In the days to come, there will be many discussions of how Donald J. Trump ascended to the presidency. Just at a glance, many factors come to mind: the economic straits faced by much of America and the Washington elites' failure to address such problems, the Democrats' nomination of the one candidate Trump could actually beat, and lingering resentment among some white people of the presidency of Barack Obama.

Daily Kos front pager Denise Oliver Velez, however, has a simpler explanation for what happened: racism. People did not vote for Hillary Clinton because they hated African Americans and Hispanics. That simple.

For those who have the temerity to suggest that if the DNC had nominated a different candidate for president, they might have won, Oliver Velez has this to say:

This movement of ugly angry white people and their deluded not-white lackeys should be a wake up call to you all. You can keep on posting diary after diary on how this loss is Hillary’s fault, Obama’s fault, Markos’ fault, black people’s fault, latinos fault — but in the end it ain’t gonna change things. You can keep fantasizing about Bernie woulda... coulda. Nothing will change till the white left decides to embrace anti-racism and anti-misogyny. Got a message for you. Denial is not a river in Egypt.

My Gut Reaction: Wake up, Denise. This past election was the Toilet Bowl, and you backed the turd that sank.

Analysis below the fold....

No sane person will claim that white racism did not play a role in Trump's victory. The man clearly appealed to anti-Hispanic racism with his immigration policies and to anti-black prejudice with his law and order comments. His track record of misogyny speaks for itself.

However, the claim that racism alone accounts for Trump's victory does not stand the test of scrutiny. As Nate Cohn, a journalist for the New York Times, pointed out on Twitter, the election was ultimately decided by people who previously voted for President Obama. Not exactly stereotypical racists. Cohn has also noted that Latino turnout for Clinton was not stronger than Latino turnout for President Obama. Furthermore, as fellow C99er gjohnsit has pointed out, almost thirty percent of Hispanics voted for Trump. Were they anti-Hispanic racists?

You are entitled to your own prejudices beliefs, Denise, but not to your own facts. The statistics do not bear out your theory of racism being the sole driver of Trump's victory.

Although Velez's conclusions are driven in part by her own ideological commitments, they also represent a rationalization of her own stances on the 2016 election. Oliver Velez was hostile from the get-go towards Bernie Sanders and his supporters, depicting them in her diaries as privileged whites and suggesting they should not have any real say in the election. She continues this tradition in her latest diary by claiming that the white left is somehow hostile towards anti-racism and anti-misogyny.

Before blaming others, Oliver Velez should take a step back and look at the failed strategies she embraced.