Which Recent Presidential Nominee Ran the Worst Campaign?

[Free Bird]

And why?

[Lord Admirale]

Hillary Clinton. She wasn't her own candidate (post-primaries) and just ran as a continuation of Obama's policies. Her campaign staff were also so convinced that she would win and it lead to poor campaign strategies as a result.

[dw93]

From first worst to best:

1. Hillary 2016: Losing to Donald Trump alone puts her at the top. No one, outside of Trump's staunchest supporters thought she'd lose and she lost.

2. Mitt Romney 2012: What should've been a close election that could go either way was a decisive win for Obama.

3. John McCain 2008: Granted, McCain was doomed from the start. With that said he picked the worst running mate of the last 50 years and said the fundamentals of our economy were strong as the economy was collapsing around us.

4. Trump 2016: To his credit, he understood the Republican orthodoxy was unpopular and ran against it, and because of that and because of divided establishment and conservative opposition, he won the nomination, and then went on to win the general against a candidate who literally snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. That aside, of all these recent nominees, none had put their foot in their mouth as much as Trump did and no candidate did as much to divide this country (intentionally I might add), as Trump. Trump 2020 might very well out worse Hillary 2016 though as Trump has, for the most part, has pushed an agenda that is  within the Republican orthodoxy.

5. Gore 2000: He went from trailing Bush by double digits in the Spring to being in a dead even race with him by the time the conventions were over, so I can't call this campaign bad. With that said, it wasn't good. He made an ass of himself in the town hall debate when he approached Bush and tried to intimidate him onstage and he didn't use Bill Clinton to his advantage, Hillary used him on the campaign trail and won her Senate race. He also handled the Florida recount poorly as well.

6. Kerry 2004: Would be higher on the list (and might've won the election) if he hadn't flip flopped on Iraq (which was understandable but hurt him) and had he responded to the swift boat veterans for truth ads.

7. Bush 2004: Despite poor debate performances in all three debates, a weak recovery from the early 2000s recession, the truth coming out on Iraq, and despite not being as good as the 2000 campaign, he still did alright and managed to eek out a win.


8. Obama 2012: Outside of the "You didn't build that" gaffe and a poor performance in debate number one, and despite vulnerabilities (weak recovery, Obamacare not having majority support yet, etc...) he ran a solid campaign.

9. Bush 2000: Ran against Peace, Prosperity, and the closest thing to incumbency you could get in an open election and won, even if narrowly and controversially.

10. Obama 2008: Need I explain.

[Lincoln Republican]

As much as it pains me to say it, Mitt Romney ran the worst campaign.

Almost every day was a new gaffe, either from Romney or from one of his campaign officials.

[Senator-elect Spark]

Hillary Clinton. She wasn't her own candidate (post-primaries) and just ran as a continuation of Obama's policies. Her campaign staff were also so convinced that she would win and it lead to poor campaign strategies as a result.

[Pericles]

I think Al Gore actually. It was peace and prosperity, he should have won in a landslide. It was a tough call between him and Clinton, but both made bone-headed mistakes and only one had a good environment for their candidacy.

[dw93]

I'm curious as to why someone voted Kerry.

[Holy Unifying Centrist]

I think Al Gore actually. It was peace and prosperity, he should have won in a landslide. It was a tough call between him and Clinton, but both made bone-headed mistakes and only one had a good environment for their candidacy.

Bush was a far better candidate than Trump though. Bush's favorability going into the 2000 election was like 58-37.


My list is:


1. Clinton


2. Trump


3. Romney


4. Gore


5. Kerry


6. Bush 04


7. Obama 12

8. Mccain 08 (this race was never close to winnable for R's vs Obama)

9. Bush 00

10. Obama 08

[Pandaguineapig]

McCain 08 was a case of a good candidate with horrible staff, Steve Schmidt had long been known as an incompetent manager with one of the worst election records. But in terms of worst campaign overall Clinton 2016 by a mile

[Politician]

Hillary of course. My list, from best to worst:

1. Obama '08
2. Bush '04
3. Obama '12
4. Trump '16
5. Bush '00
6. Kerry '04
7. Gore '00
8. McCain '08
9. Romney '12
10. Clinton '16

[Landslide Lyndon]

Those who voted Clinton don't know what they are talking about. Take out Comey's letter (something over which she had no control) and the same people would say today what a well-oiled machine her campaign was.

Objectively Trump ran the worst campaign. He was an atrocious fundraiser, lost three debates hands-down, was constantly baited into saying dumb and/or offensive things, and changed three campaign managers. 

[mvd10]

Trump 2016
Hillary 2016
Romney 2012
Gore 2000
Kerry 2004
McCain 2008
Bush 2004
Bush 2000
Obama 2012
Obama 2008

From worst to best. Honestly, I was tempted to put Obama 2012 above (or under in this case) Obama 2008.

[NewYorkExpress]

From worst to best.

1. Trump 2016 (If Russia hadn't stepped in, he likely would've lost in a landslide)
2. McCain 2008 (Palin probably was the worst VP pick in modern memory, and while McCain probably wouldn't have won with anyone else, he certainly could have made it much closer with a halfway decent campaign)
3. Clinton 2016 (Even ignoring the Comey letter, the fact is Clinton didn't run as her own candidate. She ran as a combination of her Husband and President Obama...not a good place to be)
4. Gore 2000 (Gore blew a winnable election by ignoring several other winnable states at the expense of Florida...which he also lost)
5. Romney 2012 (A gaffe machine...but Paul Ryan was a good VP pick in my honest opinion)
6. Kerry 2004 (The flip-flopping was the only major negative about his campaign. Too bad it cost him the election)
7.  Obama 2012 (A couple of gaffes, and a poor performance in the first debate puts him here)
8. Bush 2004 (Ran a smear campaign to perfection)
9. Bush 2000 (Managed the Florida Recount perfectly. About the only thing he could have done better is played in more states ahead of time...but as he won Florida anyways, it doesn't matter)
10. Obama 2008 (Ran a practically perfect campaign in every facet, in both primary and general election...except for Reverend Wright, which he handled perfectly, IMO.)

[Landslide Lyndon]

9. Bush 2000 (Managed the Florida Recount perfectly. About the only thing he could have done better is played in more states ahead of time...but as he won Florida anyways, it doesn't matter)

You see, this is why I don't take seriously these rankings. Bush almost blew an election where he was ahead by double digits and had the active support of the "liberal" media.
During the last days he was campaigning in California while Gore had focused like a laser in Florida.
If it wasn't for Scalia and co. we'd still mention this as one of the biggest gaffes in presidential campaign history.

[Mr. Smith]

Worst Losing Campaign (and my vote here): Romney
Worst Winning Campaign: Trump
Best Losing Campaign: Kerry
Best Winning Campaign: Obama '12

[Progressive Pessimist]

Trump's campaign may have been successful but it was still an absolute disaster the entire time and made American society a worse place as it divided us, weakened our institutions, and devolved public discourse. Other campaigns may have yielded worse results but none can compare when it comes to having a negative legacy. Most campaigns are forgettable but this one was not, nor should it be.

[GeorgiaModerate]

"Recent" is in the eye of the beholder.   I voted for Clinton, but nobody on that list is close to Dukakis.

[IceSpear]

Trump. Just because Comey handed him a win doesn't make his campaign good. It was objectively a total disaster if you look at any metric other than the result.

[dw93]

Including 1968-96 Campaigns From Worst to Best (not including Perot, Wallace, and Anderson):

1. Clinton 2016
2. Dukakis 1988
3. McGovern 1972
4. Carter 1976
5. Romney 2012
6. Mondale 1984
7. McCain 2008
8. Carter 1980
9. Trump 2016
10. Bush 1992
11. Gore 2000
12. Dole 1996
13. Clinton 1996
14. Kerry 2004
15. Nixon 1968
16. Nixon 1972
17. Humphrey 1968
18. Bush 2004
19. Bush 1988
20. Reagan 1984
21. Obama 2012
22. Ford 1976
23. Reagan 1980
24. Bush 2000
25. Clinton 1992
26. Obama 2008

[YE]

The one who's slogan was stronger together and I'm with her, focused like 1/5 of her ads on policy, and was reluctant to take firm policy positions.

[Darthpi – Anti-Florida Activist]

The 2016 election almost doesn't deserve to be judged in the same category as any of the other elections, given the simultaneous Russian interference in the election and the utter failure of the press to hold Trump to any of the standards that all previous candidates had been held to. It would be like comparing the 1919 World Series to any other World Series.

[JG]

The 2016 election almost doesn't deserve to be judged in the same category as any of the other elections, given the simultaneous Russian interference in the election and the utter failure of the press to hold Trump to any of the standards that all previous candidates had been held to. It would be like comparing the 1919 World Series to any other World Series.

[Confused Democrat]

Clinton by a mile.

[IndustrialJustice]

Clinton, obviously, but Romney 2012 was spectacularly incompetent from start to finish.

Those who voted Clinton don't know what they are talking about. Take out Comey's letter (something over which she had no control) and the same people would say today what a well-oiled machine her campaign was.

Objectively Trump ran the worst campaign. He was an atrocious fundraiser, lost three debates hands-down, was constantly baited into saying dumb and/or offensive things, and changed three campaign managers.  

So the person who lost to the candidate who ran the worst campaign in this time period falls... where, exactly?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Clinton.

Even after the life-long GOP smear campaign, the (underestimated) sexism, the relentlessly negative media coverage,  the Russian interference and Comey's last-minute hand-grenade, the fact remains. She lost to Donald Jackwagon Trump when it never should ever have even been close.


Her allocation of resources was questionable even at the time. In hindsight it looks foolish.

She clearly never completely got over her 2008 habit of placing loyalty over even minimal competence.

She utterly failed to define her own campaign. 'The Future, Not The Past' "Economy, Environment, Education" "Four More Years". Any message would have been better than "I'm a competent technocrat, you can read my policy whitepaper on my website".

And finally, she completely and utterly failed to target Trump's weaknesses, instead falling for his schtick. Clinton, like many others, attacked him for being a bad person when she should have relentlessly hammered home that he was an awful candidate. She had the money to make certain that every time an American voter heard the words 'Donald Trump' they would associate them with Fraud, Failure and Bankruptcy.