Hillary’s presidency will be the stuff of alt-history fiction for some time to come, including “Agency”, an upcoming novel from William Gibson. But it hinges on how whoever advised her neglected to move her to tour the Rust Belt.
Likewise, Bernie’s alt-history win of the Dem nomination in the primary hinges on a multitude of missed opportunities, bad (well-meaning) hires including Tad Devine and Jeff Weaver, unfortunate statements relating to several demographics, and failing to win over those who had sided with Hillary from the outset.
We can talk about how sparse and 2000-like the Dem primary was, and how a lack of serious Dem hopefuls in open White House retention years is a sure sign that we may lose the Electoral College again. What if more candidates – more sitting Senators, Governors and House Reps – had announced their run for president in 2015?
This past election was one for a severely weakened party to lose in its history-breaking anxiety and limited imagination.
A similar issue faces France on Sunday. An electorally-weakened Socialist Party was wiped out in the presidential election’s first round, as was a hard-left independent candidate with a boisterous reputation and a center-right candidate who wanted to repeal marriage equality. Now, a liberal banker who has never held elected office faces off against a far-right candidate who has promised to shut down Muslim immigration to France, take France out of the EU and repeal marriage equality. The supporters of the hard-left candidate, however, hate the liberal banker’s guts, and many have vowed to boycott the election.
Whatever happens there on Sunday will be the stuff of alt-history fiction for some time to come as well.
