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[chubigans]

Someone said this was worth a new thread, from the Clinton ignored Michigan thread: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/hillary-clinton-aides-loss-blame-231215

Sexism. The media. James Comey.

On a call with surrogates Thursday afternoon, top advisers John Podesta and Jennifer Palmieri pinned blame for Hillary Clinton’s loss on a host of uncontrollable headwinds that ultimately felled a well-run campaign that executed a sensible strategy, and a soldier of a candidate who appealed to the broadest coalition of voters in the country.

They shot down questions about whether they should have run a more populist campaign with a greater appeal to angry white voters, pointing to exit polls that showed Clinton beat Trump on the issue of the economy. They explained that internal polling from May showed that attacking Trump on the issue of temperament was a more effective message.

They offered no apology for the unexpected loss.

---

On the call, Clinton surrogates who have supported the campaign from the outside for the past 18 months offered their thanks to the Brooklyn-based operatives. The mood was light and supportive, with Podesta and Palmieri expressing gratitude for everyone’s hard work.

But some people on the call were seething.

“They are saying they did nothing wrong, which is ridiculous,” said one Clinton surrogate. “She was the wrong messenger and everyone misjudged how pissed working class people were.”

---

Others blamed a grab bag of marginal problems that depleted a candidate who had no wiggle room for error: The soaring Obamacare premiums announced last month hurt Clinton, some said; others questioned the campaign’s decision to try and expand the map into red Arizona rather than simply defend the most likely, narrow paths to 270 electoral votes; others blamed Bernie Sanders for “poisoning” millennial voters who never came back on board. (Exit polls showed that Clinton won 56 percent of voters ages 18-24, compared to 66 percent of the same age group who voted for Barack Obama eight years ago).

Lots more at the link.

 

[RoKKeR]

No accountability, nice. Surely things will go smoothly the next time, too.

 

[BlackBuzzard]

My god look in the damn fucking mirror for once. Fire them all, if you cant even admit that some of the blame rests on your own shoulders then just fuck off.

 

[alba]

They will never get it through their heads, idiots.

 

[Easy_D]

Ugh. Morons. Tear it all down. You guys deserve a better party on the left side of things.

 

[curiouscharles]

Yeah, it really seems like they learned nothing from this loss.

Fucking idiots.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Burn the building down.

 

[Good Job Bob]

Hillary's clique is the one of the worst things to happen to the Democratic Party. Completely insular and deluded bunch.

These people have to go.

 

[bobawesome]

Bernie is a saint.

Bern the building down.

FTFY

 

[metalslimer]

They need to take some blame but the media literally devoted more time to her emails than every other issue combined. There was literally a Russian intelligence operation designed to take her down.

 

[Jangowuzhere]

Fuck all of them

They are living in a completely different reality.

 

[LUFTRAUSER]

This is very upsetting.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

I mean, as Aides, wasn't it their job to measure those things and react to them accordingly?

 

[Godzilla's Left Toe]

The Clinton team should shut the fuck up.

 

[zero_suit]

They need to take some blame but the media literally devoted more time to her emails than every other issue combined.

Indeed.

 

[FireBeaver]

If things keep going like they are now, the 2018 Elections are gonna be a disaster for the Dems.

 

[Dishwalla]

Some of those like the FBI/the media/sexism were indeed factors but yeah a little self reflection is in order for the Clinton campaign(or whatever remains of it).

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

The DNC needs an enema.

 

[Septimus Prime]

If they run her again, I'm going to be so pissed.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

Some of those like the FBI/the media/sexism were indeed factors but yeah a little self reflection is in order for the Clinton campaign(or whatever remains of it).

Agreed. But their duties were supposed to fight those forces. Also they conveniently left out their polling, which was a huge reason for the loss.

 

[MGrant]

They could have Lincoln literally descend from the heavens and join their primary, and the DNC would find some way to push Rahm Emanuel to the general.

 

[99Luffy]

I wonder if its ever possible to ever know if the bernie or bust crowd made the difference. Too bad that wasnt in the exit poll. "Who did you vote for in the primaries?"

 

[Linkstrikesback]

Nah. As soon as it became an us vs them with calling half the country deplorable, racist and whatever else (and I'm guilty of doing this too to an extent, but more so when I was thinking about brexit, being British), her side fucked themselves. Of course, they're to blame for helping in setting that tone in the first place.

 

[CrispyBoar]

You lost because you picked a much weaker candidate with a lot of baggage to take on Trump, you dolts.

Learn from your mistakes & pick a much stronger candidate with less baggage to take on Trump (or Pence) next time.

 

[gutter_trash]

the 9 days of James Comey did have a huge affect in driving negatives up

 

[IrishNinja]

They need to take some blame but the media literally devoted more time to her emails than every other issue combined. There was literally a Russian intelligence operation designed to take her down.

10th post should've been the 1st

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

If they run her again, I'm going to be so pissed.

I'm sure there's somebody I don't know about, but has there ever been a "third time's a charm" candidate?

 

[Karkador]

I'm gonna go with "all of the above"

 

[Shamrock7r]

If they run her again, I'm going to be so pissed.

they won't

 

[Spiral Insanity]

We have to agree that the FBI debacle could have lost her the election.

 

[BlueWord]

This whole narrative about underestimating the anger of the working class doesn't seem to be supported by the actual numbers, though. Republicans turned out in the same numbers they always do – it was Democrats who stayed home.

I'd wait until we can get a more detailed breakdown of the demographics. My sneaking suspicion is that the reason Trump carried a significantly larger share of white voters is that young white Dems felt the election was safe and stayed home.

We have to agree that the FBI debacle could have lost her the election.

It's definitely an inflection point. Based on that report that she had stopped polling in Michigan, it really seems like the DNC thought the presidency was on lock and totally redirected their attention towards the down-ballot. Then the Comey thing came out of nowhere and just totally threw the campaign off balance.

Seems like he bet wisely, though.

 

[lupinko]

H U B R I S

 

[AtomskEater]

Already losing a bit of hope that they won't repeat these mistakes in the future. >_<

 

[Barajas_201]

So they didn't learn anything and are probably going to want to keep their toxic influence in the DNC. Bern it down. I literally don't want to see a Clinton running ever again.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

We have to agree that the FBI debacle could have lost her the election.

It's certainly up there, but they didn't help by making nearly every mistake that could be made.

 

[Septimus Prime]

I'm sure there's somebody I don't know about, but has there ever been a "third time's a charm" candidate?

they won't

Originally I wrote that I'd vote Trump if they ran her again, but I doubt I'd actually go that far. It would be clear to me that they want to lose if that's the case, though.

 

[EatinOlives]

Nah. As soon as it became an us vs them with calling half the country deplorable, racist and whatever else (and I'm guilty of doing this too to an extent, but more so when I was thinking about brexit, being British), her side fucked themselves. Of course, they're to blame for helping in setting that tone in the first place.

It's hard to buy into this kind of argument when this thread exists.

At any rate, the real culprit was relying on bogus data that pointed them to the wrong states. They needed to devote all their energy to the rust belt but started chasing nonsense goals.

I really wish pollsters and clown publications that had Clinton winning with a "90%+ chance" would get raked over the coals. But the media never criticizes itself. They'll continue pretending like they weren't a gigantic factor in getting Trump elected.

 

[Haly]

We have to agree that the FBI debacle could have lost her the election.

It should never have been so close that a bunch of hullabaloo a few days before the election tanked her chances.

Run a populist candidate or lose 2020. Trump proved qualifications just don't matter.

 

[Spyder_Monkey]

Sexism, like racism is dead. Oh hey look those KKK guys are marching on the street again.

 

[Spiral Insanity]

Already losing a bit of hope that they won't repeat these mistakes in the future. >_<

What mistake, having russia/fbi/GOP collude to bring us the email investigation rollercoaster two week before the voting?

It should never have been so close that a bunch of hullabaloo a few days before the election tanked her chances.

Run a populist candidate or lose 2020.

'A bunch of hullabaloo' is the FBI suddenly stating that they have re-opened the investigation, strongly insinuating that they have found evidence of criminal wrongdoing.. and then a few days before the election retract that?

 

[DICKS AHOY]

You fucking idiots.

 

[IrishNinja]

Nah. As soon as it became an us vs them with calling half the country deplorable, racist and whatever else (and I'm guilty of doing this too to an extent, but more so when I was thinking about brexit, being British), her side fucked themselves. Of course, they're to blame for helping in setting that tone in the first place.

this wasn't half the mud that was slung in her direction, by a country mile. and was "deplorable" really the worst descriptor?
are we really gonna pretend a bernie campaign wouldnt've (rightfully) called out the white supremacy bullshit that his campaign was on about?

if this narrative is to be believed, half the country took to their privielage being called out & responded by supporting the most openly racist, misogynistic & homophobic platform in ages.

It's hard to buy into this kind of argument when this thread exists.

At any rate, the real culprit was relying on bogus data that pointed them to the wrong states. They needed to devote all their energy to the rust belt but started chasing nonsense goals.

I really wish pollsters and clown publications that had Clinton winning with a "90%+ chance" would get raked over the coals. But the media never criticizes itself. They'll continue pretending like they weren't a gigantic factor in getting Trump elected.

preach

 

[ISOM]

Those aides are not wrong but add incompetence on Clinton's team as well. Racism especially was a huge part.

 

[radios shipping overview]

Well, this is the kind of person who the DNC and the American Left need to make irrelevant.

 

[Shamrock7r]

Sexism, like racism is dead. Oh hey look those KKK guys are marching on the street again.

Are you insinuating that posters in here are saying that? Because you know, that would be stupid as hell to insinuate that.

 

[Velcoro]

Hilary was always a shady snake in the public eye and a failure from the beginning. It was always the Bern.

 

[TheSeks]

and everyone misjudged how pissed working class people were.”

Ding ding ding. And this is why the Dems will have a problem if they continue with this echo-chamber horse shit instead of actually looking at themselves and what they did wrong.

 

[Dishwalla]

What mistake, having russia/fbi/GOP collude to bring us the email investigation rollercoaster two week before the voting?

At this point I think the seeds for her defeat were planted long before the "October surprise" from the FBI, it's just that no one realized it. It's a factor, but it's not the main reason.

 

[Apharmd]

Out of touch at best.

INFURIATINGLY OUT OF TOUCH. What the FUCK. Really man, you fucking scorn Bill Clinton on not pursuing avenues other than "ayyy not trump"? That's the platform by which I voted but those that are like me are a minority at best. I can believe this as it's something I see that was not pursued in the campaign, but I cannot fucking believe Bill Clinton sat in these meetings and was not heeded.

FUCK ME, MAN.

 

[Vestal]

Those were all factors. But the blame lies on the Clinton Campaign. They fucked up. At first I thought Tim Kaine would be a good VP pick, but he proved to be too superficial, she needed a firebrand by her side. Second mistake was not traveling to the Rust Belt at all in the campaign ensuring the vote there.


No one to blame but themselves at the end of the day.