It's May 2016 and you're HRC, what are doing differently with today's knowledge?

[Sir Mohamed]

Imagine you're traveling back 5 years ago to May 2016 and you're in HRC's shoes. What would you do differently, knowing how the election actually ended? Just campaign more in MI, WI and PA? Pick another VP candidate? How to deal with Sanders?

[Biden his time]

Drop out and endorse Bernie 

[sting in the rafters]

-The most important priority would be paying more attention to the situation on the ground. Even a modicum of response to the warning signs with union households in MI/PA or the large numbers of undecideds in Wisconsin as opposed to relying solely on their models would've resulted in pulling out of IA/OH earlier. Michael Moore laid out the warning signs succinctly.
-Public option in platform to extend an olive branch to disaffected Sanders voters
-Don't make deplorables comment.
-Pick Brown as VP

[dw93]

Pick a different running mate, maybe Merkley as an olive branch to Sanders supporters, or Sherrod Brown or Tim Ryan (or someone else along those lines) to help in the Rust Belt. I'd also, particularly in the case of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania come to the realization that the Rust Belt was always competitive (WI was decided by less than 1% in 2000 and 2004, PA was close in 2004) and Obama's margins were largely due to the Great Recession and the fact that he was an exceptionally good fit for the region and put resources into those states plus Florida rather than chase a landslide that was never gonna be and chasing Republican voters that weren't gonna vote for her anyway.

I'd also do a hell of a lot more to get ahead of the Comey investigation and not be so blindsided when it's relaunched, not call millennials basement dwellers and not utter the words "basket of deplorables" (even if many Trumpers were/are deplorable).

I'd also add that if I were Obama at this time, I'd be doing a hell of a lot more about Russian interference and misinformation campaigns rather than treat it lightly.

[darklordoftech]

- Don’t hire Huma Abedin.

- Tell Obama to fire James Comey.

[dw93]

- Don’t hire Huma Abedin.

- Tell Obama to fire James Comey.

I honestly think this could backfire depending on the timing that it's done.

[Canis]

Pick someone from the midwest as VP
Do what Biden did and extend an olive branch to Sanders voters by forming task forces to compromise on policy disagreements
Focus on Policy and not Trump but attack trump still for how his policies will hurt the working class instead of focusing on how bad of a person he is. (still attack him for that but don't make it the central message of the campaign.)
Obviously, campaign in WI MI, and PA much more than IRL.

[South Dakota Democrat]

Pick someone from the midwest as VP
Do what Biden did and extend an olive branch to Sanders voters by forming task forces to compromise on policy disagreements
Focus on Policy and not Trump but attack trump still for how his policies will hurt the working class instead of focusing on how bad of a person he is. (still attack him for that but don't make it the central message of the campaign.)
Obviously, campaign in WI MI, and PA much more than IRL.

This, especially the bolded part.

[darklordoftech]

Talk about how Trump is a typical Republican rather than about how he isn’t one.

[dw93]

Pick someone from the midwest as VP
Do what Biden did and extend an olive branch to Sanders voters by forming task forces to compromise on policy disagreements
Focus on Policy and not Trump but attack trump still for how his policies will hurt the working class instead of focusing on how bad of a person he is. (still attack him for that but don't make it the central message of the campaign.)
Obviously, campaign in WI MI, and PA much more than IRL.

This, especially the bolded part.

Also attack his business record the way Obama did Romney's. There was so much for the Clinton campaign to attack in that regard I don't know why they didn't go for it.

[Canis]

Pick someone from the midwest as VP
Do what Biden did and extend an olive branch to Sanders voters by forming task forces to compromise on policy disagreements
Focus on Policy and not Trump but attack trump still for how his policies will hurt the working class instead of focusing on how bad of a person he is. (still attack him for that but don't make it the central message of the campaign.)
Obviously, campaign in WI MI, and PA much more than IRL.

This, especially the bolded part.

Also attack his business record the way Obama did Romney's. There was so much for the Clinton campaign to attack in that regard I don't know why they didn't go for it.

Exactly bringing up how Trump outsourced his own workers should have been one of Clinton's most repeated attacks in the election if she ran her campaign a little more similar to her 2008 campaign that would have helped her with the WWC too. I think the Clinton campaign in 2016 thought they had the blue-collar worker support in the bag and thought they'd make bigger gains in the more rapidly growing college-educated suburbs.

[Motorcity]

1. Make more concessions to Bernie and ask him to campaign more

2. Campaign more in WI/MI/PA

3. Instead of attacking Trump's behavior, explain how he is just a normal Republican and not some proto populist

4. Have Obama out on the campaign trail more

5. Run like your behind. Explain to the country that third party votes are a waste of time and that'll they make you lose

6. Run a more progressive campaign.

7. Never utter "Its her turn". No one cares whose turn it is, how will you make their lives better. Don't do anything cringy

8. Spend more money on senate and house races

9. Attend the 9/11 funeral in somewhere cooler so you don't faint

10. Tell James Comey to go  himself

[Chips]

Campaign in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Drop out and endorse Bernie 

Well, that would obviously minimize Trump's odds of winning, but what's in it for Hillary?

[Biden his time]

Drop out and endorse Bernie  

Well, that would obviously minimize Trump's odds of winning, but what's in it for Hillary?

A better America          

Aside from that, nothing 

[Sir Mohamed]

I'm not so sure making more concessions to Sanders would have helped her. Yup, she may have won a few extra voters here and there, but hardly in the states that mattered. And she for sure would have lost some other voters that didn't like Sanders. Just remember that according to polls HRC was seen as the "more extreme" candidate than Trump (it sounds crazy and I don't understand it, tbh). And I'm not saying this as strong Sanders critic.

[Epaminondas]

Why would we want this though? To get slaughtered in 2018 and then lose reelection in a landslide in 2020?
Clinton's loss was a blessing in disguise. It's just a shame she left behind such acrimony among democrats as she faded into the night.
If she could somehow have helped carry the Senate seats of Pennsylvania, Missouri or Wisconsin in a narrower loss, she would be a hero.

I'm not so sure making more concessions to Sanders would have helped her. Yup, she may have won a few extra voters here and there, but hardly in the states that mattered.

Michigan and Wisconsin were won by Sanders in the primary, were they not?

[brucejoel99]

As strange as this suggestion may sound on the face of it, listen to Bill.

-The most important priority would be paying more attention to the situation on the ground. Even a modicum of response to the warning signs with union households in MI/PA or the large numbers of undecideds in Wisconsin as opposed to relying solely on their models would've resulted in pulling out of IA/OH earlier. Michael Moore laid out the warning signs succinctly.
-Public option in platform to extend an olive branch to disaffected Sanders voters
-Don't make deplorables comment.
-Pick Brown as VP

See Page 31 of the 2016 Democratic Platform.

[sting in the rafters]

As strange as this suggestion may sound on the face of it, listen to Bill.

-The most important priority would be paying more attention to the situation on the ground. Even a modicum of response to the warning signs with union households in MI/PA or the large numbers of undecideds in Wisconsin as opposed to relying solely on their models would've resulted in pulling out of IA/OH earlier. Michael Moore laid out the warning signs succinctly.
-Public option in platform to extend an olive branch to disaffected Sanders voters
-Don't make deplorables comment.
-Pick Brown as VP

See Page 31 of the 2016 Democratic Platform.

Is expanding Medicare, taking proactive steps towards negotiating prescription costs, and shoring up the ACA (which don't get me wrong, in general I had no problem with HRC's domestic platform) truly in the same category of what was wanted from the progressive wing at the time (e.g. similar to one of Germany, Singapore, etc.)?


Agreed on listening to Bubba, he too was pointing towards the warning signs.

[brucejoel99]

-The most important priority would be paying more attention to the situation on the ground. Even a modicum of response to the warning signs with union households in MI/PA or the large numbers of undecideds in Wisconsin as opposed to relying solely on their models would've resulted in pulling out of IA/OH earlier. Michael Moore laid out the warning signs succinctly.
-Public option in platform to extend an olive branch to disaffected Sanders voters
-Don't make deplorables comment.
-Pick Brown as VP

See Page 31 of the 2016 Democratic Platform.

Is expanding Medicare, taking proactive steps towards negotiating prescription costs, and shoring up the ACA (which don't get me wrong, in general I had no problem with HRC's domestic platform) truly in the same category of what was wanted from the progressive wing at the time (e.g. similar to one of Germany, Singapore, etc.)?

Maybe not, but all of that's a bit of a goalpost-shift from your initial suggestion of putting a "public option in [the] platform" when the linked platform section itself said "Americans should be able to access public coverage through a public option."

[sting in the rafters]

-The most important priority would be paying more attention to the situation on the ground. Even a modicum of response to the warning signs with union households in MI/PA or the large numbers of undecideds in Wisconsin as opposed to relying solely on their models would've resulted in pulling out of IA/OH earlier. Michael Moore laid out the warning signs succinctly.
-Public option in platform to extend an olive branch to disaffected Sanders voters
-Don't make deplorables comment.
-Pick Brown as VP

See Page 31 of the 2016 Democratic Platform.

Is expanding Medicare, taking proactive steps towards negotiating prescription costs, and shoring up the ACA (which don't get me wrong, in general I had no problem with HRC's domestic platform) truly in the same category of what was wanted from the progressive wing at the time (e.g. similar to one of Germany, Singapore, etc.)?

Maybe not, but all of that's a bit of a goalpost-shift from your initial suggestion of putting a "public option in [the] platform" when the linked platform section itself said "Americans should be able to access public coverage through a public option."

Fair enough, though A) a significant portion of Sanders supporters favored single-payer and multi-payer would be a compromise to begin with, B) there had been an undercurrent of support for a full public option in the Democratic party since it was taken out of the ACA, C) HRC had a chance to differentiate herself using her historical support for universal healthcare, and D) It would've given me a reason to describe my vote in the general as "for HRC" instead of "not Trump"


At any rate with how tight the results were, perhaps a more progressive appeal on healthcare
could've made the difference with higher turnout among registered Ds. Could've even flipped a couple of Senate races all things considered, though at that point it's all hypothetical. Either way it's just one of the many different reasons someone can point to as to why HRC choked.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

Make every second sentence about the Obama economy and how many millions of jobs have been added since 2008. Make every third sentence about ensuring affordable healthcare and how Trump plans to take away yours.

More unorthodox: pivot on immigration. Brag about my aye vote on the Secure Fence Act of 2006. Do a big photo op at the border fence and mock Trump as a charlatan for promising something that my vote already created and the administration I was part of built. Shake some hands with Latino border patrol officers and imply Trump's rhetoric is racist towards them. Big up statistics on decreased illegal border crossings since 2008. Say with our efforts to secure the border we can offer a pathway to citizenship to those here.

[darklordoftech]

Run ads that play Trump being asked if the Iraq War is a good idea and Trump saying, “I guess so” in order to counter Trump’s claim that he knew all along that the Iraq War would be a bad idea.

[The Mikado]

-Pick Brown as VP

Part of foreknowledge is not wanting the GOP to get a free Senate seat in Ohio that there's no way you're ever getting back in 2018, because part of foreknowledge is that Dems were likely not taking the Senate in 2016 and HRC would have to face a GOP unified Congress and every Senate seat counted.

Which actually increases the import on focusing more on PA and WI: they both had pretty narrow competitive Senate races.

[sting in the rafters]

-Pick Brown as VP

Part of foreknowledge is not wanting the GOP to get a free Senate seat in Ohio that there's no way you're ever getting back in 2018, because part of foreknowledge is that Dems were likely not taking the Senate in 2016 and HRC would have to face a GOP unified Congress and every Senate seat counted.

Which actually increases the import on focusing more on PA and WI: they both had pretty narrow competitive Senate races.

I assumed Brown would’ve been burnt in a Clinton midterm. OH was to the right of the NPV in 18 as it was, if Rs won the House NPV (more probable than not in a red wave) then he woulda been faneto. Also Brown would’ve given Clinton credibility on the issue of trade.