Tom Szews and Margo Szews

The Democrats are blaming Hillary Clinton’s loss on election day to Donald Trump on FBI director James Comey, the media and Republicans for suppressing the minority vote. Really?

Clinton lost because the Democrats chose a flawed candidate who could not win running on traditional Democratic issues.

Trump’s strategy in the Republican primaries and general election was to earn votes from the working class and those frustrated with Republican leadership.

Trump effectively stole three traditional Democratic issues away from the former secretary of state: the Republican establishment is evil, jobs, and the economy is rigged by big banks and big business.

EDITORIAL:Donald Trump is everyone's president

Post-election coverage has ignored the strategic significance of Trump’s willingness to alienate the Republican establishment. Conservative stalwarts Bill Kristol of The Weekly Standard, former President George W. Bush and WTMJ talk show host Charlie Sykes did not vote for Trump. But swing voters across the country were comfortable voting for him, in part because those evil Republicans would not. Both candidates turned out fewer base voters, but Trump’s vote swap kept his totals near 2012 levels, while Clinton’s vote total suffered from lower turnout and lost swing votes.

The argument against “free trade” is traditionally a jobs issue, and many Americans blame unregulated immigration for low wages and lost jobs. Clinton’s support for amnesty, her initial support for the flawed Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement and her ties through her husband, former President Bill Clinton, to the North American Free Trade Agreement, gave Trump an edge on jobs, especially in the Midwest.

Clearly the money grab from big business and big banks in the form of speeches by both Hillary and Bill Clinton, and the lucrative reach of the Clinton Foundation, caused some to vote for Trump as well.

Put the blame squarely where it belongs: on the candidate and the Democratic Party establishment that handed those key issues to Trump.

Tom Szews lives in Brookfield. His mother, Margo Szews, lives in West Allis.