Trump won in many ways because he understands (or his peeps do, US & Russian) 1. Reality television culture and 2. The Internet.
Since
Survivor and
American Idol Americans like their tv, fast, crude, repetitive, humiliating and with clear losers and winners. They think that is reality. So someone in authority ("the judge") telling them bluntly over and over again so and so is a loser, criminal, liar, they will believe it. They can't grasp that so and so was dishonest about X, is the same as someone shouting "He's a Liar and a Loser!" So if no one does so, they think he's got to be ok, and especially if he's yelling that those accusing him are the losers, criminals, etc.
Obama used the internet, but he didn't really understand it. He just used it in campaigning, which was mind blowing at the time.
But Trump and Co had the internet work for them. It is the difference between pushing out web ads and converting freaks so they forward on your stuff to their friends, relatives, etc. Trump had fans and true believers, Clinton had supporters.
So, I think the Left needs to look at itself as a long running television show that most tune in out of duty than actual excitement. The Left is
The Walking Dead. (Bernie actually was in many ways). But produced on a Public Broadcasting budget, with puppets.
I think then the Left has to reverse engineer Trump's victory and use it against him and capitalize on its weaknesses. Obama's victory doesn't have much traction or relevance anymore. His story really could fit into a 50 minute Lifetime movie. "The First African American President", the title has the whole plot there, and there really isn't much more there than that. This TV trope is what the Left, the ideological long runner, needs to examine.
We're Still Relevant, Dammit!
Suppose you've got yourself a Long Runner. And while your Long Runner hasn't really wavered in popularity, not significantly, you still want to connect with the youth of today. Perhaps you'd also like to comment on current pop-culture events as well.
Well, you'd better tread carefully or you might sound like you're just screaming, "We're Still Relevant, Dammit!"
The parent trope of both Totally Radical and Fad Super, this happens when a series that is gettin' old decides to make an attempt to stay current. Of-the-moment pop-culture references (that usually end up dated by the time the work of fiction makes its premiere) are certainly most common. The writers might also decide to radically change a character or create an "updated" Expy of an older character. A number of times a character has been made Darker and Edgier easily fit the bill. Another popular tactic is to make the character suddenly become a member of a newly emerged subculture, fandom, or similar group. The result, especially if the writer is not part of said subculture and doesn't do the research, is often laughably embarrassing instead of the bold new direction the producers were hoping for.
This often heralds the beginning of a Dork Age. Can very often result in an Unintentional Period Piece.
See also Popularity Polynomial, Mascot with Attitude, Discredited Meme, Follow the Leader, Two Decades Behind, Long-Runner Tech Marches On, Society Marches On, Jumping the Shark, Network Decay, Magazine Decay, Pretty Fly for a White Guy, and more than a few Scrappies and cases of Misaimed Marketing. Contrast Growing with the Audience.
Tropes Are Tools aside, this is usually a sign of bad writing, especially if you're a TV or movie writer trying to make your current long-running show more hip or trying to revive a long-dead franchise for a new generation. On the other hand, sometimes it works, and if the alternative is leaving your story looking decades out-of-date... The trick is to update the right things, update them the right way, and leave the timeless things that people liked about the franchise in the first place alone.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... vantDammit