Some Democrats and Progressives are criticizing other Democrats and Progressives for focusing too much on the Russian hack of the DNC computer system as a way of attacking Donald Trump. Their principal claim is that Trump voters don’t care for about what the Russians may have done to help Trump win compared to their illusion that Trump will help improve their economic and social circumstances. Instead, these Dems believe the Democratic Party should focus on organizing voters and better messaging to compete against Republican policies that are already suspect with many voters.
Also, some liberal Democrats are concerned about reviving a cold war with Russia. They do not believe that the intelligence community has provided proof that the DNC hack was done by the Russian government, as opposed to Russian non-government hackers. And, liberal Democrats are uneasy about depending on the intelligence community as allies given their checkered history in the over throw of elected governments like that Salvador Allende of Chile. Moreover, even if the Russian government was involved in the hack, they doubt that Russian efforts had any meaningful impact on the election outcome.
Also, some liberal Democrats are concerned about reviving a cold war with Russia. They do not believe that the intelligence community has provided proof that the DNC hack was done by the Russian government, as opposed to Russian non-government hackers. And, liberal Democrats are uneasy about depending on the intelligence community as allies given their checkered history in the over throw of elected governments like that Salvador Allende of Chile. Moreover, even if the Russian government was involved in the hack, they doubt that Russian efforts had any meaningful impact on the election outcome.
Any concern about reviving a cold war surely disappears if the Russian government had already hacked the DNC for the purpose of determining who would be elected President. If such interference were successful, it would be tantamount to a foreign power determining the course of the U.S. When Russian interference in democratic elections is projected to future U.S. elections and the elections of many European countries, the worry that the U.S. countermeasures against Russian interference can revive the cold war seems fairly asinine.
While the Russian hack and Trump’s many business conflicts of interest, began as separate lines of inquiry, they quickly merged into one. It turns out that the Russian government is being run to some extent as a criminal enterprise. Anyone doing business with Russian oligarchs is to some extent involved with the Russian government and a crime organization. Thus, in recent days, it appears that one business project of the Trump organization was laundering money from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
It has been popular since the election to argue that the Russian hack had very little, if any, impact on the outcome. The Russian hack, however, is more than simply a hack. From the study of their methods for affecting the outcome of elections in Europe, it is clear that hacking in only one of the tools they use. They create situations in which politicians are compromised, blackmail politicians, use trolls on social media, create fake news, make illegal contributions, and other politically disruptive things. And, the Russian intelligence services have been effective in affecting European elections. About one hundred thirty-seven million votes were cast in the election. Had Hillary Clinton received 80,000 additional votes in the right three states, she would have won. It seems almost incredible to suggest that Russian intelligence efforts could not deliver 6 hundreds of one percent of the total vote. If less than one percent is a small impact, then Russia almost certainly affected the outcome of the election.
Of course, focusing on Russian interference should not obscure the need to develop effective messaging and focus on the policy inadequacies of the Republican Party. But, Democrats have had difficulty messaging in a way that will affect voters and even capturing media attention. Focusing on Russian interference helps capture media attention. Democrats need to take advantage of that attention and link the Republican Party to Trump. Whether they will be able to do this has more to do with Democrats than Russians.
While the Russian hack and Trump’s many business conflicts of interest, began as separate lines of inquiry, they quickly merged into one. It turns out that the Russian government is being run to some extent as a criminal enterprise. Anyone doing business with Russian oligarchs is to some extent involved with the Russian government and a crime organization. Thus, in recent days, it appears that one business project of the Trump organization was laundering money from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
It has been popular since the election to argue that the Russian hack had very little, if any, impact on the outcome. The Russian hack, however, is more than simply a hack. From the study of their methods for affecting the outcome of elections in Europe, it is clear that hacking in only one of the tools they use. They create situations in which politicians are compromised, blackmail politicians, use trolls on social media, create fake news, make illegal contributions, and other politically disruptive things. And, the Russian intelligence services have been effective in affecting European elections. About one hundred thirty-seven million votes were cast in the election. Had Hillary Clinton received 80,000 additional votes in the right three states, she would have won. It seems almost incredible to suggest that Russian intelligence efforts could not deliver 6 hundreds of one percent of the total vote. If less than one percent is a small impact, then Russia almost certainly affected the outcome of the election.
Of course, focusing on Russian interference should not obscure the need to develop effective messaging and focus on the policy inadequacies of the Republican Party. But, Democrats have had difficulty messaging in a way that will affect voters and even capturing media attention. Focusing on Russian interference helps capture media attention. Democrats need to take advantage of that attention and link the Republican Party to Trump. Whether they will be able to do this has more to do with Democrats than Russians.