Clinton attributes 2016 loss to "outside factors, like Russia"

[NeverAgain]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hillary-clinton-blames-russian-hackers-and-comey-for-2016-election-loss/2017/05/02/e62fef72-2f60-11e7-8674-437ddb6e813e_story.html?pushid=5908d38d0c74192800000006&tid=notifi_push_breaking-news&utm_term=.6cf5590b3091

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[Technocracy Timmy]

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Oh come on Hillary. You never even stepped foot in Wisconsin during the general election and only pushed hard for Michigan and Pennsylvania near the end. This was clearly a mistake on the part of your team. Trump's only serious path to the Presidency was the Brexit strategy and to win over those rust belt states.

[DPKdebator]

I feel sorry for her if she has not yet realized that she herself was a factor towards her loss- death by a thousand papercuts.

[uti2]

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Oh come on Hillary. You never even stepped foot in Wisconsin during the general election this was clearly a mistake on the part of your team. Trump's only serious path to the Presidency was the Brexit strategy and to win over those rust belt states.

That's because she was courting republicans, since WI was a nevertrump state, it would've worked if not for Comey's giant dog whistle causing GOPers to return home.

[uti2]

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This is the key takeaway, and it is not factually incorrect. There is some irony in here is that Comey was motivated to go public on the Clinton investigation as a result of a 2 factors, the first, being a hacked DNC memo, and the second, being the assumption that Trump would lose.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/22/us/politics/james-comey-election.html

Without Trump, in a normal race, Russia would've backed Hillary as the lesser evil over a normal republican (Russia also targeted Trump's primary opponents and backed Obama over Romney), and Comey doesn't have an incentive to get involved without that hacked memo.

[Technocracy Timmy]

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Oh come on Hillary. You never even stepped foot in Wisconsin during the general election this was clearly a mistake on the part of your team. Trump's only serious path to the Presidency was the Brexit strategy and to win over those rust belt states.

That's because she was courting republicans, since WI was a nevertrump state, it would've worked if not for Comey's giant dog whistle causing GOPers to return home.

Primary performance isn't always reflected in general election performance.

Also courting opposition party voters in a close election with such a glaringly polarized electorate is a failing strategy.

[uti2]

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Oh come on Hillary. You never even stepped foot in Wisconsin during the general election this was clearly a mistake on the part of your team. Trump's only serious path to the Presidency was the Brexit strategy and to win over those rust belt states.

That's because she was courting republicans, since WI was a nevertrump state, it would've worked if not for Comey's giant dog whistle causing GOPers to return home.

Primary performance isn't always reflected in general election performance.

Also courting opposition party voters in a close election with such a glaringly polarized electorate is a failing strategy.

But it wasn't just Hillary's idea, Obama was doing the same thing. He approved these efforts.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/28/obama-republicans-speech-democratic-convention-patriotic

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/03/us/politics/president-obama-donald-trump.html

Now look at what Obama's doing. He's giving 400k speeches on Wall Street, as if he couldn't be anymore tone-deaf to Bernie voters. The point is that singularly blaming Hillary for this is absurd. She was done in by unique circumstances that were beyond her control, including specific coordinated efforts by external third parties who intervened with the sole purpose of helping Trump.

[Technocracy Timmy]

I agree that it wasn't solely her and her campaign team's fault and that there were third party actors involved, but everybody has to own up to it.

I can't believe Obama of all people was ballsy enough to approve of such a strategy. The Democrats got blown out in 2010, made up a little bit of ground in 2012, then got blown out again in 2014. Bush either barely left a mark on the GOP or this country just has more regularly voting Republicans in it.

Either way, given those results thinking that your Party would be able to win over Republican voters with somebody like Hillary Clinton is just insane, especially since she campaigned as a third term of Obama and not as a centrist.

I think the Democratic Party is gonna be in for another couple shockers when 2018 and 2020 rolls around.

[Illini Moderate]

Look at the data, she had a clear lead that deteriorated as soon as the (unnecessary and unprecedented) Comey letter was released. I love how all the head lines leave out the fact that she admits that she and her team made a ton of mistakes

[Illini Moderate]

She also said it wasn't a perfect campaign. Her facts are right. There is significant evidence that the Comey letter swung the election

[Attorney General & PPT Dwarven Dragon]

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This is the key takeaway, and it is not factually incorrect. There is some irony in here is that Comey was motivated to go public on the Clinton investigation as a result of a 2 factors, the first, being a hacked DNC memo, and the second, being the assumption that Trump would lose.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/22/us/politics/james-comey-election.html

Without Trump, in a normal race, Russia would've backed Hillary as the lesser evil over a normal republican (Russia also targeted Trump's primary opponents and backed Obama over Romney), and Comey doesn't have an incentive to get involved without that hacked memo.

This is true, but it misses the point. It shouldn't have mattered what happened in the final week or what Russia wanted. ANY democrat should have been able to defeat Trump by 15 points. Hillary saying she would have won by three votes or whatever without Comey is tone-deaf - the race should not have been remotely close, and the fact that it was was HER doing, not anyone else's.

[uti2]

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This is the key takeaway, and it is not factually incorrect. There is some irony in here is that Comey was motivated to go public on the Clinton investigation as a result of a 2 factors, the first, being a hacked DNC memo, and the second, being the assumption that Trump would lose.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/22/us/politics/james-comey-election.html

Without Trump, in a normal race, Russia would've backed Hillary as the lesser evil over a normal republican (Russia also targeted Trump's primary opponents and backed Obama over Romney), and Comey doesn't have an incentive to get involved without that hacked memo.

ANY democrat should have been able to defeat Trump by 15 points

I have to call BS on that, there is only one democrat in modern times who would be able to pull a significant number of republicans, Joe Biden. Not even Obama would be able to pull GOP votes.

[Beet]

This is the best news I've heard all day. While I'm sure this will only confirm in the minds of some people that Hillary is entitled and arrogant, I'm thrilled that she is unbowed. And I agree with her entirely. Her campaign strategy was not optimal, but the hacking was extremely damaging and the Comey announcement(s) were devastating, especially the one on Oct. 28. I will never forget walking into a restaurant for lunch and seeing those big red letters splashed on CNN with the TV blaring. I felt like someone had put a knife to my stomach.

[Attorney General & PPT Dwarven Dragon]

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This is the key takeaway, and it is not factually incorrect. There is some irony in here is that Comey was motivated to go public on the Clinton investigation as a result of a 2 factors, the first, being a hacked DNC memo, and the second, being the assumption that Trump would lose.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/22/us/politics/james-comey-election.html

Without Trump, in a normal race, Russia would've backed Hillary as the lesser evil over a normal republican (Russia also targeted Trump's primary opponents and backed Obama over Romney), and Comey doesn't have an incentive to get involved without that hacked memo.

ANY democrat should have been able to defeat Trump by 15 points

I have to call BS on that, there is only one democrat in modern times who would be able to pull a significant number of republicans, Joe Biden. Not even Obama would be able to pull GOP votes.

Against a traditional R, this is true. But Trump was not a traditional R. He was only made into one because​ Hillary was such a horrible candidate.

[TheSaint250]

I read that she said her loss was entirely her fault and then proceeded to blame Comey and Russia.

[uti2]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

This is the key takeaway, and it is not factually incorrect. There is some irony in here is that Comey was motivated to go public on the Clinton investigation as a result of a 2 factors, the first, being a hacked DNC memo, and the second, being the assumption that Trump would lose.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/22/us/politics/james-comey-election.html

Without Trump, in a normal race, Russia would've backed Hillary as the lesser evil over a normal republican (Russia also targeted Trump's primary opponents and backed Obama over Romney), and Comey doesn't have an incentive to get involved without that hacked memo.

ANY democrat should have been able to defeat Trump by 15 points

I have to call BS on that, there is only one democrat in modern times who would be able to pull a significant number of republicans, Joe Biden. Not even Obama would be able to pull GOP votes.

Against a traditional R, this is true. But Trump was not a traditional R. He was only made into one because​ Hillary was such a horrible candidate.

The whole Right-wing media complex would be viciously against any dem, from Tim Kaine to John Kerry, and Obama is basically considered the antichrist.

The only Democrat who would be able to break through that network and actually openly get endorsements from the other side would be Biden, i.e. it would be easy to see Graham and Mccain endorsing Biden.

[Beet]

I read that she said her loss was entirely her fault and then proceeded to blame Comey and Russia.

In her heart of hearts she has already murdered herself a hundred times over this, I'm 100% certain of that. But she knows it's her public duty not to let her enemies get away with escaping an iota of their well deserved blame. She is doing exactly the right thing.

[TML]

While it may certainly be possible that Hillary could have won had the election been held before October 28, to place the blame squarely on the late Comey disclosure would be to learn the wrong lessons. If she had conducted a better campaign (i.e. spending more time in the Rust Belt, reaching out to working class and rural voters more, delivering a more effective campaign message to voters, etc.), her fundamentals might have been stronger such that the Comey disclosure wouldn't have affected the final outcome.

Additionally, if Hillary did win an election held before October 28, her winning margin might still have been smaller than what the polls had forecasted. That would still have been an indication that the Democrats were not as strong as some people may believe.

I personally think that the best way to improve oneself is to look for internal factors related to one self. While external factors certainly play a role in some cases, they are beyond one's control while internal factors are within one's control. On that point, I'm not 100% certain if Hillary has realized what she could have done better during her campaign.

[krazen1211]

Does anyone remember players for the Atlanta Falcons running around the country claiming that they would have won the Super Bowl if it ended in 3 quarters?

Oh wait, that happens to be objectively true.

But losers and whiners find ways to CHOKE!

[Illini Moderate]

Does anyone remember players for the Atlanta Falcons running around the country claiming that they would have won the Super Bowl if it ended in 3 quarters?

Oh wait, that happens to be objectively true.

But losers and whiners find ways to CHOKE!

While I whole heartedly agree that she was a complete and utter dumba$$ for using a private server in the first place..... She had the election in the bag before Comey's interference. It was completely unprecedented and unnecessary. Its also odd considering they were investigating the Trump campaign as well

[Lord Admirale]

Hillary just doesn't own up to her mistakes, does she?

[Rookie Yinzer]

Hillary should blame her husband. If he hadn't met with Loretta Lynch, she wouldn't have had to recuse herself. She would have made the announcement that no charges were being filed and would've had took the heat of that decision from the Republicans. Instead Comey made the announcement and felt the need to divulge the newly discovered emails because he had already been accused of being in the tank for HRC with the initial ruling.

[PregnantChad]

Look at the data, she had a clear lead that deteriorated as soon as the (unnecessary and unprecedented) Comey letter was released. I love how all the head lines leave out the fact that she admits that she and her team made a ton of mistakes

I read a lot of threads here at the time, and IIRC the substantial lead she had after the third debate was starting to evaporate a couple of days before the Comey letter.  It's a detail that is often overlooked, and in the whiplash of that election season and everything that's followed, I hadn't given much thought as to why.

My best guess is that Trump stayed reasonably well behaved down the home stretch, sticking to the tele-prompter, and that people have short memories.  So, I suppose it's possible that she may have lost the electoral college anyway.

With that said, however, when an election result is that close, after so many twists and turns, it's hard to discount the importance of the Comey letter since it was the last twist and it occurred with not much time left.  Late deciders broke heavily for Trump, it may have caused would-be Hillary voters to stay home, and there was also a week before its retraction that voters may have thought there was something to it -- a week during which there was early voting in Florida.

[krazen1211]

Does anyone remember players for the Atlanta Falcons running around the country claiming that they would have won the Super Bowl if it ended in 3 quarters?

Oh wait, that happens to be objectively true.

But losers and whiners find ways to CHOKE!

While I whole heartedly agree that she was a complete and utter dumba$$ for using a private server in the first place..... She had the election in the bag before Comey's interference. It was completely unprecedented and unnecessary. Its also odd considering they were investigating the Trump campaign as well

This isn't even the first time this loser has blown a presidential election.

If this loser had any charm or talent or was maybe even a little bit nice she would have been a former president after winning in 2008. But nope. Losers gonna lose, chokers gonna choke.

[Hammy]

Clinton's obsession with this and refusal to just fade into the background is going to backfire and remind many people in 2018/20 why they didn't vote Democrat in 2016, and may make others vote against them out of pure spite (myself included.)