votes out of 124 million. This is neither a landslide, as Trump claims, nor a mandate.

Donald Trump appears to have conned his way to the White House with the help of the news media who gave him hour upon hour of uninterrupted TV coverage to shout and scream and lie with impunity. The more outrageous he was, the more coverage he got. The advertising dollars flowed in — which looks like a total conflict of interest, by the way — but ratings soared so TV executives allowed this lying, misogynist conspiracy-peddling demagogue to rage on.

The Electoral College, which has now robbed Democrats of the White House twice in 16 years, must be abolished. Ironically, it was created to prevent a demagogue from coming to power and look who we just elected.

Even Donald Trump wants to abolish it – or at least he did in 2012.

Hillary Clinton, where the heck are you, lady?

Why aren’t you out there pounding the table and demanding that we repeal this ridiculous anachronism. You received 2 million more votes than Trump. Stand up and say so— for yourself and the legions who contributed millions and spent every weekend working for your campaign.

Does anyone think Donald Trump would have disappeared if he had won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College? Hell, no. He and his henchmen would be on every network every minute of every day demanding a recount of the “rigged” election and the dismantling of the Electoral College.

Democrats should have campaigned to repeal the Electoral College after the Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote squelched Al Gore’s chances in the 2000 election.

Why didn’t we?

Democrats are oh so nice and respectful of the Constitution that we are missing taking on a great populist issue.

Then there’s the gerrymandering power grab by Republicans

described in gory detail in the book “RatF**ked”by David Daley. Masterminded by Karl Rove and bankrolled by his right wing cronies to the tune of $30 million, this sleazy 2010 plot resulted in the election of Republican state legislatures that in turn redistricted the country to ensure a Republican majority in the House even though Democrats have 1.4 million more votes in House races.

Then there’s FBI Director James Comey throwing the election to Trump by repeatedly inserting himself into the process, the second time ten days before Election Day, causing Hillary’s 5.7-percentage-point lead to drop by nearly 3 points.

What about voter suppression?

In Milwaukee County, Clinton received forty-three thousand fewer votes Obama did—nearly double Trump’s margin of victory in all of Wisconsin. In North Carolina, the Republican party bragged in a press release about how its efforts drove down African-American turnout.

Our democracy is being thwarted on two issues of particular importance to democratic voters: Nearly half of Americans think abortion should be legal in all or some circumstances. But Republicans are determined to defund Planned Parenthood, outlaw abortion, and make contraceptives harder to access. And now Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) — who opposes abortion even in cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother — is Trump’s nominee to head HHS. 

Ninety-one percent of Americans believe in background checks as a prerequisite for gun ownership, including the majority of members of the NRA. Yet, Republicans won’t even consider sensible gun measures because the NRA owns and controls the Republican party.

Hillary, where are you?

Democrats, where are you?

Where are your angry, outraged voices?

Aside from Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren—and a few others— Democrat leaders are utter wimps. They stand by and watch their party get, well, Ratf**ked. Get out there and pound the table! Fill up the airwaves with outrage. 

We are the majority. We need to show the same relentlessness as the Republicans and take our country back.

Sally Greenberg is a lifelong Democrat and works at a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C.

The views expressed by Contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.