Hillary won everything but the game. Now it's time to mobilize

The team that wins a football game is not the one that gets the most running yards, the most passing yards, the most first downs, or has the greatest time of possession. It's the one that scores the most points. Like it or not, those are the rules.

The presidency isn't decided by the winner of the popular vote (Hillary), or by the one with the highest polling numbers (Hillary), or the one ahead in the polls for the greatest amount of time (Hillary). That's not how the game of “elect a president” is played. The winner is the one with the greater number of electoral college points scored (not Hillary). Like it or not, those are the rules.

Tough if your team loses the game despite winning everything but the score. You can say that they were the better team. And they may have been. But the score is what decides the winner, not the better.

So it’s tough for Hillary fans that Hillary won everything but the game.

But listen: Hillary Clinton won the Democratic Party nomination. She won the popular vote. This year more Americans who voted for a major party candidate voted for a woman as President rather than for a man.

Period.

Too bad that's not the way you pick the winner. But that IS the way you determine for once and for all that a woman COULD have been president.

The tide is changing, and it continues to flow in the direction of greater equality. Not less. What happens over the next two years or four years will not stem the tide.

Yes, it's a pitifully small ratio. But look at the trend. Look at the trend.

Misogyny? Yes, it exists. Yes, it was a factor. And we need to keep fighting it. But it didn't keep Hillary Clinton from winning the popular vote. And twenty years ago that would have been impossible.

Injustice? Yes, it exists. And it continues to be. But look at history. Most

Let’s also acknowledge that this election was pretty close. With a little luck, Hillary could have won the election. With some different luck, the other candidate could have won the popular vote. And then we couldn't say a woman was the people's choice.

But she was.

And we can say it. And we should. A woman for president was more popular than a man.

Now let’s go back eight years…

Right after Obama won his first term, the Tea Party movement started. No need to talk about whether they're a good thing or a bad thing. Rather: let's acknowledge that they have been a political force.

Now it's our turn.

Liberals are mobilizing because Trump won. If Hillary had won by even a single electoral vote, we'd have been sitting around congratulating ourselves.  And then we'd watch for the next four years while the people behind Trump united with the Republican Party establishment to make her life hell.

Instead, there's a good chance that they are going to fight with each other while we mobilize. It's already started.  

Everything that doesn't get fixed in the next two years will be blamed on him--by us, and by the people who elected him.  And everything that goes wrong will be blamed on him--by us and the people who elected him.

Oh, and did I mention? There’s an election in another two years.

And, while the Republican Party is busy dealing with someone who ran against the Republican Party, we are going to mobilize.

It's already started.

We are rethinking policies and priorities. We are listening to people like Michael Moore who said Trump will win and Keith Ellison who was laughed at when told us this was going to happen--and why. We are listening to Bernie Sanders who blames the Democratic Party for losing its way, not Hillary Clinton for losing the election.

Hillary won the popular vote. Still feels good to say it.

And now we have to organize. We need to be sure that the next candidate is even better than she was. And wins the popular vote by a bigger margin.

And wins the game.

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