Dems should’ve learned from primary that voters wanted change

The ramifications from the 2016 presidential election will be bandied for years to come.

{mosads}This was, perhaps, the most transformative election we have ever seen. Whether or not that is a positive transformation is still to be determined, but the sociological implications of this cycle are incredibly illuminating.

First and foremost, our ability to predict elections has officially been turned on its face.

We started to get a glimpse of this in 2012, when pollsters and pundits drastically underestimated the impact of a Latino vote that vaulted President Obama back into the White House for a second term.

In the aftermath of this 2016 election, however, pollsters, pundits, mass media, small media — anyone who monetizes their predictive coverage of elections — must have a real “come to Papa” moment with themselves.

All of these resources and outlets were flat wrong, and that can’t be good for business.

Secondly, the Democratic Party has been taught a cold, harsh lesson.

In the post-mortem of this election, after they get past their “I can’t believe I live in a country that elected this man” self-pity, if Democrats are honest with themselves — I mean really, truly honest with themselves — they will realize that they essentially coronated an incredibly flawed candidate.

While Hillary Clinton, Democrats and most of the media zeroed in on the often abhorrent rhetoric of Donald Trump, all of these folks failed to realize that Clinton’s problems — email servers, the Clinton Foundation, Benghazi and yes, her husband — had the same resonant effect on blue-collar, rural voters as Trump’s bombastic language had on his critics.

Clinton’s “transgressions” over 30 years of public service had calcified on the Rust Belt, rural and heartland areas of America much more than Democrats had predicted.

And yet, all the signs were there during the Democratic primary.

While Democrats were laughing at the ascent of Trump, and scoffing at the viability of Trump in a national election, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was creating a movement of his own in the Democratic primary.

Sanders was never going to defeat Clinton, but the movement he inspired, the following he created, should have tipped Democratic leaders off to the trend that Democrats were also looking for a drastic change in Washington.

His momentum, much like Trump’s, was not a fluke. Sanders and Trump said different things, but their message was the same.

Clinton’s campaign misjudged the American electorate.

Americans go to the polls and cast a vote when they are inspired.

Americans don’t exercise their right to vote just to block the other guy.

Clinton presented no vision; she had no rationale and she lacked trust.

White women, for example, came out in droves for Trump in these rural areas. The prospect of electing a woman president for the first time ever, Trump saying on tape that he grabs woman by the genitals — none of that resonated more than the prospect of change and their distrust of Clinton.

Clinton assumed Americans would vote against Trump, and never really gave them a reason to vote for her.

Inspiration is at the heart of every American election; it’s what galvanizes a vote.

Clinton lacked inspiration.

Trump may or may not be able to deliver all that he promised during this election — and he certainly promised some doozies. But his substantive rhetoric struck a chord with a demographic in this country that has been losing for nearly a decade.

While we continued to parse the viability, and appropriateness, of his proposals, the messages of returning jobs, cutting trade and building our military inspired a majority in this country that until Tuesday had been largely silent.

Trump’s talk that he would “make America great again” inspired a demographic that has lived a decline in their American experience for too long.

That inspiration drove them to the polls.

The right to vote is as American is it gets. The right to vote has, for over two centuries, been the voice, in many cases the only voice, of the majority.

The majority is fueled by inspiration.

The way you create change in this country is by voting.

The 2016 election, whether you like the result or not, is the ultimate affirmation of our democracy.

And Democrats never saw it coming.

Spatola is a West Point graduate and former captain in the U.S. Army. He currently serves as a college basketball analyst for ESPN and is a host on SiriusXM radio.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.