Why We Lost The Rust Belt November 22, 2016 Are you still reading the links from Monday (posted Sunday to give you extra time)? Here’s one more: “Rust Belt Dems broke for Trump because they thought Clinton cared more about bathrooms than jobs.” It has the ring of truth — though if you read to the end, you’ll see we really did try. We just needed to do it better. We got a couple million more votes than he did — always important to remember. And so many stayed home it was barely a quarter of the voting-age population who put him in power. But in power he is. So those of us among the 75% who didn’t vote for him . . . or among the 25% who did, but with trepidation . . . need to stay engaged to help get America through this, applauding anything good Trump might do and passionately resisting the rest. A huge voter turn-out in 2018 to sweep Congress and state legislatures blue may be unlikely but is absolutely possible — it’s legal to vote in mid-term elections! — and what, I would argue, we all need to work for. I promise something lighter tomorrow.