aorange999
Member
So I've been reading threads on GAF for the last few days and can't believe its already been a week since Hillary lost. I'm not a prolific poster here but possibly as a process of catharsis for myself figured I would post a quick thread and perhaps a short AMA if anyone had any questions. I searched for a thread but only found one that was locked due to name-calling so mods please lock if against TOS etc.
The whole evening was a shit show and truly I think its because the campaign could never figure out if they were going to win or not. They not once ever had strong evidence that they were a lock to win, this was way back from Bernie days, all the way through the general and Trump i.e. Everyone saying they assumed they were going to win is wrong.
I worked for Hillary as a contractor (part of another company) doing FEC related stuff back in 04. Her organization was always top class and professional in a business filled with mean spirited jackasses. This attitude started from the top and Hillary was always a fair, hardworking candidate with minimal entitlement. When everyone else was trying to do unprofessional corrupt stuff her staff were always above board and trying to do everything the right way. Unless she did a massive pivot at some point she was never corrupt in the places that people say she was, fundraising etc.
Someone I know worked close to the very top of the campaign and we talked about things there. They were worried about Bernie once he gained steam because they believed in his message but didn't think it was mainstream enough. Once they got deep into the primary they felt he took too long to concede and to help out the party platform and was damaging the entire delicate structure. I believe this is true and I don't think Hillary would have ended up as 'damaged' of a candidate if she wasn't being attacked from both sides for months.
Once the general came around they never once underestimated Trump, they saw what he did to the Republican field. There was no arrogance just pretty much sheer terror at the fact that their candidate was losing to a person who no previous campaigning rules applied to. Issues didn't matter at all, they tested and tested issue based tactics and messaging in the rust belt to no avail, it was a pure personality battle.
Because of my old job I knew a lot of people at the highest levels who had lots of doubts about her campaign and openly worried she was going to lose months ago. They always saw Trump as formidable. I even worked with some ex-Bernie creatives trying to get some new ideas pitched to their media advisors in early August but it all came up empty because of....yes, the emails.
The emails were the undoing of the campaign. For staffers having everything out in the open made the last months terrible for them. There was a lot of territorial stuff happening and a reluctance to try anything new at all and just rely on the Obama GOTV machine and the supposedly tried and true methods of the past. Of course the emails also had a massive effect on the public perception which is widely written about, but internally is where a lot of damage was done. The pollsters giving her the victory made them rest a little easier but I can confirm they saw their chances as better than 50-50 not any kind of landslide ever.
Ultimately the Javits Center was a room full of hopefuls, true believers, lots of donors and some volunteers, mostly campaign sycophants like me praying that the unease a lot of us felt wouldn't be realized. The aesthetics of the stage was a mixture of races and sexes representing the coalition: think lesbian couple, African American men, latino family, millennial buddies, it was not much fun when we all knew we were going to be up on stage to witness a funeral eulogy, the faces CNN and Fox would zoom in on later in the evening.
A previous closed thread mentioned people being angry that she didn't come out to thank her supporters and concede, anecdotally I 100% disagree. Everyone around me was sad and many moved to tears, campaign workers weren't flinging blame around and there was a genuine sadness for America. Many chants of Love Trumps Hate and disbelief that this could have happened. People wanted to see her but there was a complete and thorough understanding that this was an extraordinary event.
Ultimately I fundamentally believe Hillary is a good, just and exceptional person but as uncharismatic as a candidate as is possible for someone who made it as far as she did in the business (yes politics is business). In campaigns the candidate is queen it doesn't matter what kind of system you put in place if they can't deliver the election win. Her belief that her experience and the fact she believed America would see Trump like she saw him as unelectable because of his views and temperament turned out to be absolutely misguided.
Trump showed that he can win campaigns by annihilating his opposition be it a room full of white men or the most qualified person to ever attempt to run this country. His campaign was terrible, awful in fact but it didn't matter because purely as a candidate he really was the best running this year.
The whole evening was a shit show and truly I think its because the campaign could never figure out if they were going to win or not. They not once ever had strong evidence that they were a lock to win, this was way back from Bernie days, all the way through the general and Trump i.e. Everyone saying they assumed they were going to win is wrong.
I worked for Hillary as a contractor (part of another company) doing FEC related stuff back in 04. Her organization was always top class and professional in a business filled with mean spirited jackasses. This attitude started from the top and Hillary was always a fair, hardworking candidate with minimal entitlement. When everyone else was trying to do unprofessional corrupt stuff her staff were always above board and trying to do everything the right way. Unless she did a massive pivot at some point she was never corrupt in the places that people say she was, fundraising etc.
Someone I know worked close to the very top of the campaign and we talked about things there. They were worried about Bernie once he gained steam because they believed in his message but didn't think it was mainstream enough. Once they got deep into the primary they felt he took too long to concede and to help out the party platform and was damaging the entire delicate structure. I believe this is true and I don't think Hillary would have ended up as 'damaged' of a candidate if she wasn't being attacked from both sides for months.
Once the general came around they never once underestimated Trump, they saw what he did to the Republican field. There was no arrogance just pretty much sheer terror at the fact that their candidate was losing to a person who no previous campaigning rules applied to. Issues didn't matter at all, they tested and tested issue based tactics and messaging in the rust belt to no avail, it was a pure personality battle.
Because of my old job I knew a lot of people at the highest levels who had lots of doubts about her campaign and openly worried she was going to lose months ago. They always saw Trump as formidable. I even worked with some ex-Bernie creatives trying to get some new ideas pitched to their media advisors in early August but it all came up empty because of....yes, the emails.
The emails were the undoing of the campaign. For staffers having everything out in the open made the last months terrible for them. There was a lot of territorial stuff happening and a reluctance to try anything new at all and just rely on the Obama GOTV machine and the supposedly tried and true methods of the past. Of course the emails also had a massive effect on the public perception which is widely written about, but internally is where a lot of damage was done. The pollsters giving her the victory made them rest a little easier but I can confirm they saw their chances as better than 50-50 not any kind of landslide ever.
Ultimately the Javits Center was a room full of hopefuls, true believers, lots of donors and some volunteers, mostly campaign sycophants like me praying that the unease a lot of us felt wouldn't be realized. The aesthetics of the stage was a mixture of races and sexes representing the coalition: think lesbian couple, African American men, latino family, millennial buddies, it was not much fun when we all knew we were going to be up on stage to witness a funeral eulogy, the faces CNN and Fox would zoom in on later in the evening.
A previous closed thread mentioned people being angry that she didn't come out to thank her supporters and concede, anecdotally I 100% disagree. Everyone around me was sad and many moved to tears, campaign workers weren't flinging blame around and there was a genuine sadness for America. Many chants of Love Trumps Hate and disbelief that this could have happened. People wanted to see her but there was a complete and thorough understanding that this was an extraordinary event.
Ultimately I fundamentally believe Hillary is a good, just and exceptional person but as uncharismatic as a candidate as is possible for someone who made it as far as she did in the business (yes politics is business). In campaigns the candidate is queen it doesn't matter what kind of system you put in place if they can't deliver the election win. Her belief that her experience and the fact she believed America would see Trump like she saw him as unelectable because of his views and temperament turned out to be absolutely misguided.
Trump showed that he can win campaigns by annihilating his opposition be it a room full of white men or the most qualified person to ever attempt to run this country. His campaign was terrible, awful in fact but it didn't matter because purely as a candidate he really was the best running this year.
