AMERICAblog's John Aravosis on why Trump is so unhinged about Hillary's popular-vote win

[highplainsdem]

http://americablog.com/2016/11/trump-lashes-losing-popular-vote-says-millions-voted-illegally.html

To call Trump’s popular-vote loss to Hillary a lack of a mandate is an understatement. Hillary Clinton arguably received the mandate on November 8, while the public voted in record numbers to repudiate Donald Trump.

And that is why Trump is now openly freaking out on Twitter, as many of us predicted he would — just not this soon. Only 8 hours ago I predicted that if you want to get under Trump’s skin, question his legitimacy. Today’s tweets prove that I was right.

-snip-

Trump likes to come across as a paragon of strength. But like all bullies, there’s a kernel of weakness and insecurity underlying and motivating the bluster. Trump’s life has been one long attempt to be accepted into the big-boys’ club. Trump desperately wants respect from the New York Times and New York’s wealthy elite, but Trump’s Jed Clampett tastes (you know foreign dignitaries are howling after visiting Trump’s Liberace-inspired Saudi palace in Trump Tower) and boorish personality (“pussy grabbing” comes to mind) means Trump will never be more than a pathetic, vulgar joke to those he pines for the most.

And that is why losing the popular vote by such a spectacular number has so unmoored Donald Trump that he is lashing out on Twitter, even after he won the election. It’s the ultimate slap in the face in what should be Trump’s ultimate conquest. If becoming the leader of the free world isn’t enough to wipe away Trump’s stench of mediocrity, then nothing else can.

The fact that Donald Trump will be a minority president, and the fact that even in winning Trump is a loser, is finally sinking in over at Trump Tower.

[RKP5637]

1. This, and he is also not very intelligent. A smart individual would pick up quickly on what to do.

Trump, is a slow learner.

[VOX]

3. VERY slow!

Notice that in all of his "diplomatic meetings" as president-elect (it's galling to write those words!), he's got at least two family members with him. He's tried to get top security clearances for his kids and son-in-law...and why would he feel the need to press for those, if he was actually self-confident and playing with a full deck? Behind his usual embarrassing bluster, I sense some genuine panic in that man.

[RKP5637]

5. I thought he looked panicked when he actually won. I think it was just a game for him and ego

building, like he was doing reality TV. I don't think deep down he ever expected to win, probably unconsciously. That all said, there are some serious issues going on with him beyond his mental problems, like early dementia or something. He just can't seem to grasp situations and articulate an intelligent message without being scripted and hand held by his children.

[VOX]

8. Agreed. His father had Alzheimer's.

This could also account for his daily (sometimes hourly!) switching of stances on any given issue. It also makes him a compliant and dangerous tool for white nationalists, etc.

[lostnfound]

10. Even if the. Russians planned to steal it for him, he probably assumed the attempt would fail...nt

[lady lib]

22. My guess would be ADHD with only partial control by meds.

But what the hell do I know? It's all conjecture without a proper medical exam.

[RKP5637]

24. Amazing. No tax returns, no comprehensive medial exam, crazy talk, and

there he is, about to be president.

[vinny9698]

4. It is worse, he is not a learner.

He already believes that he is the smartest person in the room. You would think by now after all those twitter disasters, that he would know that twitter is not his friend.
Yet he still continues to use it and brag about it. Like it is something that only smart people can use.

[RKP5637]

7. And, he's probably having an identity crisis too! n/t

[MANative]

32. Actually, I think he knows that he's not even the 10th smartest person in the room

Probably in the bottom 25%. That's a great source of anxiety for him, and it feeds his bluster by resulting in him trying to "prove himself" - unsuccessfully - throughout his pathetic life. Deep down, he knows he's of inferior intellect and capability, and he does everything he can to deny that to the outside world to save his fragile ego.

[BlueStreak]

2. What is the point of boasting about a popular vote total?

That isn't how the electoral process works. There should be a national debate about the flawed system, but all this rationalization at DU gets us nowhere. The problem is simple. Obama got 69,500,000 votes in 2008. Since that time, the US population has grown by about 25,000,000, yet Hillary got only 64,600,000 votes. The population grew 25 million, and our candidate got 5 million fewer votes.

That is the problem. Trump basically got the same number of votes as McCain in 2008 when you adjust for population. Trump isn't a popular figure. The problem is the candidate that DU was so wild about had the biggest negatives of any candidate in history, other than Trump. I would have thought in the aftermath, one would see some contrition from the people here who have spent so much time bullying anybody who expressed any concern about fielding this candidate. I'd think the intelligent people at DU would be looking for ways to not repeat this mistake again. But to me, the rhetoric here seems just as polarizing as it has been the past year.

[VOX]

6. THIS is polarizing -- still chafing about the primaries.

In so many words. The Democratic Party did put forth its most experienced candidate. You're completely ignoring the insane Russian hacking, FBI voter suppression, and steady, acidic drips from WikiLeaks (courtesy of even more Russian influence).

I backed Bernie in the primaries, and when he came up short, I backed and voted for Clinton per Bernie's wishes. So, no contrition is owed to anyone.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

21. in a any election, negative campaigns suppress the vote.

In a change election, Republicans had an advantage. In gerrymandered districts, winning the Congress was a tall order, even though it favored Dems more than will 2018. What Democrats run on beginning tomorrow should be a clear message. Jobs? Wages? Social Security? Democracy itself?

[cynatnite]

9. Have you tracked the polling on her?

She was in the mid to high sixties before stepping down as SOS. It slid some when she began positioning herself to run for president. The RW noise machine went Benghazi crazy.

If you were here during the primaries, I'm sure you saw how much she was torn down by other Dems and Bernie as well. It was a hard fought primary season and it got personal. A lot of damage was done to Hillary.

Then there's the email feeding frenzy. She acknowledged her mishandling and mistakes, but it made zero difference to a lot of folks, even on our side. Despite not being charged, the RW noise machine kept at it.

Between the hacking, Wikileaks and corporate media's obsession over any and all emails from the DNC, Hillary, and Weiner's, it's no wonder her favorability ratings were as bad as they were.

I'm not saying she was the perfect candidate, but who is? You can always find fault, but no one should be surprised at how wounded a candidate is after such a wild feeding frenzy that lasted for 18 months. In Hillary's case, her entire public life.

[BlueStreak]

15. Her negatives in November were exactly the same as last January

Everything you mentioned ultimately didn't move the needle in any measurable way.

And why should anybody think there would be an improvement? The only time you improve the negatives is when the candidate is not well known. Hillary was 100% known. No candidate has ever been more familiar to the public.

As far as the people here who are continuing their bullying ways saying "we mustn't re-litigate the primaries", how else is anybody going to learn any lessons? That is just more of the usual DU bullying that ran away so many people that we ultimately needed as allies.

I hope everyone here is proud of that bullying. Mission accomplished, I guess.

What is the point of any of this if nobody will learn from their mistakes?

[cynatnite]

20. During that time, of course there wouldn't be any improvement...

Not after corporate media and others were on a constant mission to keep tearing her down.

Prior to that her favorables were very good, even better than Obama's.

You're calling the admins bullies because their policy is to get behind the Dem nominee and to not re-litigate the primaries. It's meant to unify, but you call it bullying.

Hillary was not a mistake as a nominee. She was easily the most qualified and best fit for the job. She has 2 million more votes than Trump. Obama is the only one who got more votes than she did.

No, the mistake was not ours.

[JI7]

13. how many votes did Sanders get in the Primary compared to what Obama got in 2008 Primary ?

[BlueStreak]

16. Obama didn't face the Wasserman-Shultz corruption where the party drove away legitimate contendors.

[JI7]

18. lol, if sanders couldn't handle that then there is no way he was going to be able to deal with the

general election .

[BlueStreak]

35. I'm not sure you understand the superdelegate system

It is designed so that the party bosses will always be able to pick their own, regardless of what the primary voters want. That's the whole purpose. It was a reaction to McGovern, but lately it has put the party on the track of losing election after election. Even when Obama won, we continued to lose ground in Congress, governorships, and state legislatures, and much of that comes from what people see at the top of the ticket.

I supported Obama, but basically this Party is simply not competitive. The Party is dominated by people with no backbone, perfectly happy to get along as junior Republicans. And in fact, Obama ran separately from the Party. Separate offices. Separate staffs. Separate events. Separate fund raising. People sense these things. That's why we keep losing.

[Flatpicker]

19. I don't

I never wanted to be on the other side of an argument with someone unstable and armed.

Too much potential for damage.

[Thekaspervote]

12. Anybody seen google maps location of dump tower?

Seriously, someone changed the map to read dump tower!

Oh my another mandate!! Dump the loser, perfect name for one of his many real estate scams

[ailsagirl]

43. Is it still there (I hope)?

[Scurrilous]

14. K & R

[hadEnuf]

17. Several movies have been made about people like Trump getting the power of the presidency.

None of them ended well....

[HughBeaumont]

28. Dead Zone comes to mind -

"The Bombs are Falling. Hallelujah, hallelujah."

[ailsagirl]

42. It surely does

except it had a (more-or-less) happy ending. (At least, a hugely evil presence was avenged)

[Guilded Lilly]

23. Dense as cement, shallow as a thimble, dumb as a box of hair...

And he will never comprehend that his win came because of the combined power of racist, bigoted, sexist, ignorant hate in America. He really believes it had everything to do with HIM and not his rabid and brainless enabling of the worst minds and ugliest souls that America has to offer.

Each of those despicable factions latched on to him and are using his oafish, pathological narcissism to grasp for a piece of threatening, destructive power.
He is a resplendently clueless Cretin.

[Dave in VA]

25. He did not win

the election! He won the electoral college. Remind him and his fan club of this every chance you get!

[Coyotl]

26. This is what second place looks like Donald:

[center]
Tweet this image at Trump.

[Nitram]

27. Way more than a "kernel" of weakness.

He's a writhing bundle of insecurity that he tries to cover it by blustering and boasting.

[MFM008]

29. And that most of us

Hate him.

[anamandujano]

30. If his family and associates cared anything for him, they would take him away to spare him

all the ridicule coming his way and will only get worse. Of course he deserves it as it could never reach the odiousness of what he dishes out but he is not well.

They probably all hate him and enjoy watching him suffer. I doubt Melania has any power in that family. It would have to be Ivanka and her husband to take the action sorely needed.

Needless to say, it would be a crisis for our country but we are already there.

[DownriverDem]

38. Worst Crisis

If Trump would resign or be impeached it would be way worse. Pence is a radical religious nut.

[raging moderate]

31. Except Jed Clampett was a gentleman.

Trump is more like a character out of Animal House.

[lark]

33. Smoke and mirrors.

Yes he would have like to win the majority of votes, but think he's laughing all the way at us. Ha, ha, I got a ton less votes but still get to run the world for my personal profit and with a party in power that's totally sold on treachery to the country in favor of riches for the orange one and his rich pals, nothing at all will come of it. He's pushing the meme about illegal votes, but it's just a sideshow and you notice he's not asking for a national audit because he knows damn well he'd be losing by a lot more than 2 million votes and would lose the election if a true audit could be done. He's not that concerned, though he knows Russia did it, because he trusts them to have removed the evidence. I hope he's wrong and that Russia got complacent and sloppy, but there's no guarantee of that.

[riversedge]

36. Thin skinned ego-maniac --Trump

[DownriverDem]

37. Repubs run it all Big Trouble

Repubs can finally end Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and ObamaCare. They have the votes. Religious voters are counting on Trump resigning or being impeached. Then they will rejoice at Pence the radical religious RWNJ who would then be President. Pence would be way worse than Trump.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

40. I agree

I'm scared of life under Trump but Pence is more experienced and knows what he is doing. Rather have a buffoon in office whom can be at least minimally controlled than a more experienced religious fanatic who knows what they are doing.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

39. Me doth think he protests too much

He gets to be POTUS, she doesn't. The lack of a PV win surely didn't stop GWB from assuming the WH and doing what he wanted. With Trump's massive ego, I can get why he's prickly about it but, really, quit yer griping.

[ailsagirl]

41. Call him drumpf... please?

All over DU I see the "T word"-- capitalized and everything. He doesn't deserve the common courtesy of being referred to by his (re-engineered) name, IMO.

Besides, it's much more fun to use an alternative moniker.