General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Dear Senator Dianne Feinstein: This is not about you. [View all]Bucky
(54,094 posts)I think you have a legit argument about Michigan. Clinton only needed 21% of Stein's votes. And yet those voters chose Stein over Clinton. Clinton needed to win them over, but failed to do so.
In the other close states that Trump won by under 1%, Clinton needed to pick up 73% of Stein's votes in Wisconsin and almost 89% of Stein's voters in Pennsylvania. That's quite near impossible. Besides the presumptuousness of claiming that those voters somehow owed it to our side to give her a win, I don't see the argument for how this could have turned the tide in those 2 states.
See, in a democracy the leader owes it to the voters to get them to turn out, to motivate the citizens. If you describe a country where the public owes loyalty to the politicians, it isn't democratic. That's an authoritarian feature.
Michigan, 0.23% (10,704 votes) - - - - 16 EVs - votes for Stein: 51,463 = Clinton needed 20.8% of Stein's vote
Pennsylvania, 0.72% (44,292 votes)- 20 EVs - votes for Stein: 49,941 = Clinton needed 88.7% of Stein's vote
Wisconsin, 0.77% (22,748 votes) - - 10 EVs - votes for Stein: 31,072 = Clinton needed 73.2% of Stein's vote
More importantly, the real difference wasn't in the people who turned out for Stein. Obviously, I think they made the wrong choice. But it is their choice. I'll save my anger for the weak turnout, given the alternative was Trump. But still, can we be mad at those who didn't get out to vote? Look below at how Democratic voters turnout out in a lower percentage compared to 2012. The failure was one of bringing people out, a failure to inspire.
I think we can't just be like the avant garde artiste who snarls "Ooooo, those heathens fail to appreciate what I'm painting here." It was our job to give them an inspiring choice, dealing with the voters that we had, not the voters we wanted. The responsibility can't be placed on citizens we didn't manage to win over, especially in the face of such an egregious con artist. The buck stops here.