Refocus

        I Wasn't gonna do this, I swear I wasn't, but the continual spam bombing of my e-mail has pushed me over the edge. I'm talking about the continued "sign this petition, etc", crap from every Democratic organization imaginable. I get it. We lost the election, and trust me,  it would be difficult for anyone to be more unhappy about that than I am.

        Believing that some sort of frantic writing campaign or public disturbances will make Republican electors change their votes is ludicrous. State party operatives choose electors for loyalty, not conscience. Publically demonstrating and carrying signs is just the less violent version of what pre-election Democrats were predicting Trumpists would do if he lost. Well, he didn't.

        I am about to do something I rarely, if ever, do in an op-ed, and that is to use a sports metaphor, but it is apt in this instance. Following an unexpected loss, no coach worth the name will dwell on it for more than an hour or so, because there will be another contest, for which preparation, not carping and "what might have been,"  is essential. This means analyzing what wasn't done right, or what could have been done better, but only in the light of correcting the mistakes in order to do better at the next opportunity. Every calorie of energy expended in rage against the machine in this instance is wasted.

         If Trump had lost and his adherent deplorables had taken to the streets, we would be  criticizing them and calling them whiners. Look in the mirror. Then ask what can be done in an organized civil and legal fashion to at some point change direction. Trump will be inaugurated, as bitter as that is to even write, but no amount of public shirt rending and hair tearing will alter that.

       So what would be appropriate?  First, unlike the third parties who ran national candidates without much local organization, realize that state level races such as Senator and Congressional seats are "just" another two years away. While it may seem less glamorous to work hard for a representative than for President, the chance comes every two years to unseat every sitting Representative and 1/3 of the Senate. It wouldn't take 1/3 of the Senate, only three changes of seat!

        Second, find good candidates. If this election showed us one thing it was that even among members of her own party, there was a lot of "buyer's remorse" in choosing Mrs. Clinton. This manifested itself in grudgingly voting for her as the less objectionable candidate or in defections to Jill Stein or Gary Johnson. In fact every voter who defected to either "other" candidate hurts one party or the other, but in this case if half of the Johnson voters in just three states had voted Clinton, this screed would be irrelevant.

        At the State level, in Florida we had a lousy candidate opposing an even lousier incumbent. Not once did I see Big Sugar named as Rubio's banker nor did I see the Indian river lagoon cesspit tied to them. Instead I saw a poor Representative  with a bad strategy running against an absentee Senator. Again, lousy choice for the Democrats.  

       In fact, I believe it is likely that Tim Kaine, heading the ticket , would have had a better chance of winning.  In the final analysis, it almost looked  like, ....no strike that, it was true, that the Trump machine ran a  more efficient campaign. Clinton's brain trust, originally headed by the vapid and foul mouthed Debbie Wasserman Schultz,  failed to reckon with rust belt discontent and job statistics, ergo she  failed to campaign  in person in Wisconsin . Not one stop. Not one. She lost Wisconsin due to neglect. In addition,  someone tell everyone on the DNC that anything you put in an e-mail should be something you wouldn't be ashamed to see in print! 

       Finally, during the next Congressional session, bombard your representatives' offices  with letters and phone calls. Send petitions to them.  Let them know you're watching and they need votes in two years. Remember, they'll start campaigning in about 18 months!  Look carefully at their votes on things you hold dear, such as Social security, Medicare, The Affordable care Act. Do something many on the Alt.right can't - apply reasoned judgment, but as a dear friend used to remind me, "pick the hill you want to die on"

       This next four years (or less if he gets impeached) will almost surely have a suck factor of infinity. We can only hope that Trump is not the animal that some of his supporters are. Meeting frothing at the mouth and tooth gnashing with calm, reasoned and  measured response is a far better way to combat whatever ills beset us.