According to the leadership of the Democratic Party and much of the media, Hillary Clinton's devastating loss in the Presidential election of November 2016 was primarily the fault of pernicious Russian leaks, unwarranted FBI investigations and a skewed electoral college. Rarely blamed is the party's decision to run a deeply unpopular candidate on an uninspiring platform that dwelt little on policies, focusing instead on the personality of her opponent and her own standing as a woman. The refusal of the Democratic leadership to identify the real reasons for Clinton's defeat is not just a problem of history. If Democrats persevere with a politics that prioritizes well-heeled professionals ahead of ordinary Americans, they will leave the field open to right wing populism for many years to come.