# Re the 2016 POTUS election 5 months later are there any "lessons" for the Dems going forward? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 15, 2017, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-2016-potus-election-5-months-later-are-there-any-lessons-for-the-dems-going-forward/784510 "2017-04-15T16:24:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 40
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-2016-potus-election-5-months-later-are-there-any-lessons-for-the-dems-going-forward/784510/40 "2017-04-17T05:42:45Z")
Trumpism isn’t a short term problem. Democrats will need to figure out how to fight it after he’s gone. The right is well practiced in class rhetoric, but Trump took it to another level. Imagine if a competent politician followed the blue print, like someone who doesn’t insult gold star families, women, and minorities, or someone who can talk in complete sentences. > [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > I don’t believe this is correct. The Democratic Party had a platform. They still do. If it’s so great they should proudly list positions from it when asked what Democrats stand for or why anyone should vote for them. > [@](#): > > I’m not sure I follow this. I would think that going “full progressive” might backfire if they want to pick up votes. How many pure progressives are there who actually vote? The way to fight fake populism that’s a trojan horse for the 1% is with real populism that helps people. That’s why Sanders is currently the most popular American politician, why progressive policies poll well when removed from vilified trigger words, and how Dems rode to decades of success off the New Deal. I agree this is unlikely in the near future and the DNC will follow your logic, and they also hold **dalej42’s** view about the left being a cancer. > [@](#): > > Also, why should they change anything if they’re sure to win due to Trump backfire? They don’t need to tack right in that case. Democrats make a virtue of hurting their base in the name of grand bargains and chasing the mythical center. The old calculus was it didn’t matter since their base had no where else to go, but that isn’t true anymore. That’s why the blue wall crumbled as they rushed out to vote for someone who pretended to care about them. I haven’t seen any indication the party brass will change this in the future. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-2016-potus-election-5-months-later-are-there-any-lessons-for-the-dems-going-forward/784510)._