Truest statement of the week II

If the autopsy takeaways are that third parties and Comey were the problems, then the lessons Democrats will take ahead of 2020 are that they need to blast Jill Stein and Gary Johnson into outer space and prevent FBI directors from releasing vague letters, and everything should be fine. Even if Clinton had eked out narrow wins in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, the Democratic Party’s poor showing against a Trump-led Republican Party would have signaled something was seriously wrong with the patient. Parties can never eliminate external factors. All they can do is ensure that the foundation’s strong enough to withstand them.

-- Jim Newell's "So We're Still Blaming Jill Stein and James Comey, huh?" (SLATE).