Hillary Clinton and the democrats are searching for reasons for their devastating loss. Was it FBI Director James Comey they ask? Was it the steady drip of WikiLeaks they wonder?
It just may be that Hillary’s non-committal and suspicious views and statements about marijuana doomed her. Had she come out for full support of legalization she would have gained support in several voting blocks. Instead, she offered vague statements about supporting research but was not for legalization. Her attitude was hands-off, wait-and-see, far less encouraging than the early promises of Barack Obama, who ending up doing virtually nothing about cannabis.
The most telling signal of Hillary’s opposition to marijuana law reform came from one of the WikiLeaks of campaign chairman John Podesta’s email. When speaking to behind the closed doors of Wall Street, Clinton Told Wall St. She Is 100% Against Legalizing Cannabis. That was a losing attitude in the 2016 election environment.
Legalized cannabis, medical or full adult-use won almost everywhere; Hillary and the Democrats won almost nowhere.
Hillary needed only a few more thousand votes in a few states but was plagued by low turnout. Things could have been different. Considered a fringe, minor issue by professionals in both political parties, the legalization of cannabis is a vital freedom concern to millions of Americans. For many, it is the decisive voting factor. This is especially true with the voter’s Hillary desperately needed, but failed to motivate:
- Millennials – This group overwhelming supports legalized cannabis. Hillary never did excite these younger voters. She could have gained much good will and many votes with these 20-somethings, had she come out strongly to support ending marijuana prohibition.
- Bernie Sanders Supporters – One of Bernie’s main attraction for million was his clear policy on ending cannabis prohibition. Hillary could have done far better with this group had she supported Bernie’s vision for legalizing marijuana.
- Gary Johnson Voters – Over four million votes went to the Johnson/Weld Libertarian ticket, which expressly called for the end of marijuana prohibition.
- Independents – This group, generally supportive of cannabis law reform, went for Trump in a big way.
- Non-voters – Forty-three million people did not bother to vote. None have ever had the opportunity to vote for a major party candidate who supported legalizing marijuana, because no Democrat or Republican candidate ever has. Many would have voted had they been given that opportunity.
On the important issue of ending marijuana prohibition, the Democratic Party now lag decades behind the American electorate. For millions of voters, this is a key pocketbook, personal health, and individual liberty concern. Should the Democratic party wish to regain the presidency, the DNC will need to field a candidate clear in his or her commitment to end the idiotic 80-year experiment of prohibiting and demonizing marijuana.
