# Worst presidential campaighn ever?/ **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 9, 2018, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837 "2018-05-09T01:40:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837/21 "2018-05-09T12:18:39Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > John Kerry, 2004 (Damn it, John, when someone hits you, hit back!) John Kerry overperformed in 2004. A generic Democrat “should” have done worse given the state of the economy, but he ended up coming within ~60k Ohio voters of the presidency. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837/22 "2018-05-09T13:04:26Z")
Definitely the Trump campaign in 2016. One reason was having to hear his idiotic blathering every damn day, but principally because he appealed to the ugliest aspects of human nature and it worked. That precedent has stained American democracy and makes it the worst presidential campaign in our history. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837/23 "2018-05-09T14:02:34Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > The number of votes doesn’t determine the winner of the contest, any more than the number of baseballs hit by a batter determine the winner of a baseball game. It’s _where_ they go that matters, not how many of them there are total. I can’t believe I’m still having to explain this to so many people. He didn’t say the number determined the winner. He said he wouldn’t call the campaign the ‘worst’ since Clinton managed to get a significantly higher number of votes than her competitor. Compared to other disastrous campaigns (like Mondale, who only got 40% of the popular vote and only 13 Electoral votes) Clinton’s was far from ‘the worst’. ETA: **Miller’s** point not-withstanding ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837/24 "2018-05-09T15:46:00Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > William Jennings Bryan? Three times, no win. Harold Stassen ran 11 times from 1948 to 2000. Never got nominated but he did come close to nomination in 48 and 52. Member of the GOP. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837/25 "2018-05-09T17:19:23Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > He didn’t say the number determined the winner. He said he wouldn’t call the campaign the ‘worst’ since Clinton managed to get a significantly higher number of votes than her competitor. Compared to other disastrous campaigns (like Mondale, who only got 40% of the popular vote and only 13 Electoral votes) Clinton’s was far from ‘the worst’. I wouldn’t even say Clinton herself ran the worst campaign ever, more that she was the worst candidate ever. She did run a shitty campaign, but the campaign was only part of it. Hillary herself, her personality, her mannerisms, her _name_, played as much of a role as anything she did or didn’t do in that campaign. Hillary “won” the popular vote the same way America “won” the Iraq War. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837/26 "2018-05-09T17:34:38Z")
You can make a good case for George HW Bush’s campaign. This is a guy who was at 91% approval just a year before the election, and he got slaughtered. One of the highlights: Bush was getting hammered because of his cold, technocratic approach. So he was supposed to come across as warm and sincere and caring. So much so that an aide had written “Message: I care” on one of his presentations, just to remind him that the content was supposed to show his warm caring side. So what does Bush do? He stares into the camera and says, “Message: I care!” This perceived indifference wasn’t helped by his constant glancing at his watch during the Presidential debate. I don’t remember whether Dukakis ran a bad campaign, or if he was just a terrible candidate. His photo-op on the tank to shore up his ‘defence’ credentials was certainly the highlight (or lowlight, depending on your leaning at the time) of that campaign. He looked absolutely ridiculous and it had the opposite effect. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837/27 "2018-05-09T17:39:38Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > The number of votes doesn’t determine the winner of the contest, any more than the number of baseballs hit by a batter determine the winner of a baseball game. It’s _where_ they go that matters, not how many of them there are total. I can’t believe I’m still having to explain this to so many people. That’s true. But winning the popular vote does mean your campaign wasn’t a catastrophic loss. Of course Clintons team made some clear errors in hindsight. But her campaign by no means was the worst. Nixon is a contender. James G Blaine is a contender, but his loss was close. Dukakis in 1988. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837/28 "2018-05-09T18:25:53Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > McCain actually ran a reasonably good campaign. Picking Palin was the only major mistake he made. True, He should’ve known that Americans would never accept an unqualified, unschooled, incoherent, buffoonish demagogue with a highly questionable ethical history as Vice President of the United States. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837/29 "2018-05-09T19:42:32Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > I wouldn’t even say Clinton herself ran the worst campaign ever, more that she was the worst candidate ever. She did run a shitty campaign, but the campaign was only part of it. Hillary herself, her personality, her mannerisms, her _name_, played as much of a role as anything she did or didn’t do in that campaign. > > Hillary “won” the popular vote the same way America “won” the Iraq War. So we agree that Hillary did not run the Worst Presidential Campaign Ever. And since that’s the subject of this thread, why don’t you tell us who you think did? Also, to your last point, Hillary won the popular vote in the same was 2 is greater than 1. It’s a simple math problem, not a pithy metaphor. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837/30 "2018-05-09T20:20:12Z")
I think some of these were more of a case of a meh candidate and a run of the mill campaign, rather than being “bad.” For example, I don’t think Bush 1992 was any worse than Bush 1988 - the difference was Dukakis vs. Clinton. Other than his pick of Geraldine Ferraro, I don’t remember anything good or bad about Mondale’s campaign. Mondale was a Hubert Humphrey clone without Humphrey’s natural warmth and oratory. Both those candidates looked good on paper, but were strictly ordinary as candidates. ---
**Author:** ![Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambrosio_Spinola)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837/31 "2018-05-09T20:41:32Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Other than his pick of Geraldine Ferraro, I don’t remember anything good or bad about Mondale’s campaign. Mondale was a Hubert Humphrey clone without Humphrey’s natural warmth and oratory. During the 2016 campaign, I remembered hearing that in 1984 Mondale refused to take classified briefings since [he figured he was going to lose and there wasn’t any point](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/what-donald-trump-s-intelligence-briefing-will-entail-n632816). Was he even really trying to win? I mean, he was right, but still. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837/32 "2018-05-09T21:15:24Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > The number of votes doesn’t determine the winner of the contest, any more than the number of baseballs hit by a batter determine the winner of a baseball game. It’s _where_ they go that matters, not how many of them there are total. I can’t believe I’m still having to explain this to so many people. But you have to admit, Hillary Clinton did a masterful job of getting ten million illegals to vote for her, and there not being a single scrap of evidence that it happened. That’s a fucking Putin-level of awesome campaigning, there. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837/33 "2018-05-09T23:24:22Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > So we agree that Hillary did not run the Worst Presidential Campaign Ever. And since that’s the subject of this thread, why don’t you tell us who you think did? > > Also, to your last point, Hillary won the popular vote in the same was 2 is greater than 1. It’s a simple math problem, not a pithy metaphor. Hillary ran the worst campaign ever. Losing to Donald Trump means your campaign was the worst campaign ever. Whether it was because of her name, her face, her voice, her policies, what she did or didn’t do during the course of the campaign, _whatever,_ man, it was the worst campaign ever, because it resulted in me having to see Donald Trump’s face every fucking day of my life for the next three and probably seven years. I’m not denying that Hillary won the popular vote. You know what winning the popular vote has to do with who is elected to become the President? NOTHING. All it means is that there are a lot of people living in California and New York. 2 is greater than 1. Nonetheless, if I want to buy a soda from a vending machine, I use a one dollar bill, not a two dollar bill. The fact that 2 is greater than 1 doesn’t have shit to do with winning an election in the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837/34 "2018-05-10T00:38:28Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > This perceived indifference wasn’t helped by his [GHW Bush] constant glancing at his watch during the Presidential debate. I thought it only happened once. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837/35 "2018-05-10T00:44:24Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > I wouldn’t even say Clinton herself ran the worst campaign ever, > [@Jacquernagy](#): > > Hillary ran the worst campaign ever. :dubious: > [@Jacquernagy](#): > > I’m not denying that Hillary won the popular vote. You know what winning the popular vote has to do with who is elected to become the President? NOTHING. All it means is that there are a lot of people living in California and New York. No one ever said you denied Clinton won the popular vote… **E-DUB** was using the fact that Clinton won the popular vote as a reason to say she did NOT qualify as Worst Campaign Ever. You’re the one who brought up (and continues to argue) the non-sequitur that winning the popular vote doesn’t mean winning the Election, when no one in this thread ever said it did… I’m not sure what’s so difficult to understand here. You’re arguing with yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837/36 "2018-05-10T01:07:58Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > You’re arguing with yourself. Not the first time that’s happened. In all seriousness: I believe she ran the worst campaign ever. At one point I did claim that she didn’t run the worst campaign ever, but I am retracting that statement - which I made more to emphasize her unsuitability as a candidate than anything else - but now that I think of it, the identity of the candidate determines the nature of the campaign. So I stand by my belief that she ran the worst campaign ever. “Ran” isn’t even the right word. Crawled? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837/37 "2018-05-10T01:21:33Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > I thought it only happened once. Hmmm… you could be right. I thought it was more than once, but I was going from memory. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837/38 "2018-05-10T03:09:17Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > Not the first time that’s happened. > > In all seriousness: I believe she ran the worst campaign ever. At one point I did claim that she didn’t run the worst campaign ever, but I am retracting that statement - which I made more to emphasize her unsuitability as a candidate than anything else - but now that I think of it, the identity of the candidate determines the nature of the campaign. So I stand by my belief that she ran the worst campaign ever. “Ran” isn’t even the right word. Crawled? I’m personally unconvinced of the soundness of your methodology. If misreading the electorate is the key element, then Dewey in 1948 was worse than Clinton in 2016. Even if all the Dixiecrat voters had gone Republican, Dewey would still lose the electoral _and_ popular votes. Additionally, I’m a tad dismayed at what it says about America if Hillary Clinton is an unsuitable candidate but Donald Trump _isn’t_. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837/39 "2018-05-10T03:18:09Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > He didn’t say the number determined the winner. He said he wouldn’t call the campaign the ‘worst’ since Clinton managed to get a significantly higher number of votes than her competitor. Compared to other disastrous campaigns (like Mondale, who only got 40% of the popular vote and only 13 Electoral votes) Clinton’s was far from ‘the worst’. > > ETA: **Miller’s** point not-withstanding YOU get what I’m saying. Can’t understand why others seem not to. ---
**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:** [May 10, 2018, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837/40 "2018-05-10T12:41:32Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > Hillary ran the worst campaign ever. Losing to Donald Trump means your campaign was the worst campaign ever. Nonsense. We have an obvious example of a candidate (Walter Mondale) who lost far worse to an obvious incompetent despite the absence of other factors (e.g. foreign intervention) in the latter’s favor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-presidential-campaighn-ever/813837.md?page=3)