The Rift on the Left: An Overview

The 2016 U.S. Presidential Election started in earnest, but things soon became heated between two factions: The Hillary Clinton wing of the party and the “insurgent” Bernie Sanders Wing of the Party. This is an overview. Image via Disney | ABC Television Group/Flickr (Some rights reserved).

Just like I did for my Sexism in Naruto series, I’m going to give an overview for this one. It’s been awhile since I made the introduction for this series, so I want to leave my readers with something.

Now, I have already started writing a couple of posts in this series, but I cannot move forward until I write the 2016 Presidential Election Recap. That will be the hardest post for me to write but only due to the sheer volume of research and writing I still need to do.

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We Have to Revisit the 2016 Presidential Election

I had already done tons of research for the past election because I was writing about it (elsewhere), but there was a lot more research I failed to do. However, in order to give a full accounting for the past election and to remove much of my own bias, I have to do my due diligence.

How long will the recap be?* It will be pretty long since I will be discussing the overall themes of the election, as well as the three most-talked-about candidates in the entire race: Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and Bernie Sanders.

You may ask why I’m putting forth all this effort, but I will say a post from usfman challenged me. He called me “a true history buff” once. I never saw myself as one, but my posts lately have mostly been about history (and tons of research). In that respect, I want to keep my own historical record of the past election (and do so for future elections).

In short, this post will be a large summary of the past election from start to finish. I also want to use the recap as a reference point. It will lay the groundwork for the rest of the posts in this series and add more perspective.

* Note: Originally, I wanted to include a full list of the highlights, but that may be a separate post. It most likely will eclipse 10,000 words because I will account for all the highlights that happened from April 2015 until January 2017 (and even before, counting some information from the Benghazi investigations). That will make it the largest post I’ve ever written on any website!

I also want to include images (like GIF’s), enough links, and a few videos.

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The Bernie Sanders Factor

Although I tend to be long-winded in my posts, this will be a (relatively) shorter one. I’ll give it to you straight: I don’t have a lot of grievances against Bernie Sanders (or his fanbase, although there are a few elements I don’t particularly care for). It might be because I’m not emotionally attached to Sanders either way. And so that might be why this will be one of the most objective posts in this series.

In the post, I will share some of my views about Bernie Sanders and his movement and talk about where I agree with him on the issues.

Other things I will talk about include:

• How Bernie Sanders increased in popularity.
• Whether or not I agree that Sanders hurt Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
• What Sanders brought to the Democratic race.
• How Bernie Sanders’ candidacy exposed a growing rift on the left.
• A few reasons why it was harder for liberals and progressives to unify.

This will only present one piece of the puzzle and lead up to my views on Hillary Clinton’s candidacy, et al.

This post is already largely written, but it will be reviewed before posting.

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Some Hard Truths About Hillary Clinton

To be quite honest, this post will anger Hillary Clinton supporters who choose to read this. While it is not my intent to anger anyone, I will be entirely honest where it comes to Hillary Clinton’s candidacy.

It’s been 8+ months since the election ended, but many of us are still litigating it. In that case, we need to be honest about it and discuss why some people do not want to discuss the underlying issues and intra-partisan politics that brought the whole thing down and poisoned discussion. This is getting to the heart of why there is such a huge rift on the left.

In the post, I will include:

• Areas where most liberals and progressives agree, including the roles of sexism, double standards, and dirty politics played in this past election.
• Where liberals and progressives disagree (i.e., on the issues) and where Clinton stood on those very issues, based on her platform, speeches, and past actions.
• The mistakes Clinton made as a candidate.
• My overall message to Hillary Clinton’s most ardent supporters.

This post is also largely written, but it needs to be reviewed before posting. I need to look at the overall tone because I want to present it as respectfully as possible. But be forewarned: this is where much of the anger lies for most voters, no matter who they voted for. We need to understand why.

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The Internal Politics of the Democratic Party

The Hillary Clinton aspect doesn’t completely tell the story, because there are aspects of the Democratic Party I will need to visit. This post will also anger Hillary Clinton supporters and longtime Democrats because I’m going after the leadership of this party. Before, I started to do this in my DNC Chair Race post, but I will delve deeper here.

This post will include:

• A discussion of lawsuits filed against the DNC.
• The allegations aimed at the DNC and past leaders, including Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
• A recap of the 2017 DNC Chair Race.
• A discussion about money in politics. That includes Hillary Clinton’s new super PAC and the vote about donations shortly after the DNC chair race.
• The role consultants have played in the Democratic Party.
• State party races and conventions, including the past California party chair race.
• The Amount of hate aimed at Bernie Sanders, even today. That will lead me to talk about the difference between liberals and progressives and how the latter is viewed by the former.

But first, I want to talk about the so-called Unity Tour.

Note: This was originally going to be titled, “Addressing the Politics Within the DNC and Beyond.”

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The Current State of the Democratic Party

This post will be a full accounting of how much power Democrats hold across the country and how they are viewed by voters. What are the types of challenges the Democrats face in 2018 and how can they overcome them?

I will include:

• The 4-5 special elections in 2017. I will discuss how the Democrats fared in each and every one.
• A discussion about Nancy Pelosi. Nancy Pelosi’s situation is connected to at least one of the 2017 special elections.
• How Democrats’ fundraising efforts have panned out so far.
• The number of people who are registered as Democrats, compared to last year (and even earlier).
• A discussion about how the Democratic Party reached this point.
• A note about slogans. I mean, have you seen how bad they are?

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The Future of the Democratic Party

We are at a crossroads here because 2018 might determine the Democratic Party’s long-term viability. But more importantly, people’s lives, quality of life, and livelihoods are in the balance. They need a party that’s for them and they want to know if the Democratic Party is there to help them.

In this post, I will discuss if the Democratic Party is the “party of the people” and what it can do to appeal to fit that role. Alternatively, what should people do if they will not go back to the Democratic Party?

Is the Democratic Party even worth salvaging? What I find and share may very well provide the answer. This might be the most biting post in the series because it will be heavily editorialized.

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Anything Else?

Right now, I’m debating over whether or not to include an afterword, but the last post I already have planned might already serve as one.

Until then, I need to use my time wisely and get these posts to you as soon as I can. I’m giving myself a deadline of November 2017 to complete this series, but I might be able to publish these posts sooner, depending on how I do with the recap.

Oh yeah, and before I forget, please take a look at this survey and respond to the questions if you haven’t already. Your answers are much appreciated.

Also: I decided to create a political dictionary page so I can link to my definitions for certain terms, if anyone’s interested.

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• Introduction
• We Have to Revisit the 2016 Presidential Election