Thinking on the Hillary vs Trump campaigns while reading other threads here, it struck me that Hillary's campaign was a reversal from the usual Democrat model for a campaign and that the Trump one implemented some of the Democrats' strengths as well.
The Democrat party is where liberals have usually gone to vote. They are usually sold on hope, change, and inclusion. That's why Obama did so well in 2008. His campaign that year was the epitome of this. Yes We Can. No Blue or Red America, only the United States of America. First black president. And on and on it went. Record numbers of liberals and progressives came out to vote for him. Hillary showed a remarkable failure to use this to her advantage. It is one big reason she didn't win the white house. Trump, rather innovatively also played into this though in a few ways. He talked about hope and about putting America first. He talked about "winning" to the point that it was almost like a joke to liberals, but it registered with conservatives and those in the middle.
The Republican party is where conservatives have usually gone to vote. They are usually sold on tradition, fear, caution, tribal unity against the other, and economy. Trump played into this well. Make America Great Again. Talk against immigration, etc. But Hillary... she played into this herself, which was a grave mistake for her. She pushed an "I'm not him" campaign. She said what she said about "deplorables". Most who voted for her didn't know her policies. They knew Trump needed to be stopped. They were not voting out of hope, like with Obama. They were voting out of fear.
I think Hillary ran at a time when it would have been more difficult to push a positive message rather than a negative one. Obama's campaign came at the end of the Bush era. Hillary came at the end of Obama, affiliated with him and off of him not delivering on all that hope and change. And she ran against Bernie, the dreamer, who consistently pushed a message of hope and change. But I still think, as the Sanders movement and his approval ratings were showing, that had she taken a positive approach rather than a negative one, she could have won the election and could have defeated Trump.
Trump was the candidate calling for radical change and Hillary was the candidate of more of the same and keeping things as they were. And I think that's a major reason why she didn't win the white house. It was firmly in her grasp, but she let him steal some of what should have been her strengths with her base (who vastly outnumber his) and she took up some of what should have been his weaknesses with them. Koy has shown in other threads that those who didn't vote favoured her over him, but they didn't vote. Her strategy failed to get them to the polls in high enough numbers, while his supporters did come vote for him.
The Democrat party is where liberals have usually gone to vote. They are usually sold on hope, change, and inclusion. That's why Obama did so well in 2008. His campaign that year was the epitome of this. Yes We Can. No Blue or Red America, only the United States of America. First black president. And on and on it went. Record numbers of liberals and progressives came out to vote for him. Hillary showed a remarkable failure to use this to her advantage. It is one big reason she didn't win the white house. Trump, rather innovatively also played into this though in a few ways. He talked about hope and about putting America first. He talked about "winning" to the point that it was almost like a joke to liberals, but it registered with conservatives and those in the middle.
The Republican party is where conservatives have usually gone to vote. They are usually sold on tradition, fear, caution, tribal unity against the other, and economy. Trump played into this well. Make America Great Again. Talk against immigration, etc. But Hillary... she played into this herself, which was a grave mistake for her. She pushed an "I'm not him" campaign. She said what she said about "deplorables". Most who voted for her didn't know her policies. They knew Trump needed to be stopped. They were not voting out of hope, like with Obama. They were voting out of fear.
I think Hillary ran at a time when it would have been more difficult to push a positive message rather than a negative one. Obama's campaign came at the end of the Bush era. Hillary came at the end of Obama, affiliated with him and off of him not delivering on all that hope and change. And she ran against Bernie, the dreamer, who consistently pushed a message of hope and change. But I still think, as the Sanders movement and his approval ratings were showing, that had she taken a positive approach rather than a negative one, she could have won the election and could have defeated Trump.
Trump was the candidate calling for radical change and Hillary was the candidate of more of the same and keeping things as they were. And I think that's a major reason why she didn't win the white house. It was firmly in her grasp, but she let him steal some of what should have been her strengths with her base (who vastly outnumber his) and she took up some of what should have been his weaknesses with them. Koy has shown in other threads that those who didn't vote favoured her over him, but they didn't vote. Her strategy failed to get them to the polls in high enough numbers, while his supporters did come vote for him.
