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Hillary Clinton\u2019s devastating loss to Donald Trump has left many Democrats stumped, as the party struggles to process what happened and why. While some blame \u201cracist\u201d Trump voters or third parties, others wonder whether Bernie Sanders could have won instead.<\/p>\n
Sanders, an independent US senator from Vermont who stood with the Democrats as a self-described \u201cdemocratic socialist,\u201d<\/em> made a bid to become the party\u2019s nominee in 2015. He quickly inspired hundreds of thousands of young voters across the country with his criticism of income inequality and influence of big money in politics, as well as proposals about single-payer healthcare and free college tuition.<\/p>\n Bernie would have blown trump out of the water. And the DNC has no one to blame for this loss but themselves<\/p>\n \u2014 Not Joben (@HIMLIN_X) November 9, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/center><\/div>\n With Clinton as the favorite of the party establishment and backed by\u00a0\u201csuperdelegates,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Sanders could not overcome Clinton\u2019s advantage during the primary campaign, eventually conceding the nomination at the party\u2019s national convention in Philadelphia in July. As late as May, however, all polls showed him\u00a0beating<\/a>\u00a0Trump in a general election match-up, with a lead of up to 15 percentage points.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a reputable poll\u00a0showed<\/a>\u00a0Clinton losing to Trump \u2013 which is exactly what happened on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Many Democrats lashed out in anger after the votes were counted, painting Trump\u2019s supporters as uneducated racists, or\u00a0blaming<\/a>\u00a0the Green Party\u2019s Dr. Jill Stein or the Libertarian Party\u2019s Gary Johnson for\u00a0\u201ctaking away\u201d<\/em>\u00a0votes that could have made the difference in several swing states with razor-thin margins of victory.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy are third party candidates to blame for Hillary’s loss instead of the 50 [percent or so] of people who didn’t vote?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0former Libertarian candidate Austin Petersen\u00a0wondered<\/a>.<\/p>\n New York Daily News columnist Shaun King blamed the electoral disaster on the party\u2019s decision to favor Clinton over Sanders.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we now see, this election was not about high-skilled political operatives, polls or even national campaign experience. Trump had none of that. This campaign was about large crowds, big events, momentum, tone and social media. Bernie did those things well. Bernie was the anti-Trump,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0King\u00a0wrote<\/a>\u00a0Wednesday.<\/p>\n Sanders himself urged his supporters to back Clinton and campaigned vocally against Trump. However, many\u00a0\u201cBerners\u201d<\/em>\u00a0found the Democratic nominee simply impossible to stomach.<\/p>\n\n