Where to start? Disappointment, surely, but also frustration. Frustration that about 62 million people, slightly less than 20% of the total population, believe that Trump will solve their problems. That he will somehow poke the Establishment in the eye and make them do the right thing - build walls, get rid of immigrants, and put religious restrictions on Muslims, just for starters.
I could say that Trump is a conman, narcissist, racist, xenophobe, sexual predator, unread, with the emotional development of 7-year old. But I won't - it wouldn't be nice.
Better not to focus on the negatives of this election outcome but find positive actions to take that support a more inclusive United States.
Where to go, what to do? One very near-term activity that deserves more public commentary is the selection of the minority leader of the House of Representatives and a new chairperson of the Democratic National Committee.
Nancy Pelosi is the current minority leader and is currently favored to continue in the role for the next Congress in January. Should she continue? That is decided by a secret vote of the Democratic caucus in the House on November 30, a delay of about one week to allow for more discussion within the caucus. Her only current challenger is Tim Ryan, a 14-year Representative from Ohio, and it's unlikely that he can secure the support needed to overcome Pelosi. Where are the challengers?
She should have challengers because her track record of leading Democrats to regain control of the House is a track record of continual losses for the past decade. She has been an able money raiser for Democrats but this has the dark side of turning the Democratic Party into a corporate money machine, exactly the result that Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump railed against in the primaries. The Democrats smell like the Republicans and it's no wonder that the public holds Congress in low regard.
The chairperson of the Democratic National Committee can set the direction for the future in the sense that this individual can be more than a money-raiser. The Party needs to secure governorships, win Senate and House elections, and build a "bench" of up-and-coming men and women to hold office nationwide. So far, this isn't happening to judge by the results. Who is the person to do this? The old habit of selecting a current office-holder (think Wasserman-Shultz in the past or Keith Ellison who is currently running) is a mistake. Make this a full-time job by someone outside Congress, someone who can focus 24-7 on the need to get the Democratic Party out of the quicksand it's now in.
Howard Dean and Martin O'Malley are both contenders for the position, but why not consider Joe Biden? Biden had the connections to help build the Party and has a secure relationship with the voters that are needed by the Party. This particular position is critical to the next twenty years of politics - either the Democratic Party continues losing and becomes more marginalized or it starts winning again with positions and beliefs that most Americans can support.
I could say that Trump is a conman, narcissist, racist, xenophobe, sexual predator, unread, with the emotional development of 7-year old. But I won't - it wouldn't be nice.
Better not to focus on the negatives of this election outcome but find positive actions to take that support a more inclusive United States.
Where to go, what to do? One very near-term activity that deserves more public commentary is the selection of the minority leader of the House of Representatives and a new chairperson of the Democratic National Committee.
Nancy Pelosi is the current minority leader and is currently favored to continue in the role for the next Congress in January. Should she continue? That is decided by a secret vote of the Democratic caucus in the House on November 30, a delay of about one week to allow for more discussion within the caucus. Her only current challenger is Tim Ryan, a 14-year Representative from Ohio, and it's unlikely that he can secure the support needed to overcome Pelosi. Where are the challengers?
She should have challengers because her track record of leading Democrats to regain control of the House is a track record of continual losses for the past decade. She has been an able money raiser for Democrats but this has the dark side of turning the Democratic Party into a corporate money machine, exactly the result that Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump railed against in the primaries. The Democrats smell like the Republicans and it's no wonder that the public holds Congress in low regard.
The chairperson of the Democratic National Committee can set the direction for the future in the sense that this individual can be more than a money-raiser. The Party needs to secure governorships, win Senate and House elections, and build a "bench" of up-and-coming men and women to hold office nationwide. So far, this isn't happening to judge by the results. Who is the person to do this? The old habit of selecting a current office-holder (think Wasserman-Shultz in the past or Keith Ellison who is currently running) is a mistake. Make this a full-time job by someone outside Congress, someone who can focus 24-7 on the need to get the Democratic Party out of the quicksand it's now in.
Howard Dean and Martin O'Malley are both contenders for the position, but why not consider Joe Biden? Biden had the connections to help build the Party and has a secure relationship with the voters that are needed by the Party. This particular position is critical to the next twenty years of politics - either the Democratic Party continues losing and becomes more marginalized or it starts winning again with positions and beliefs that most Americans can support.