This is what happens

Wed, Nov 9, 2016

This is what happens when you play not to lose.

This is what happens when you fail to learn from 2010. Or 2014.

This is what happens when the lesson learned from the 2008 primary is collusion to prevent challengers instead of assessing your own shortcomings.

This is what happens when you spend 8 years ignoring the section of your electorate that takes you over 50%.

This is what happens when you run away from your biggest accomplishments.

This is what happens when you rest on the laurels of 8 year old email and social media #hashtag strategies, while they spend near $200 million building a system to squeeze every last vote out of a dwindling electoral block.

This is what happens when the Voting Rights Act is gutted with barely a whimper.

This is what happens when you respond to 8 years of deliberate obstructionism by moving closer to the center.

This is what happens when only one side considers bipartisanship anything more than a buzzword.

This is what happens when you accept poison pill compromises to get landmark achievements pushed through.

This is what happens when the journalists tasked with speaking truth to power have more in common with those in power than with 99% of the electorate.

This is what happens when you ignore populist election results in other Western democracies.

This is what happens when you spent the last 20 years insulating yourself against any and all criticism.

This is what happens when you play not to lose.

This is what happens in a displaced nation.

This is what happens.