While the combined might of the mainstream media and the Democrat establishment from President Obama on down-pedal the lie that “Russia hacked the election,” neither the American public nor the Democrats’ own paymasters are buying it.  Fifty-nine percent of the public says any hacking made no difference.

But even more importantly (to the Democrats), the Big Money donors seem to agree.  They want something more than phony excuses.

Gabriel Debenedetti writes in Politico:

… the wealthy Democrats who helped pump over $1 billion into Clinton’s losing effort have been urging their local finance staffers, state party officials, and campaign aides to provide a more thorough explanation of what went wrong. With no dispassionate, centralized analysis of how Clinton failed so spectacularly, they insist, how can they be expected to keep contributing to the party?

“A lot of the bundlers and donors still are in shock and disbelief by what happened. They’re looking for some introspection and analysis about what really happened, what worked and what didn’t,” said Ken Martin, chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and a top campaign bundler himself. "It may take some time to do that, but people are still just scratching their heads."

Or, in the words of a Midwestern fundraiser who’s kept in touch with fellow donors, “A lot of people are saying, ‘I’m not putting another fucking dime in until someone tells me what just happened.’”

But of course, the Democrats are too busy for a postmortem.  Aside from the New Wave Red Scare tactic they are pushing, they also have the small matter of an ongoing civil war within the party:

With the race for its chairmanship raging, the Democratic National Committee has yet to announce any plans for a full post-mortem of its own in the style of Republicans’ 2012 Growth and Opportunity Project, causing some party officials to worry that they may not see one at all — at least until a new chair takes over in the spring.

Good idea!  Just continue living in a fantasy world, where sinister foreigners are the reason Team Hillary blew it.

“Everybody’s still frankly stunned, and in the back of their minds they think they’re going to wake up tomorrow morning and all of this never happened, including me,” said [Clinton friend and major donor Alan] Patricof.

Self-deception is the logical extension of the Big Lie technique.  But don’t worry: the circular firing squad is forming, as political operatives not only see their dreams of White House appointments evaporate, but also feel resentment over not having had the access to Hillary that one staffer in particular enjoyed.

But Big Money cannot afford this luxury:

… without a framework for holding anyone accountable, increasingly annoyed party money men and women have been left to chatter among themselves about the underlying causes of the party’s defeat and about how to move forward. Some have gone as far as to ignore calls from former Clinton finance officials seeking to thank them, while others muse about leaving politics altogether. A handful of the party’s top donors have even turned to considering direct involvement: Illinois’ J.B. Pritzker and Florida’s John Morgan are considering gubernatorial runs of their own, as is California’s Tom Steyer, who’s been keeping his name in the news by cranking out a steady stream of furious news releases about Trump’s Cabinet nominations.

So rest easy, Democrats.  Rich elitists are going to carry the banner to the voters.  Yeah, that’ll work.

And a whole bunch of rich people with the same stale tactics that didn’t work this time are going to come up with a new strategy.

... a handful of Democrats have looked to step in and provide a centralized outlet for donor planning. One is Clinton ally David Brock, who is planning a retreat for top party finance players in Aventura, Florida, over the Thursday-to-Saturday of Trump’s inauguration week.

The weekend is being billed as “THE meeting for getting together plans to resist Trump,” according to an email invitation sent by veteran Clinton strategist James Carville to high-level donors and obtained by POLITICO.

Among the gathering’s planned sessions: “Learning from 2016: Strategy, Policy, and Building a lasting winning Coalition,” “Campaign Tactics of the future: Polling, Social Media, and Targeting,” “The New Face of the Right,” “Holding Trump Accountable,” and “Ethics Watchdog on Steroids."

So far, not a single indication that Democrats see anything wrong with their posture of regarding voters as stupid vicims who need rich people to tell them how to live their lives.