# Hillary Clinton did not run a terrible campaign **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 28, 2017, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305 "2017-07-28T03:55:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305/141 "2017-08-01T15:04:08Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > The voters chose neither. It has been explained multiple times that Hillary did not win a majority of the vote. The horse has been led to water. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305/142 "2017-08-01T15:10:54Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > While it is true that the candidate herself never promoted that meme, to claim that the Democratic Party itself wasn’t trying to utilize that thought process is wrong. There were numerous efforts to get women to side with Clinton on the basis of the gender issue. > > What is a correct statement is to clarify that, while that was one thought process promoted, it wasn’t the only one, nor was it the main one. I think that two or more of these things can be true at the same time. Yes, there are black people who voted for Obama because he was black and women who voted for Clinton because she was a woman, but I doubt that very few of these people respectively would have voted for either candidate if they didn’t feel that they were in some way going to represent their own personal interests, those of their communities, and the larger country as a whole better than their opposition. People inherently see things from their own perspective better than they see it from someone else’s vantage point - there are after all plenty of people who vote for white male candidates because, well, they’re white males and their minds have little imagination to go beyond that presidential prototype. It is probably fair to say that Hillary Clinton got free passes from feminists, but that doesn’t mean that she wasn’t herself the victim of sexism. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305/143 "2017-08-01T15:12:16Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > It has been explained multiple times that Hillary did not win a majority of the vote. The horse has been led to water. Technically and otherwise, you’re correct, but I think it’s beyond obvious that the real point they are trying to make is that she won more votes (a clear plurality) than Donald Trump. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305/144 "2017-08-01T15:19:29Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > In order to win popularity it is often necessary to publicly shame people into as much self-contempt as the utter contempt one feels for them. They will then vote for their chiding betters. > > Worked for Savonarola. Savonarola! Hehehehe. Good one. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305/145 "2017-08-01T15:26:47Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Technically and otherwise, you’re correct, but I think it’s beyond obvious that the real point they are trying to make is that she won more votes (a clear plurality) than Donald Trump. If things were different, things would be different. Hillary won the race that no candidate was running. Hooray? Hillary and her campaign staff knew the rules. And according to the existing rules, Hillary lost. Twice. If Hillary had actually ran a successful campaign, she could have won. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305/146 "2017-08-01T15:28:51Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Technically and otherwise, you’re correct, but I think it’s beyond obvious that the real point they are trying to make is that she won more votes (a clear plurality) than Donald Trump. When we’re 3 pages into this thread and someone is still getting it wrong, I’d say nothing is blindingly obvious. Especially when the claim is that it’s “the central factor of the election”. The voters did not choose Hillary, and as long as someone keeps saying that, I’ll keep correcting them. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305/147 "2017-08-01T15:32:24Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > When we’re 3 pages into this thread and someone is still getting it wrong, I’d say nothing is blindingly obvious. Especially when the claim is that it’s “the central factor of the election”. The voters did not choose Hillary, and as long as someone keeps saying that, I’ll keep correcting them. Who are you correcting? You took his quote out of context: "\*The voters chose neither. 1. No candidate received a majority of the votes cast. Hillary Clinton received a plurality of those who voted in the elections that day.\*" he specifically stated that. Read before kneejerk. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305/148 "2017-08-01T15:38:06Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > It’s hard to say but I think the polls were so skewed because the Centrists supported Clinton but never actually went out and voted for her. The polls were not skewed. They showed Clinton had a narrow lead over Trump in the national polls and in fact she ended up with a narrow lead in the votes. Of course, a narrow lead in the national polls and votes doesn’t necessarily convert into electoral victory. The problem was too many people are too innumerate to truly understand that. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305/149 "2017-08-01T15:39:47Z")
And even had she won far more popular votes, the central fact is that she was running against Donald fucking **Trump** : she should have won both votes by at least 85%. Not to have won big is astoundingly disgraceful. LBJ would have cleaned his clock. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305/150 "2017-08-01T15:48:04Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Who are you correcting? You took his quote out of context: > "\*The voters chose neither. > > 1. No candidate received a majority of the votes cast. Hillary Clinton received a plurality of those who voted in the elections that day.\*" > > he specifically stated that. Read before kneejerk. That’s funny. Especially the emphasis added part. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305/151 "2017-08-01T15:50:06Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > “Decades-long blood feud with the GOP”. Did you mean “decades-long smear campaign by the GOP”? Because that would be far more accurate. > > I mean, her campaign was certainly flawed and she certainly has some personality issues, but I’m having a hard time taking seriously anyone astonished that two decades of virulent, nasty lies about her character might have negatively impacted people’s opinion of her. Didn’t we know this when she was nominated? If she was so horribly scarred by all those virulent nasty lies, as to make her unelectable, then why did we nominate her? Was it just because she insisted it was HER turn? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305/152 "2017-08-01T15:54:09Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > That’s funny. Especially the emphasis added part. So, why did you correct someone that wasn’t wrong? To be funny? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305/153 "2017-08-01T15:57:04Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Didn’t we know this when she was nominated? If she was so horribly scarred by all those virulent nasty lies, as to make her unelectable, then why did we nominate her? Was it just because she insisted it was HER turn? Because the _voters choose her._ And you can quibble all you want between plurality and majority but Hillary got a clear majority in the Democratic primary. ``` Clinton Sanders ``` Delegate count 2,842 1,865 Contests won 34 23 Popular vote 16,914,722 13,206,428 Percentage 55.2% 43.1% ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305/154 "2017-08-01T16:00:18Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > If things were different, things would be different. Hillary won the race that no candidate was running. Hooray? Hillary and her campaign staff knew the rules. And according to the existing rules, Hillary lost. Twice. > > If Hillary had actually ran a successful campaign, she could have won. I’m in no way disagreeing that Hillary lost the election fairly and squarely - I was just trying to clarify something that was mentioned. Yes it’s incorrect to say that Hillary won a majority of the popular vote - technically she did not. But she did win a plurality, and she got more votes than the sitting president. That does not make her president, and I’ve said as much that the electoral college is not inherently corrupt or invalid just because the person without the plurality is the sitting president. But let’s not pretend that don’t understand what the poster in question is getting at. He’s factually inaccurate, yes, but we know what point he’s trying to make and let’s just address the merits of that argument, or the lack of merits.😃 I’m starting to lose track of who said what.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305/155 "2017-08-01T16:01:07Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > It also requires that different populations with radically different experiences work together politically, which is not inherently a bad thing at all. Given their built-in electoral advantage, the isolated ignorant are not really required to work together with the city slickers, who do have experience living together with people of radically different experiences. Do please note who has majorities in Congress right now, and how well they represent America. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305/156 "2017-08-01T16:04:28Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > No, that’s a false history, as you should know. Fake history! As \*you \*should know, it was not a state-by-state thing, but a regional one. There really was a strong risk of the Confederacy forming if the North had had both the ability and desire to end slavery in the late 18th century instead of later. It is indeed a fact of history, one which you have no excuse for not knowing, that there were a number of major compromises made in the Constitution to prevent that from happening. Do you also think the Civil War was fought to protect states’ rights? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305/157 "2017-08-01T16:04:51Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > No, that’s a false history, as you should know. Virginia was a slave state and had the largest population in the US at the time. Rhode Island, by comparison, was very unwilling to join the re-formulated constitution (they were the last to sign up), and were very concerned about their status as a state with a small population. i.e.: “The system clearly was not set up to favor slave states, because the biggest slave state was A-OK with it and the state that was first to abolish slavery as a colony had serious reservations about it.” This sounds like Logic 101… as taught at Trump University. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305/158 "2017-08-01T16:08:25Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > The biggest mistake Hillary made was not going negative on Bernie and allowing him to develop a cult. She probably thought Bernie would be an adult, but when surrounded by scum like Jane Sanders and Jeff Weaver, that’s a bad bet to make. > > Get Sanders of out the race after Super Tuesday, or the New York primary at the latest, Well the DNC probably tried but there was only so much they could do without actually rigging the election. > [@](#): > > then there are no Bernie Bros booing at the convention. Was this before or after it was revealed that Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the DNC staff was biased and in the bag for Hillary? > [@](#): > > 1That means fewer millennials in Madison, Ann Arbor, or State College throwing their votes away on Jill Stein or doing a silly write in. You don’t think that the revelation that she cheated during the primary would have made them refuse to vote for her anyway? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305/159 "2017-08-01T16:10:02Z")
The Democrats supported the Democrat. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305/160 "2017-08-01T16:11:36Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Um, no. But primary candidates usually concede gracefully and don’t have rallies like Sanders did. > > Sanders: “The Democratic Party…” > Crowd: BOO!!! > Sanders: Rigged! All the Democratic candidates endorsed Hillary. The same cannot be said of Trumps’ Republican adversaries. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hillary-clinton-did-not-run-a-terrible-campaign/792305.md?page=9)