The SeedSing 2016 Year in Politics and Society: The Top Political Stories

Happy 2017 all.

Sorry to say, but we need to look back at 2016 one last time. The upcoming year is going to be quite different in politics than any year within many of our readers lifetimes. With that in mind, we here at SeedSing want to count down the five most important political stories of 2016. There are many important things that happened globally when it comes to politics, but our stories mostly look at the United States. What happened in the US will have massive global implications in the years to come. These events were crucial in creating the uncertain future that will begin in 2017.

We are going to start with the most overhyped political story of 2016. The endless coverage of Hillary Clinton being the first woman to be at the top of a major party ticket for President is the most inconsequential story of 2016. The Clinton campaign barely used this angle when the Secretary Clinton was on the campaign trail. It was widely accepted that Hillary Clinton was going to be the Democratic Party nominee, and the media decided not to cover the historic angle. It is a shame, because what Hillary Clinton did, by winning the election by a margin of nearly three million votes, is historic. It is an overrated story because no one talked about like they should have.

The fifth most important political story is the insanity that was the Republican Presidential Primary. Many, including us, thought that former Florida Governor Jeb Bush would easily win the nomination. If there was going to be a Barrack Obama like upset, it would maybe come from Florida Senator Marco Rubio. As the weeks went by, and New York businessman Donald Trump kept getting just enough of the plurality in primary states to win, things started to get strange. The endless debates started to focus on penis size, the attractiveness of spouses, and whose father helped to get JFK assassinated. There was no substance, no vision, just a comedy of errors. This chaos led to Donald Trump finally securing the nomination in June.

The fourth most important political story is the fact that the British people voted to leave the European Union, or Brexit if you want. Brexit is a bad, bad, idea, and the voters knew this. In what was soon to be a trend, the middle and lower class voters of Britain did not care about the consequences and wanted to send a message. No one in the press got it right. The stats gurus who set betting lines on public opinion got it wrong. Brexit sent a shockwave out that saw British Prime Minister David Cameron resigning, and most of the Conservative leaders actively running away from being the new leader of the British government. Theresa May stepped up to the plate and has actively delayed Brexit, even looking for her own exit to Brexit.

The third most important political story is the failure and incompetence of the professional media. During most of 2016 many media outlets, including SeedSing, treated Donald Trump as a joke. Many media outlets, mainly NBC, were treating Trump with kid gloves. Clinton was questioned for every small detail, but Trump's glaring problems were glossed over so the news networks could get better ratings.The stats gurus at Princeton, 538, The New Times, and many others were giving Hillary Clinton a huge advantage to win the presidency. They were all wrong. Once the election was over, these newspeople spent their time covering their own rear ends. It was never their fault. The only people taking actual responsibility were comedians like Stephen Colbert and John Oliver. People like Nate Silver and the clowns at Morning Joe were busy throwing fire in every direction. The need the media has for fame and profit outweighed the safety and future of America.

The second most important political story is the death of the Democratic Party. Since Bill Clinton was elected as President in 1992, the Democratic Party has almost entirely given up on trying to win any competitive election outside of the President. In the early part of the 21st century, then DNC chairman Howard Dean started to reverse this trend, but once Barrack Obama was elected, Dean’s plan was scrapped so the Obama campaign could demand all the money and resources. 2016 proved to be the Waterloo of the DNC’s President or bust strategy. The so-called “safe” Senate map did not give the Democratic Party a majority. Republicans took control of more state legislators, Governor mansions, and the White House. The Democratic Party responded to these humiliating setbacks by maintaining the status quo. California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi was once again elected to the position of Minority Leader. The same old talking heads the party has been keeping around far too long on the news networks all kept their jobs. The Democratic Party’s choice to keep the same failed leaders shows that personal glory for a few is more important than a more secure America for all.

The number one most important political story of 2016 is the ascension of Donald Trump. From the first rally, where Trump had to pay people to attend, to election night, Donald Trump is a political candidate like one not experienced in our lifetimes. He used juvenile insults on his opponents, threatened to jail Hillary Clinton, bragged about sexually assaulting women, claimed his use of bankruptcy law makes him a good businessman, and put the reputation of Russia ahead of the safety of the United States. All of these issues still caused the Republican nominee to lose the popular vote by nearly 3 million, but he did gain the needed electoral votes to be the next President of the United States. Since his popular defeat, but electoral victory, Donald Trump has spent his transition time insulting CIA intelligence professionals, media outlets, and his opponents. His cabinet is mostly made up of wealth seekers who actively want to make America less welcoming to anyone that is chasing the American dream. The rise of Donald Trump to the highest office in the land has not humbled the thin skinned tabloid mainstay. Over half the country does not want him to be President, but he is, and America needs to be ready.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Are you part of the minority that voted for Donald Trump? Tell us why. 

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing

The Case for Donald Trump

The case is filled with lead and swings in the general direction of the candidate.

In case you live under a rock and still find time to read SeedSing.com, there is a pretty contentious race going on for the Presidency of the United States. New York businessman Donald Trump is running against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. There are a few other people on the ballot, but they have no chance whatsoever, so we will not name them here.

Are you one of those undecided voters? Really? What is wrong with you? Well we are going to give the undecided, and the determinedly decided, voters a look at why each candidate deserves your vote for President of the United States. Enjoy, and make damn sure you vote on or before (if allowed in your state) November 8th. 

Why Donald Trump should be President of the United States

With the current state of the national political climate, any Democratic candidate has a huge electoral advantage over their Republican counterpart. It is the facts of math. Mitt Romney in 2012 and John McCain in 2008 were blown out in the electoral college vote because of the Democratic Party's advantage. In order to win the election, Donald Trump will have to get a state, or two, who have leaned towards the Democratic candidate for nearly a decade. Trump has to gain votes that Romney and McCain could not. Being so unpopular, how does Trump gain these voters?

The fact is that the only way Donald Trump will win the US Presidency is if enough people vote for him because he is not Hillary Clinton. To this vital group of people, who can swing the entire election, the case for Donald Trump is that he is not Hillary Clinton. That is it, these people want to find a way to keep Clinton out of office.  The anybody but Hillary crowd need to break for Trump. If that happens, than the Republican nominee may have gained the voters the GOP have been searching for over the last two elections.

Why does Donald Trump deserve the lion's share of the never Hillary voters? To begin with, Trump is definitely not like Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump is not like any politician in modern memory. The election of Donald J Trump to the Presidency of the United States would be shocking. For years, many people have run for elected office claiming to be outsiders. Trump is genuinely an outsider. He has ran as a third party candidate. He has been registered as a Democrat longer than he has been a Republican. The talk of being an outsider is never right, except when it is Donald Trump doing the talking. For people saying that the problem with politics is politicians, Trump is the messiah they have been waiting for.

Donald Trump has also put a great amount of effort into running for President. While most of the Republican field took the electorate for granted, Trump was always on tv, and at rallies, making his case. When the fundraising has been a little light, Trump has put his own money up. Hillary Clinton has run a very low key, and low energy, campaign, while Trump is a force that never stops. His constant presence has had many consequences, but no one can deny his effort. Being a figure who has taken advantage of other people's hard work, it is shocking how much energy Trump has put into his 18 month run for the President. Donald Trump may be accused of a lot of bad stuff, but being a lazy candidate should not be one of those accusations.

If Donald Trump is elected to the Presidency of the United States, it will end the Clinton Dynasty. The Democratic Party has been crippled at every level because of the hording of resources and manpower done by the Hillary Clinton campaign (just take a look at the Ohio Problem). The constant defense of the sins of Bill Clinton has caused the Democratic Party to lose the moral high ground. Any Trump accusation is turned around to make a similar, if not worse, accusation against former President Clinton. True or not, there is an unfortunate history of Bill Clinton and infidelity, and the left wing never condemns the former President. The mainstream media, along with the entire Republican Party, has spent decades litigating Bill and Hillary Clinton. Many people are tired of the overzealous investigations, and the same amount of people are tired of the general corruption that follows the Clintons. Make no mistake, there are plenty of scandals surrounding Donald Trump, but they are new scandals. The nation does not have the same kind of fatigue concerning the Trump scandals. There will be plenty of media, and maybe even a few congressional, investigations into a possible President Donald Trump. That does not matter. What is important to the nation's psyche is that we are finally investigation someone not named Clinton.

There is also no way of knowing what a Donald Trump Presidency would look like. I know many people find that frightening, but to others it will be an exciting breath of fresh air. We know what we get from a Hillary Clinton Presidency. She will help Wall Street, not fix Obamacare, continue the terrible foreign policy Bush II started in the Middle East, protect her big campaign supporters at the expense of everyone else. Hillary Clinton will act like every President before her because that is what the system rewards. Trump is an unknown. He says a lot of things like building the wall, and tearing up trade and defense treaties, but he does not have the unilateral power to do these things. Congress will definitely not follow the currently laid out Trump plan. How will President Trump react to this? The last time there was such an unknown, and feared, person in the Oval Office his name was Teddy Roosevelt. History has judged President Roosevelt quite well. Could Trump take his unknown qualities and change America for the better? 

Do you want an unknown quantity, who is very high energy, and will finally kick the Clinton machine to the curb, then Donald J Trump is your man. His language may be rough, his past is filled with landmines, and his business acumen is questionable, but he is definitely not a part of the same DC machine that has given us our current broken government. Voting for Donald Trump is like diving into the old quarry late at night. You have no idea how far down it is, how deep the water is, and if you will actually survive, but it sure gets the heart racing. It is up to America to decide if we want to make that jump. The only thing we risk is death, paralysis, or one hell of thrill. Leap at your own risk.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is not embarressed about writing what is not in his heart. Why does he have no shame? Because journalism has no shame. Be shameless and write for SeedSing. 

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are not Equally Terrible

Politics is all about bad math

Have you been checking out your Facebook feed lately? There is a lot of insightful political talk going on? Too many people use their social networks not to try and gain support for their given political candidate, but they want to trash the other side. With every new hiccup coming from their chosen political campaign, people rush to the internet and let the world know that the other side is filled with brain eating monsters. This behavior is not just living in the world of amateur want to be political minds of social media, the national press engages in the same tactics. If one candidate does something terrible, the press balances it with an attack on the other candidate. Even worse, the opinion shows go all in and defend their chosen candidate, no matter what their talking heads have been preaching for years. It does not matter what a candidate does, it only matters that the other one is equally as bad. Democracy in action.

The latest round of memes making there way around the world wide web concerns the fact that no one likes the binary choice of Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump. Yes there are other candidates, but let's be grownups and understand that only Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have a real, not imaginary, chance of winning the presidency. The political discourse has devolved into the engaged internet political pundits wanting a do over. They do not like Trump, and they really do not like Clinton. The latest infection of not so clever memes has come up after the Trump "Grab them by the pussy" tapes and all the new allegations of sexual abuse being levied towards the Republican nominee. Fox News has predictably used their most un-American pundits, people like Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, the Fox and Friends jamokes, to go all out and attack the alleged history of corruption and sexual assault from Bill and Hillary Clinton. The supposed news anchors of Fox News just try to set up an equivalency of terribleness between Hillary and Donald. If Trump says / does something bad, the Clinton campaign has also done something not similar but still really bad. Other media outlets like the network news, Sunday political shows, and cable follow the Fox News ratings grab formula and report on the same equivalency of terribleness. The message is clear, if Donald Trump is bad, Hillary Clinton must be at least as terrible.

Hillary Clinton has a long, rocky, history in the public arena. There are many scandals she is either directly, or indirectly, been a part of for nearly thirty years. Things like Bill Clinton's history of sexual indiscretions, Whitewater, the private email server used during Hillary's tenure as Secretary of State, have been gleefully investigated again and again by Republicans in congress. These defenders of fiscal restraint have no problem using millions of taxpayers dollars to litigate the same issue again and again. Their lack of concern for saving the taxpayers is equal only to their abuse of power in going after the Clintons. We can thank the GOP for thirty years of pointless, and wasteful, investigations that have produced nothing but failure. Hillary's scandals have been kept alive due to Republican impotence.

Then we have the crackpot conspiracy theories that the GOP refuses to give up on. Since the Clinton's famous 60 minutes interview that aired immediately after the 1992 Super Bowl, Republican opinion leaders (i.e. Rush Limbaugh) have been going after Hillary Clinton about every trivial thing. She is ugly, she is a bitch, she is a lesbian, she is a woman who does not respect her place in society, all of these hateful, and non-important, character traits have been used against Hillary by the fringes and mainstream media. The are still being used today. Embarrassingly, the details surrounding the suicide of Hillary's former law partner Vince Foster are still being discussed all over the internet. The fact that the Clinton's took furniture and other items from the White House after President Bill Clinton's Presidency is still treated like one of the worst things any former first family has ever done. Most people still do not the truth about what happened. Many of the self righteous media types slamming the Clinton's conveniently forget about all the freebies that Ronald and Nancy Reagan received while at the White House. What the Clinton's did was wrong, just as wrong as what the Reagan's did. In the petty act of using the White House as a gift giving apparatus, the Clinton's and Reagan's are equally terrible.

This leads us to Donald Trump. With all the Clinton problems, the public wants to equate the Trump problems as part of the same culture. Just recently Donald Trump was hit with the damning off record tape of he and Billy Bush casually talking about sexual assault. That was excused as boy's locker room talk. Since then, and for decades before, women have come out to accuse Trump of sexual assault. This is excused as being no worse than what was alleged about Bill Clinton. Trump has used a tax code that favors the rich to fail upwards whenever another one of business ventures fails. This is excused by saying that Trump is a great business man. Trump's long, proven, history of infidelity and ugly divorces has been part of the Donald's story since his separation from first wife Ivana Trump. This is excused by his acolytes by saying it is all ok because Donald Trump is now a good christian man and should be forgiven. Trump uses cheap, unregulated, overseas labor for many of his projects, and regularly does not pay his contracts to american workers. This is excused again by saying that Trump is a smart business man. There is also the racism, hate, and hints of wanting violence on display in Donald Trump's rallies. This is excused by saying Trump is just speaking for a "silent" majority who have no voice. Cracked.com has even more, true and proven, terrible things that Donald Trump has done. Donald Trump is responsible for things we would not let a candidate for school board to get away with, much less a major party candidate for President.

With the two candidates history, how in the world can one say that Clinton and Trump are equally terrible? What Hillary Clinton has been accused of, and litigated by the court of public opinion, is what we can connect to any politician who is been in power for a long time. That does not make it right, but that is the current reality of American politics. We treat these elected officials like royalty, so they act like royalty. Did Hillary Clinton knowingly hide things from the American people? Probably. Has she used public service to increase her families wealth? Definitely. Does she say one thing to her donors in private and something contradictory to the voters. Absolutely, that is how are political system works today.

Do you know who else has done what Hillary Clinton does? Every single person elected to public office. Tea party heroes like Jim Jordan still forces  the government to buy tanks the US Army says are a waste of taxpayer money. He does it because of powerful political donors who make the tanks. President George W Bush and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales deliberately did not turn over millions of emails subpoenaed by the US Congress  because the emails were on a private server run by the RNC. The Chief of Staff to sitting Vice President Dick Cheney was convicted of outing a CIA agent because the agent's husband was a political enemy. Scooter Libby made America weaker and spent time in prison. President George W Bush pardoned Libby as a political favor. Did the press feel the need to balance Hillary Clinton's history with these cases of political greed and pettiness?

Donald Trump's terrible ideas, and business struggles, are not part of a broken political culture. His terribleness is born in the fact that Donald Trump only cares about his own personal well being. There is nothing in his history that shows a man who is trying to help anyone out. He inherited a fortune and used an economic system built to protect the wealthy to protect his failures. He used his money to acquire, and eventually discard, women. He used his celebrity to take what he wants, forgetting that there are people he is actively hurting. Trump does not care about any of this, and many people cheer him on for this. Donald Trump is not trying to appease a political constituency. He is not trying to push a public agenda. Donald Trump is actively trying to keep a world alive where Donald Trump is the most important person. Trump is correct when he says that he is not a politician. Politicians have to care about others in order to win elected office. Trump does not cater to anyone, unless that person is Donald Trump.

That is what makes Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump different. Clinton has been trying to serve other people, and in the process has been part of a broken and corrupt political system. Hillary Clinton is no different than any other politician in the swamp of Washington D.C.. Trump is corrupt due to his own narcissism. He has no will to help anyone who is not Donald Trump. The system did not make Trump bad, he has been exhibiting this terrible behavior as long as the press has been covering him.

Many people use Clinton's scandals to dismiss her because she is the Democratic Party nominee. Voters who identify as Republicans do not want the Democrat to win, so her scandals are brought to the forefront like any other opposition candidate's scandals would be. You do not want the Democrat to win, then you need justification on why they are unworthy. The apprehension to Donald Trump has little to do with the fact of him being the Republican nominee. His terribleness is wholly his own and not part of a larger political culture. His scandals are not part of a D.C. culture. Donald Trump has personally created his own political struggles through his greed and immorality. Clinton is a politician, Trump is dangerously selfish. That is not different sides of the same terrible coins.

Stop with the equivalence of terribleness between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. They may both have things we do not like, but it is not even close to equal. If you do not like Hillary Clinton, don't vote for her. What you can not do is claim that both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are equally flawed. Clinton is part of a system that has enlarged elected officials for a very long time. The system needs to be reformed. Donald Trump is part of a system that is anti-american and anti-progress. The system that helps Donald Trump to succeed needs to be discarded. There is no equivalence.

RD 

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Listen to RD and Ty discuss the history of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on the newest X Millennial Man Podcast. What do you think of the current state of American politics? Tell us all about it. 

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Day After: Democratic National Convention Edition

The halls are empty, beware your front door

History has been made. Hillary Clinton is like the 40th woman to ever run for President of the United States. She follows in the grand footsteps of Victoria Woodhall, Lenora Fulani, and Roseanne Barr. I know about all of these other women because my Republican leaning friends on social media want everyone to know that Hillary is not making history. Republicans need to find anything that will take the spotlight away from the Democratic party. Plus, they have been playing the hate Hillary Clinton game for over two decades. Sorry to say, but all the Republican apologists out there are wrong. Hillary Clinton is the first women to ever be the nominee for President by a major political party. The former First Lady, US Senator, and Secretary of State is the first women ever who has a chance at actually winning the election. The Republican voter can continue to try and deny progress. The fact is that history was made in Philadelphia this week. A woman has a legitimate chance of becoming President of the United States.

Once the unpleasant affair with Debbie Wasserman Schultz was swept away, he 2016 Democratic National Convention was everything the Republican National Convention was not. The star power was real, and not filled with c listers from 30 years ago. The speakers talked about the growth and greatness of America. The candidate was not a suprise usurper, but someone who has been working to this moment for almost a decade. The defeated rival gave a full endorsement to the nominee. The four days in Philadelphia saw the Democratic Party celebrating their recent past, and getting ready to create a new future.

The speakers of the 2016 Democratic National Convention were the exact opposite of what was seen in Cleveland and the best of the GOP. It is clear that the Democratic Party is currently blessed with a group of great orators. Former President Bill Clinton can give a speech to thousands of people, and make each every one of those people feel like Bill is talking only to them. Current President Obama can build excitement like no other politician. Vice Presidential nominee Tim Kaine did his duty by attacking the bluster of Donald Trump. Vice President Joe Biden talked of personal tragedy, and the need to be a servant to the people. First Lady Michelle Obama used her place in history to talk about the evolution of American society. Khizr Khan, whose son died in Iraq protecting his squad, showed the backward looking GOP what being a 21st century American is all about. It was the best speech of either convention.

Late last night, Hillary Clinton walked out to engrave her name into the history books. Dressed in a white pantsuit, a clothing style owned by former Secretary of State, she took the stage and gave the most important speech of her career. Last week I showed dissapointment in the overly long, and incredibly gloomy Donald Trump speech, Clinton exceeded expectations with her address. I was worried that she could not deliver on the same level as all the other DNC speakers. Clinton is not known for giving many speeches in public. Yet for nearly an hour, Hillary Clinton laid out her plan, and knocked down her opponent. The GOP's nominee used hate and fear. Clinton used the words of Ronald Reagan and FDR. Trump said America was failing. Clinton said our greatness is still growing. The thing I kept thinking is that if this was a high school student council election, Clinton is the candidate that actual cares about student government, and Trump just calls out the football team (San Dimas high school football RULES). The goody goody always wins the election over the meathead. 

The dark cloud hanging over the Democratic National Convention was that of the Bernie Sanders supporters. After Ted Cruz used is time to not endorse his party'e nominee last week, many feared the Vermont Senator would do the same thing. Sanders enthusiastically endorsed Clinton, even to the misguided boos of his supporters. As the week went on, anytime someone referenced Sanders, the tv cameras would cut to the runner up looking quite disgruntled. The inept media kept trying to make it look like the Democratic Party was fracturing, and unity was not going to happen. Outside of a few ego filled protesters chanting during big speeches, the Sanders revolution fizzled like the Never Trumpers. In order to have a story, the press need a split party, like that of the GOP. Poor Fox News, and even venerable PBS, could never get that fight going. Lord did they try.

The long grueling primary season is officially at an end. Trump v Clinton: Dawn of an Ugly Presidential Race is now upon us. Battleground states will be terrific, until their not. The endless narrative of the Clinton scandals will occupy our television sets. The only thing I know at the end of July is that Trump will somehow make America great again, and Hillary Clinton will try to be the liberal icon Democrats have been waiting for since Mario Cuomo. Oh I also learned that the White House was built by some well fed slaves. Thanks Bill O'Reilly, your idiocy is the thing that never changes with each Presidential Election.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He would be happy to go on The O'Reilly Factor and tell confront Bill on his lack of historical knowledge and his lack of human feeling. Come on tough guy, contact us.

The Day After: South Carolina Edition Part 2

The cold of February gives way to slightly less cold of Super Tuesday

Can we finally close the door on feeling the Bern?

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton predictable crushed Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in the South Carolina primary on Saturday. Clinton won almost every demographic by an extremely large margin. There was one demographic it looks like Sanders did best Clinton in,  white voters under 30. Unfortunately for the Green Mountain State Senator, that demographic accounted for less than 15% of the Democrats that voted in the primary. With wins in three out of four February primary states, and the large amount of committed delegates, Hillary Clinton is well on her way to securing the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States.

Should Clinton be worried about Sanders once again winning the white millennial vote? According to Pew Research, the youngest millennial is now 18, and the group makes up the largest voting block in America. They have surpassed the number of baby boomers, and have their first real chance to wield political power. They unfortunately do not vote in high numbers, like the baby boomers. Most of the boomers tend to favor the older, more conservative candidates. Hillary Clinton is that candidate for the Democratic party. Bernie Sanders has excited the white millennials by talking to them directly, and they have responded by being the vocal backbone of his longshot White House candidacy. When it comes time to actually vote the millennial turnout falls below 50%, while the gen xers and baby boomers turnout well over 50%. As long as the millennials stay home, Hillary Clinton has nothing to worry about as she confidently marches toward the nomination.

President Barack Obama was the last Democrat to really ignite the passion of millennial voters, but he also had the support of nearly all of the generation x democrats. Hillary Clinton's baby boomer support kept her in the primary into the summer of 2008, but Obama's broader message carried him to victory. That message of hope has become a reality of bowing to the established political and financial institutions who are desperate to stay in power. Eight years later the gen xers have joined the boomers in near universal support for Clinton. The former first lady is also winning every minority group in the Democratic party. Bernie Sanders appeal has been limited to mainly young white liberals. That is an incredibly small group under the large diverse umbrella of the Democratic Party. This group seems fanatically drawn to Senator Sander's message of money and political corruption. This exact same idea seems to be working more for Donald Trump and the Republican primary voters. Most in the Democratic Party have accepted that Hillary Clinton is another, in a long line of, of candidates who are beholden to Wall Street and big banks. Bill Clinton was one, John Kerry another, Chris Dodd helped protect the housing industry,  and Barack Obama has gone out of his way to keep Wall Street in power. Sanders message is an important one, but it is one that the overall democratic party is not ready to face. Not yet.

Super Tuesday is fast approaching and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has a commanding lead in most of the states who will be voting. Senator Sanders is feverishly working to shore up support and eek out a few wins on March 1st, but it will not be enough. Unless over 90% of all the registered young white liberals get out and vote for Sanders, his campaign will be over by the morning of march 2nd. History says that the millennial vote will be much lower than the gen x and boomer vote. It was a fun ride, and Bernie Sanders has brought up extremely important issues, but it is over. Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. The Bern is starting to cool down.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He wishes for two things - at least one President who is not a stooge for Wall Street and for you to like SeedSing on Facebook.

The Day After: Iowa Edition

Your up next New Hampshire

Now begins the end of our long national headache. Iowa has spoken and it's majority old white male population has decided on Texas Senator Ted Cruz and defender of personal home computer servers Hillary Rodham Clinton. Pack up your bags, we do not need to worry about anything until the general election on November 8th. The nation will make history on that day when we elected the first female President in United States history. This by no means is a statement of political preference, Hillary Clinton will steamroll Ted Cruz. The national electoral numbers favor the Democratic party nominee, and Ted Cruz cannot grow any new voters. Many republicans will not vote for the Texas senator who has made a career out of being an obstructionist and demeaning people in his own party. Thank the gods this whole affair is over. Iowa has spoken, the nominees are set.

How much I wish it was true that the 2016 Presidential campaign was complete. Once the votes are certified in Iowa, the annoying itch of Election 2016 is going to turn into a painful infected sore. The media has doubled down on their incompetence in trying to turn the election of the President into an awful reality show. The news out of Iowa was presented in two ways - Donald Trump loses and Hillary Clinton barely won. New Hampshire will be reported in exactly the same way. The press knows they get ratings when they talk about Trump's ascension and Clinton's struggles. Ratings are way more important than actual journalism. We deserve real journalism in respect to who we elected to lead the nation.

So did the Iowa caucuses actually tell us anything of value concerning the Presidential campaign season? Iowa is a valuable predictor for the Democratic party nominee, not so much for the Republican. Over the last twenty years the eventual Democratic Party nominee has won every Iowa Caucus.  In contrast only Bob Dole in 1996 and George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004 (unopposed) has won the caucus. Go back another twenty years and the only Democratic Party nominees to lose the caucus are Bill Clinton in 1992 and Michael Dukakis in 1988. The only Republican nominees to win the caucus are an unopposed Ronald Reagan in 1984 and incumbent Gerald Ford eked out a victory in 1976. In the last forty years the Democratic nominee has won eight out of ten Iowa caucus where the Republican nominee has won five out of ten (two of those Republican wins were by incumbent Presidents who were unopposed in Iowa). If the Iowa Caucus did say anything about the 2016 election it is that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic Party nominee and the Republican Party is still in disarray.

The tight margin of victory in Hillary Clinton's win is something the candidate should be worried about. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders made a better showing in Iowa than expected. His near win is due to the great ground organization his campaign built in the Hawkeye state. Hillary Clinton dismissed Barack Obama'a ground game in 2008, and she never recovered. It does look like the former Senator and Secretary of State may be making the same mistake again. Bill Clinton barely registered in Iowa during the 1992 caucus, but still won the nomination and eventually the White House that year. His biggest opposition, Missouri congressman Dick Gephardt,  did not take Bill Clinton seriously as a candidate. The conventional wisdom was that Gephardt was the true democrat, and Clinton was not in line with the party's philosophy. Bill Clinton capitalized on the youth vote who felt disconnected from the old Democratic Party. This strategy helped sustain the Clinton campaign, and the out of touch Gephardt was eventually defeated. Hillary Clinton seems to be having the same Bill Clinton problem that Dick Gephardt had. Bernie Sanders is going right after the established DC Democratic Party machine, and he is winning the youth vote. Barack Obama has proven you can beat Hillary Clinton with this strategy. The Iowa Caucus did show us that Hillary Clinton is once again relying on the money from the old Democratic machine, and is quickly being seen as out of touch with the youth vote. She needs to be afraid of losing the nomination again if she does not start embracing the Democratic Party that sits outside of the DC think tanks. Iowa should be a wake up call to her campaign.

Ted Cruz's narrow win does not mean a thing. He won Iowa, like Rick Santorum in 2012 and Mike Huckabee in 2008. The Republicans in Iowa sure do like their candidates that have zero shot on winning the nomination. Bob Dole crushed eventual nominee George H.W. Bush in 1998. Republican Presidential nominee John McCain finished a distant fourth place in 2008. Iowa is completely insignificant to the national Republican Party. The New Hampshire Primary is a much better predictor for who will be the party's nominee. Since 1952 the eventual Republican Party Presidential nominee has won the New Hampshire Primary thirteen out of sixteen times. On the day after Iowa, the Republican Party is right where it was on the day before.

The beginning of the end that is the 2016 Presidential campaign has begun. The caucus goers of Iowa have spoken, and told us nothing. The Clinton campaign needs to learn from 2008 and not make the same mistakes. It does not look like they have learned. The Republican Party needs to not read that much into Ted Cruz's victory, Iowa rarely matters to their base. The 2016 election has officially started. Our long national headache is coming to an end.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He really wants some great writers to assist him with the 2016 election season - write for SeedSing. He also really wants to pay those writers - Support SeedSing.

The Democratic Party is Hurting Voter Turnout

The average democrat on election day

Once again we have another fringe republican beat the polls and win a major election. The good Democrats across the nation point the blame squarely at low voter turnout. If people do not vote, bad people get elected. We have seen so many people talk about this phenomenon. When people do not vote, their own interest suffers. When republicans win, it is because democrats do not vote. This has been the conventional wisdom for decades. Democrats lose, blame the voters who did not vote. Democrats win, it was a great get out the vote effort. The same story election after election. If voter turnout is the only way for Democrats to win, then elections that experience low voter turnout must be the fault of the Democratic Party.

Once upon a time the modern Democratic party cared about elections in non-presidential years. Throughout most of the 20th century the Democratic Party had a stranglehold on the US Congress, and the majority of state governments. The platform of the democratic party fit well with the humanity of the electorate. The great Reagan electoral slaughter of 1984 saw the Democratic party maintain control of the House of Representatives and gain seats in the US Senate. The media will tell you that everyone loved Reagan and the Republicans in 1984, but that is just not true. When the Democrats won presidential elections, they controlled the entire federal government. In 1992 Bill Clinton won the White House, and the Democratic Party had solid control of both chambers of Congress. Two short years later the Republican Revolution of 1994 saw the GOP take control of the US House, Senate, and many state governments. Since 1994 the Republicans have gained more and more control of state governments, and they have increased their hold on the US Congress. Near the end of 2015 31 state legislatures are completely controlled by the Republican Party (8 are split control, leaving only 11 state legislatures run by the Democratic Party). The Republican party has 32 State governors (they will take control of Kentucky in 2016, and may lose Louisiana later this year). Things are getting better for the Republicans, and much worse for the Democrats. 

The interesting trend to look at is the election of Republican governors in states that Obama won in 2012. There are a number of states that vote for the Democrat at the top of the national ticket, and then tend to go for the Republican in state races. These states include Florida, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The interesting thing to look at with theses states who are blue and red is that each of these states do not hold their governor elections on the same year as the presidential election. The Democratic Party invests heavily in these states during for the Presidential election, yet in the off years there is no financial or human capital remaining to mount a statewide campaign for the governor's mansion. The local party leaders are rewarded for winning the state for the president, yet they are never called to task for losing the state governments. It seems like most of the Democratic Party cares very little in trying to govern in they very states they value so much every four years.

Money is crucial to elections. Starting with the election of Bill Clinton in 1992, the DNC has funneled most of the campaign contributions to the top of the ticket. By 2012 the Obama campaign was hording money, while the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was begging for funds. The funding for republicans in local elections is far larger than that of democratic candidates. Currently the Hillary Clinton campaign has a record amount of money raised, yet no local democrat is benefiting from this war chest. Who can blame the Clinton campaign, they are just following the accepted practices of the Democratic National Committee. They are telling democratic voters that only the presidential campaign matters.

This is not a new problem, it started in 1994, and the Democrats in Washington DC always have some response. In 2005 DNC Chairman Howard Dean implemented a 50-state strategy, and in 2006 the Democrats took total control of the US Congress. Many of the established class of Democratic party operatives disagreed with Chairman Dean. They wanted to continue and sink money into "winnable" races. These Democratic Party experts were the ones that left the cupboard bare to begin with. Unfortunately the Paul Begalas and James Carvilles won out, and Dean was removed from the chairmanship of the DNC after the 2008 elections. Under Tim Kaine and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic Party has seemed to give up on any state race that is competitive. Giving up on these races allowed the Republicans to gain control of many crucial state legislatures in 2010, just in time for congressional redistricting. 2010 happened to not be a presidential election year. The Democrats still won the White House in 2012, and have continued to lose seats in US House, Senate, Governorships, and State Legislatures.

The DNC says they care about more than the Presidential election. They recently launched an effort to assist local races with Advantage 2020. The cynic may look at their plan and realize it coincides with a Presidential election year. Where is the plan for 2015 (already failed), 2016, 2017, 2018, or 2019. Social media allows us to lay the groundwork at a lighting fast rate. The truth is the Democratic party has ceded the states to the Republicans. Once they were handed over, the Republicans built a system to make elections difficult for the Democrats. Gerrymandering, voter id, right to work, all of these were implemented recently. All of these new policies push down Democratic voter participation. The DNC sat back, complained a little, and did nothing to strengthen the state parties. The Democratic Party wants to inspire only every four years.

That is the key word, inspire. People who vote democrat want to be part of something. They want to change the world. They need to be inspired. In Kentucky Jack Conway did not give anyone inspiration, and very few turned out to vote for him. He lost. In Ohio Ed Fitzgerald was as uninspiring of a candidate ever, and very few turned out to vote for him. He lost, badly. The Republican party has built in a method to turn out voters. Every election, no matter the office, the republicans get out and vote. They are inspired. 

The endless complaints about voter turnout, and people voting against their own interests, will never end. Complaining about the same things, will get you the same results. Democrats must want the same results, because they keep complaining about voter turnout, and they keep losing. Solve the voter turnout problem, then you can win. The Democrats have the White House locked up for many elections, it is time to win back the states. The voters are not losing elections for the Democrats. The lack of excitement, financial resources, and inspiration is keeping voters away. Stop complaining about low voter turnout. The Democratic Party is to blame for the fact people will only vote for them ever four years. Do something new. Be inspirational.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing. He really wants to be inspired by you. Come write for SeedSing.