Mrs.Clinton needed to have a singular clear message that she hammered us with. What she was going to do for us. Not her children's insurance initiative from her early years. Mr.T was getting plenty of air time; Mrs.Clinton should not hav used up her air time to speak of him. Her staff, in her employ for decades, exhibited more loyalty than clear, passionate, killer thinking. She needed fresh blood. I campaigned for her in Appalachia Ohio; our instructions were limp compared with Obama's ground game. On 'Fresh Air' today, Mrs.Clinton said she had more people on the ground than Obama. Numbers don't make up for lack of clear campaign thrust hitting the message over and over again. FYI, in 2 weeks going door to door in old mill towns in Ohio, ALL the retired women were "for her." They felt bullied by the men, and couldn't figure out why the men would vote so clearly against their own self interest. If she had kept it simple, repeated her message like a mantra, she would have revealed the strong, passionate, driven, capable women she is. All that thumb fumble politically correct not wanting to appear angry lost the election for her and for us.
1
Humanity is not kind to women who are repressed.
1
You know, I think we really need to be focused on preserving the ACA for future generations, instead of re-re-re-revisiting Hillary's loss.
The GOP is trying to sneak through a repeal of the law, with Americans blissfully unaware because THE PRESS ISN'T COVERING IT.
No. Healthcare can wait. It's more important to grouse about the Electoral College.
1
If you don’t have anything nice to say about anyone, become a political writer!
:)
3
I'm not sure there needs to be any blame. The requisite number of people in the right places found Donald Trump motivating enough to vote for him rather than Hillary Clinton. It was an election. What we should get rid of is early voting. The electoral college seems like a reasonable system. It helps avoid a majoritarian tyranny.
2
While HRC is spending time and energy talking about "What happened" in the past... folks like Bernie Sanders are getting on with getting on and talking about actual solutions to what's in front of us.
7
She is not in a position to "talk about actual solutions," if you didn't notice her career is over, so she doesn't have a platform.
1
Let's all be honest with ourselves. As Paul Krugman alluded in his Monday column, the real reason Hillary "lost" the election was that, with all her overwhelming qualifications, she simply wasn't "cool" enough for the giant high school cafeteria-world that is our American celebrity political and entertainment culture.
No boring, cerebral nerds and policy wonks need apply for our American presidency. Ask Jeb "Low Energy" Bush, John Kerry, Al Gore and Michael Dukakis how far rational intellectualism, a cool temperament and sober judgment will get you in our modern American culture that demands constant excitement, entertainment and stimulation.
The celebrity media culture even complained that the super-rationalist Obama was "too cool for school", to use Maureen Dowd's description, in the way he looked down on the American political and media circus and refused to emote about things.
So in the end, we got what we voted for, a reality TV star and media celebrity who is perfectly attuned to American pop media culture. We would rather be entertained than led and inspired.
10
It doesn't matter what Hillary says or does, she will be unfairly attacked by both sides. I feel like I am one of the few that gets it. First the GOP has lied and attacked her for over 30 years - and nothing was ever proved against her. The Russians at Trumps request hacked into her campaign, leaked it to the world and sent out lying personal email attacks about her. Then Comey and the FBI go after her about her emails, then said they could not indict her then started another investigation 11 days before the election - something that is never done. Too late Comey said he actually had nothing on her. And finally we've got Bernie. Bernie started off being pretty fair to her until he started to get huge support from some Dems and he started his attacks on her. He said she wasn't fit to be President, I think Trump said this too. All this went to Bernie's head, so much so that his people literally ranted against the Dems, Barbara Boxer, Obama and of course Hillary. I heard 12% of his supporters voted for Trump. I say, you didn't protect her before, try doing it now.
8
To Barb the Lib ~ Thank you for your comment and count me with you as someone who agrees and gets it!!
4
I am not sure Bernie is the "problem," however, I was just calling people in Denver area to call their Senators to try to stop this monstosity of a health care bill. And I got one on the line who was a Bernie supporter and started ranting about how Indivisible were a bunch of Hillary supported sellouts and that he was all in for "destroying the Democratic Party," going on with his stupid hashtag #DemExit meme.
You can't talk to these people any more than you can fundamentalists. But I don't think Bernie is the cause of it, though he hasn't done enough to stop it.
4
Also, a 12% figure of the losing candidate's votes going to the other party is an entirely normal figure and consistent with most elections over the last 20+ years.
4
These responses to Secretary Clinton's book are altogether predictable. That doesn't, however, mean that they are equally accurate.
The conservatives toe the Republican propaganda line which is based on decades of Republican falsehoods about Clinton. As if a little fake empathy from Mr. Harsanyi could make any thinking skeptical person overlook that.
Mr. Frank et al. push for economic populism. As if we did not already know that Trump's voters were motivated mainly by racial resentment. As if Mr. Sanders' misguided attacks on the trade pacts (and misguided willingness to overlook the misogynists and racists among his flock) would ever have fixed anything.
Clinton had shortcomings. We all do. Clinton is not the president now. Responses to her book should be written in that light. It is a diversionary tactic to write about her as if she were now in a position of political power.
3
What happened? Well, in Wisconsin, where I live, she never showed up.
Results - she lost Wisconsin.
Let's hope the next Dem candidate does show up. Lesson learned?
11
You write "The political news cycle is fast, and keeping up can be overwhelming." Perhaps this article is for insiders who speak to and past each other fast enough that the issue is not forgotten before their comments are in print. I wonder who else it might matter to? Possibly only a book publisher seeking to recover an advance who needs to keep a book under discussion? I read enough to know it wasn't a good use of my time and I should let this political news cycle go by and die as natural a death as it can.
1
Umm... Rebecca Traister, I'm not sure "female politicians channel[ing] and express[ing] their righteous fury" will be all that welcome, or useful for a majority of the population.
2
I disagree. I'm not unsure at all about your proposition.
And even with her hundreds of years of experience (ok, decades) she don't know how the electorate college works and neglected to campaign in the blue-wall states.
9
All she had to to win was be honest: (1) passionately and credibly disown her Iraq War vote and admit it was a political hedge based on polling at the time and that, finally, after Iraq and her mistakes in supporting destabilization of Libya and Syria, she had learned her lesson & would no longer let the intervention-first war hawks have any say in her administration. (2) acknowledge her husband was wrong to let China illegally influence the 1996 presidential and congressional elections by accepting the illegal Chinese campaign financing as a quid pro quo for killing chain migration reform, betraying Barbara Jordan and the Clinton Bipartisan Commission on Immigration Reform.
Unfortunately neither of these things happened and Hillary actually let Trump run on the very immigration platform that African-American, Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Jordan had recommended over 20 years ago. Trump lacks the class, grace, and moral gravitas that Ms. Jordan displayed throughout her life but his policy positions on immigration are virtually identical.
If you are a Barbara Jordan Democrat on immigration; or a Bobby Kennedy '68 Democrat on attacking and destabilizing countries that never attacked America, Hillary offered nothing.
5
Hillary's decisions were based on policy, not "hedging." That was the BIG LIE that far left and far right loved to promote.
3
The fact that Hillary was shortsighted enough to write this book instead of going into hiding for a while tells you all you need to know about why she lost to Trump; she's simply out of touch with her audience, the American people.
6
As I voted for Hillary as a vote against Trump I had to hold down the bile in my stomach. She lost and she lost against the least popular man to ever run for the presidency. That says it all. Now please go away Hillary, enough. You are no longer relevant. The world has changed and you were tone deaf to the needs of the people and what they wanted to hear. It's galling that you are out there hawking a book. I should hope at the very least every penny will be donated to charity. Please stop rehashing the election. Many of us in the democratic party are ill over having Trump in the White House. You gave him to us. Have some pride for a change and know when to quietly step away.
9
The other day, I listened to an interview of Hillary Clinton by New Yorker radio.
Even with all the dumb white guys (I'm a smart white guy), and the russian dirty tricks, and everything, I'm convinced that if the voice, the straightforward appraisal, and the very human, fairly humble person I heard coming over the radio could have replaced the "I got this, we just have to wait out this clown" version, we might be in a very different spot.
Perhaps the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton was losing the presidency. Even as it has been one of the very worst things to ever happened to our nation.
If we live long enough to survive Trump, we may yet emerge,
bruised, battered, and wiser for it.
7
How many candidates who've lost the presidential election have been vain and petty enough to write a book blaming the world for their defeat?
Romney - no
McCain - no
Kerry - no
Gore - no
Dole - no
Bush 41 - no
Mondale - no
Carter - no
Ford - no
McGovern - no
Humphrey - no
12
Let the name calling begin and of course the ever popular, go away.
3
Okay Hillary, you've gotten it all off your chest. Now, go away. You're not helping the Democrats. If Bob Mueller finds cause to challenge the election results due to Russian tampering and Trumpian collusion, we'll call you.
4
Here it is Hillary:
Wall Street Hillary said stuff behind closed doors for lots of money- more than We The People paid you as Senator or Secretary of State- and you said stuff 180 degrees out of sync with what you pretended to be about on stage. That means you were either lying to Wall Street or the American voter- my bet is you were lying to the American voter.
You promised on the debate Stage to release the speeches and when your conditions were met you still did not release them. That is lie #2 to the voters and American public.
A campaign is like an extended job interview and you failed. You had better name recognition than any candidate in history, you had a sitting President all but publicly endorsing you, the NY Times, WaPo and all the rest endorsed you very early, you had a popular ex-President as a surrogate, you had a Billion Dollars, you had the public endorsement of almost all the Democratic Party leadership, your Primary opponent was an Independent who describes himself as a Democratic Socialist- yet you could not put him away. In the general election your opposition was a full time Grifter & part time Game Show Host that was opposed by many in his own party.
Yet you still managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. You failed to garner the trust of the American people. Failed.
It was not Comey, Bernie, the Russians or Cross Check. It was Hillary Rodham Clinton and Robby Mook.
Get over it and step aside. Your 15 minutes are up.
10
She needs to write a sequel to this book. What Happened part 2, an exclusive tell-all. In it, she can reveal:
what happened to those servers she wiped after being subpeonaed? What happened to those 33k emails?
what happened to Seth rich?
what happened to the money that was supposed to be for Haiti?
what happened on that day at the 9/11 memorial service when she was thrown into the van like a side of beef?
what happened on the tarmac with bill and lynch?
what happened when she cheated Bernie out of the nomination, and why did DWS resign only to join her campaign?
what happens at these spirit-cooking sessions with Molesta?
what happened that caused the cold chai to give her seizures?
what happened to those women Bill sexually harassed that she then went to go threaten?
what happened on the night of the election after she lost and she refused to come out and address her fans? Why did she have to send Podesta out instead? What happened to that expensive big screen tv that was broken? What happened to accepting the results of the election?
what happened to make her so callous and sociopathic that she laughed about getting that child rapist off that she knew was guilty?
what happened in benghazi?
what happened when Donna Brazile gave her the debate questions, like a thief in the night?
what happened behind the scenes to make people want to pay her hundreds and thousands to give a speech?
Please Hillary, do tell. What Happened?
6
***What happened to those 33k emails?***
What happened to the 22 MILLION EMAILS that the Bush administration lost?
Please, get over yourself.
3
I haven't read 'What Happened' and won't. But the interviews and reviews are clear evidence that HRC still can't get over Bernie Sanders' competing with her. She expected to be treated like an incumbent President running for a second term. How dare he? Still, even after the result. Thomas Frank nails it. The Clintons have made their way by skewering the little left wing of the Democratic Party for decades. It's not working anymore, but they can't change their spots.
9
She "lost" the election simply because of the Electoral College. Period.
2
Perhaps she didn't know it was there? And has a really important role in selecting our President?
1
As she said on Fresh Air, if the election loss was due to circumstances that exceeded winning the popular vote - such as the involvement of foreign governments like Russia; or the Justice Department raising the possibility of re-opening the email investigation at the last minute but not once stating that there was an investigation in to Russia's involvement or collusion with the Trump campaign - or the sight of a political convention at the highest reaches of politics chanting the lowest of political rhetoric "lock her up" - there is no mechanism to hold another election in the United States. Just reflect upon it in a book seems to be the only recourse.
3
Hillary shows again that she's very smart. She knows that she needed to publish a book very fast to have the best chance for the best profit. Did other defeated candidates even think about this? Kudos to the most qualified presidential candidate in the American history.
4
It is tragic for our nation and the world the Ms. Clinton did not win. She would have worked 16-hour days, appointed the best people capable of being confirmed, reached across the party divide and retained international respect for our nation. There were key and sad events that doomed her election such as Russian interference, Comey's grim timing, and media fascination with Trump. However, her campaign organization was tone-deaf and remote. Immediately after she secured the nomination, I made a donation and requested two bumper stickers. The Internet reply included thanks and notified me that I would receive the bumper stickers in SIX-TO-EIGHT WEEKS!. Does it take nearly two months to place two bumper stickers in an envelope and mail them to the supporter? When I tried to contact people in her campaign, all I received were robo-replies. This had also been problem with the Kerry campaign. In contrast, the Obama campaign sent out "swag" quickly and had actual human beings who would take telephone calls and/or respond to email communication. And for the Trump campaign bumper stickers and lawn signs were like free candy, even in a state that voted overwhelmingly for Clinton.
2
At the end of the day Russian made ads on Facebook didn't cause her to not campaign in key states. They didn't force her to pick Kaine as her running mate. They didn't force her to answer "go to my website" when asked to articulate her policy positions. They didn't force Bill to meet Loretta on the tarmac. They didn't force her to build a mail server in her bathroom and have her aids outsource the storage and back up to a mom and pop shop in Secaucus. They didn't force her to make cringe-worthy pandering scripted comments like "I love Beyonce's new album" and "I always carry hot sauce in my purse". Russian Facebook ads also aren't responsible for the lack of income growth, outsourcing of jobs, and overall malaise of the US economy and those it has left behind over the last decade.
8
All I can say is this: listening to Hillary Clinton's interview with Rachel Maddow last week provided a stunning reminder of what normal should look like: an experienced leader presenting facts, providing evidence and making conclusions, all of which centered on the good of the country and its citizens, in the face of world events that bubble dangerously close to the boiling point.
Instead, we have someone in the White House who can only mouth five-word sentences ("We have to be smart") and twiddle his thumbs over his tweets.
The fact that anyone continues to try to find fault with whatever move, big or small, Clinton makes only reaffirms the old adage: we get the government we deserve.
3
I far prefer to look at losses in election to where the candidate could have done better to encourage the votes of the electorate.
In the case of Clinton's run , the number of chances to have turned the election to her favor was enormous, starting with her over-hyped "star-quality" kick-off on Rikers Island, progressing to highly delayed recognition of the appearances of evasiveness and obfuscation on the e-mail server, to the obvious...even without the e-mail leaks...manipulation of the Democratic Party machinery, to the arrogant remarks that she made behind the doors of the Goldman-Sachs executive offices, to shameless money grabbing of Bill and the Clinton Foundation, to the obvious insincerity of the plastered-on smile, to immature Scooby-Do ride from the East Cost to middle America (where she missed meeting just about everybody), to the taking of debate questions from CNN's contributor Donna Brazille, to the stiff and wooden platitudes of her answers to debate questions, to her ignoring the press for the first months of the campaign, an to a long list of other missteps that culminated in her not listening to her people that she was in trouble in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Viewed thusly, it is fairly easy to see that Clinton lost the election that was hers to lose by what did did for and to herself.
Yes, all of the other stuff helped her lose, but only to the extent they confirmed the image that The Voter already had of her character. Hillary lost because of Hillary.
7
Bottum has no insight here, only the typical faux intellect of the Right. Equally it can be said:
"Donald Trump won in good part because he speaks and thinks, he moves and has his being, in a world of clichés.”
Few understand statistics and sociology, so analysts frame this conversation with the personalities of these exceedingly controversial candidates. But 29 million people did not vote in 2012. Were they to come out to vote in 2016, chances are they would not vote for a Democrat. Nurtured by the irrationality of Fox News and the other Right Wing media outlets, only six million had to come out to vote for Trump.
It was a crap shoot for the Trump campaign whether these people would come out to vote for an irrational fascist lunatic. They did, and they did in the swing states. Correct, Hillary Clinton was not their cup of tea; she, and not only she, but all other candidates in the *Republican* primaries, were unable to spin the outrageously false, manipulative diatribe that Trump could spin. It was a crap shoot, but Trump people aren't all that bright. They bought his bloviation.
Hillary people, on the other hand, thought they could push through nearly a purely feminist agenda. I was actually accused by one of them of being a sexist. But I supported Clinton over Obama in 2008 by working for her in the primaries. Hillary supporters could turn people away.
Some voters told me that they held their noses when voting in 2016.
Hillary takes credit for all of her achievements and no real responsibility for any of her failures, especially her ultimate failure in 2016. Real leaders do the opposite. And the book is filled with humble-bragging, whining and hey - Clinton must be good because she writes about a lot of really famous people who have met her and of course were so impressed - she name-drops all of them in the book just in case. She whines about Trump stalking her on stage during the debates, which was pretty creepy, but if a presidential candidate can't even stand up to her opponent and tell him to cut it out, who could trust her to stand up to bullies like Kim Jong-un? Was she expecting her husband to step in? I'm no Trump fan, but the only bright side of the election result is that now maybe Hillary will go away. Please.
16
Yet she won more than 3 millions votes.
1
She was supposed to win by 23 million votes. THAT'S the story.
4
This book is nothing but a vehicle to stuff more money into the pockets of the Clintons. I warptched PBS's JUDY Woodruff pander to her with softball questions rarely challenging HRC's pontificating lectures. Please media quit giving her air time. The quicker the progressives bury the Clintons as a political entity, the better off we will all be
20
Hillary Clinton; one of the more accomplished women of our time.
Hillary Clinton; one of the worst politicians of all time.
No charisma, unbounded arrogance and entitlement.
You lost to one of the biggest, most incompetent clowns to ever [dis]grace a debate stage. And that's all on you, Hill. Please, just go away. Until you leave the political stage entirely, the Democratic party will limp along.
18
I'm pretty sure Adolph Hitler was very charismatic, that did not work out well. Voters need to vote in every election in an educated way. Voters need to look at the platform, policies and performance not cute slogans. The press, in all its forms, has completely abrogated its responsibility to the American public. There is a vast difference in "reality tv" and reality. Sound bites and cut and paste ads are false and should be known as a signal of a deceptive candidate.
Any journalist in this country who can shrug off the 2016 election as politics as usual needs to change professions.
The United States is currently on the road to ruin and corporate money and the media are paving the way.
8
Losing by the widest margin in history; some 3,000,000 votes behind Hillary Clinton, Trump was saved by the Electoral College; a system completely counter to democracy that should have been replaced after the Civil War, with no legitimate function, which gives excessive weight to rural, low population states. Wyoming, for example, with only 1/73 the population of California has the same number of senators. And under the Electoral College a Wyoming voter has about the same vote power as four New York voters. That is the essence of "what happened".
Trump was also helped tremendously by right wing news lies, fear mongering, ignorant and innocent voters, an assist from FBI Director James Comey and the murderous Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s government’s cyber-attacks on Democratic targets.
And yet Trump lied of a landslide victory and the largest crowds of any inauguration even when everyone knew they were lies.
He insisted that he would have won the popular vote too but for 3,000,000 million or more ballots cast by illegal voters; and that every one of them went to Hillary Clinton. That alone should have told any sane person that he was deeply mentally disturbed.
13
Your argument fails on your first premise, Mr. Shirley.
The United States is, was intended to be, and always has been a REPUBLIC.
The founders made our government one of federation of sovereign states to avoid, at all costs, the excesses that attend "democracy'.
The Electoral College is part of what prevents he unbridled howl of the mob from overruling common sense and law.
2
Amazing how these comments reflect how polarizing Hillary Clinton still is. Ironically she seems a magnet for blame even as she is being criticized for blaming.
4
It's delusional to think HRC got the short stick on media coverage. Almost every single major media outlet backed her, with this newspaper running front page editorials that it is the moral responsibility of journalists to fight against Trump.
How is this being unfair to poor Hillary? Not every single article is propaganda piece for her? Bernie Sanders didn't support her while running against her?
What an unbelievable sense of entitlement. Realistically all this worked against her as the media embarrassed themselves as obviously partisan. The harder they tried to control the outcome of the election the less control they actually exerted.
Many Trump votes were protest votes against the media and the elite institutions which no longer reflect the views of America, nor did they even try to in 2016.
27
There were actually a couple of excuses she could have included in the book that were actually legitimate - Bill Clinton meeting Loretta Lynch on the tarmac, the Anthony Weiner fiasco, and her health during the campaign. These excuses have more credence than the dozens of others she has provided, most of which are totally lame.
22
Exactly. Those three incidents from as smart and savvy a person as Ms Clinton made me question her ability to manage those closest to her, not to mention her inability to properly manage her tech requirements. I expect idiots to cry UNFAIR. I expect Ms Clinton to be more honest about her own failings, instead of blaming others. There is more at stake than who won and lost.
1
In all these attacks from the Right, Left, and Center what is never mentioned is that she gained 2.87 million more votes then did Trump. In 2000 when there seemed a possibility that Gore would receive more electoral votes and Bush would win the popular vote, the opposite of what happened, the GOP had a plan to make the country ungovernable until Gore turned the presidency over to Bush. We should all recall Trump saying he would recognize the vote "if he won". Is there really any question as to what would have happened if he had 2.87 million more votes and she had taken the electoral college? And yet the hatred of this woman knows no bounds, as we see in so many of these comments. The president calls for her to be made a political prisoner and all these commentators attack her for lack of style....that gives a pretty good picture of how sick this country is.
25
I couldn't agree with you more James. It breaks my heart every day that my young children need to grow up under a President who inspires so much hate and division. And this after eight years of a dignified, decent man, Barack Obama, and his dignified and decent family. Every thing Obama accomplished was in spite of the GOP and now, when the GOP holds majorities basically every where, they still can't govern. A low point in our 240 year history as a nation.
3
And what is your source for that little factoid about the secret Republican plan?
2
by defeating the Clinton machine, Americans proved that they are not so deplorable.
2
For some reason people simply will not allow Secretary Clinton to speak to issues absent intense criticism. What's up with that?
I hope she contests the election. It should be contested.
I hope she continues speaking out against the lies and harassment she is suffering at the hands of Trump and Company, Russian disinformation channels, and all the other right wing freaks of nature.
I hope Americans get a clue that it is not their, or anyone else's, prerogative to sabotage elections in our nation.
Every citizen has a right to be heard AT THE POLLS. But every citizens DOES NOT have a right to use the Internet to lie and harass presidential candidates.
I voted for Secretary Clinton and I regret that she lost. She lost due to unethical, dishonest, unlawful acts by a foreign enemy who colluded with Americans. James Comey's unethical acts harmed and harassed Mrs. Clinton's candidacy. No candidate should be subjected to what Mrs. Clinton has been caused to suffer simply for offering herself for public service based upon a lifetime of experience in government.
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON FOR PRESIDENT today, tomorrow, and forever!!!
9
Well said.
1
The "book" is the initial step in HRC's 2020 nomination bid, nothing more, nothing less.
4
Wow, this is behind-the-looking-class standard delusion and hypocrisy from Hillary. The media backed her virtually 100%.
We know Trump was a Clinton plant. Trump was her pied piper strategy. Trump got 2 billion in free airtime from the pro-Clinton corporate owned media. While they ignored Sanders who beat every record Obama made for crowds and donations! Nothing compared to the almost complete blackout of Bernie’s campaign. And he’s certainly not sitting around whining.
19
Clinton may not have been a charismatic candidate, but she sure would have made a much better president than Trump (a low bar), and not by just a little. For all those who voted for someone else or did not vote, here's how things would be different now:
-We would not have Neil Gorsuch sitting on the Supreme Court
-We would not have withdrawn from the Paris climate agreement
-There would be no efforts to build a wall or terrorize immigrants and their families
-We would not have an EPA headed and staffed with fossil-fuel industry shills
-We would not have a sham voter fraud commission
-We would not have to endure continuous off-the-cuff embarrassing tweets from the POTUS
-There would be no ongoing costs and distractions for the US caused by investigations into the president and his associates about possible collusion with the Russians regarding the election or possible criminal coverups. We probably would have a new Benghazi investigation and a resurgence in gun sales.
-We would not have a continuation of unfilled high-level State Department positions
-We would probably not have ongoing efforts to cripple health care in the US because we would not have a Republican VP sitting in the Senate as a tie breaker
-We would not have white nationalists feeling validated and more brazen
-We would have 100 times more enlightened and well-thought out efforts made in all areas of concern to US citizens, including in areas related to job growth, but not including the concerns of bigots
12
Excellent post. Everything you said is valid.
3
I did not read the book nor will I. I am tired of politicians and rich folks that stand in front of a camera and think they are stars writing tomes of minutiae. Give us a beak, please. Mrs. Clinton was done in, likely by the pretender in the white house and his velcro. Sill, even my Democrat friends refused to vote for her. Too much baggage. It would be best that she retire quietly and let the Democrat party get on with an agenda that is going to win them voters, seats, and a better future for democracy.
Kudos to Amazon for deleting about 150 negative reviews on "What Happened", the candid book by Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton about the 2016 supposed "presidential election", which was actually a hostile financial/criminal takeover of OUR government by the International Mafia.
Amazon said the deleted reviews appeared within a minute of the book being placed on their site and that the supposed reviewers couldn't possibly have read the book that quickly. Thank you, Amazon. Somehow we have to have information we can rely on in the digital world as well as the rest of press/media.
11
Amazon own the W@ashington Post.
1
Somewhere in an as yet undiscovered midden in the middle east or elsewhere is a tablet inscribed with a rant about the corruption and mendacity of the rulers. I suspect this is just part of the human condition and we should move on. Whether Hillary (whom I voted for) is more corrupt than the other candidate is not for us to judge -- even if we could get 'real facts' on either (as opposed to 'good facts'). From my perspective Hillary was uninspiring, the other terrifying. I am relieved that his general incompetency has subdued the damage I was fearing. And he certainly has given permission for many latent evils to come out. If there is another election one would hope that all parties will have learned from this sad episode and we have some leader candidates who are prepared and willing to make the country better. Whether they spend any time lining their own pockets is almost irrelevant -- and should be expected. Meanwhile... there is this party in the WH who seems unwilling to lead the COUNTRY and a party in Congress who seem perfectly happy to let things flounder along. Would that Hillary would just learn how to be a grandmother and stop dragging attention back to herself when we need to solve some real problems. I am appalled and depressed about all of them.
How about taking the blame for picking the most insider, corporate and uninspiring person to be your running mate, who got his clock cleaned by Mike Pence, who is not exactly a dynamo. Any progressive with a spark would have been better.
And look at the contrast. Pence, love him or hate him, was the perfect running mate, and could have been responsible for flipping MI and WI to Trump.
9
I keep wondering whether Hillary Clinton would support a candidate who came into a presidential primary carrying the same baggage she did. She seems to have dismissed concerns about her behavior from her days in Arkansas to her ill-fated demands for a private server as Secretary of State.
Would she have voted for a presidential candidate who was so evasive, so defensive, so eager to claim sexism for the perfectly reasonable questions about things she had done? Untrustworthy, unelectable and certainly it was not inevitably her turn.
15
I voted against Trump. That said I believed very litlle, if anything, of whatever Hillary spoke about. Did anyone really believe she was against the "Gold" standard of trade called the TPP? Just look at the difference between Bernie and Hillary. Bernie lost but continues to fight for what he believes. In fact he is having an impact on how medical care should be a right with over one half the population now supporting universal medical care. What has Hillary done to change our society since losing? Rather than continue to fight for improving our society she makes excuses for losing and blames others such as Bernie Sanders.
21
Hillary lost the election for the same reason that Ted, Lindsey, Marco, et. al. lost the nomination. The populace was tired of conventional politicians.
13
Who wants to read a book that was most likely not written by Mrs. Clinton? I really believe almost anyone other than Hillary would have beaten Trump. Her campaign speeches were torture to listen to. Hillary had 25 plus years in the arena. She is unlikable, has zero charisma and just like with this book, she seems to love money just a little too much. At age 70 to go on a book tour to relive the 2016 campaign just seems sad to me. Does she not have something better to do with her limited time left on earth?
21
Hillary blames Comi but if she hadn't messed with the emails he wouldn't have been a factor. I also believe there is Clinton burnout ... I made myself vote for her only seeing it as a vote against Trump. Can the Dems please come up with a candidate who inspires, like Obama did?
8
There was a first.
She was the first Presidential Candidate to return furniture she took out of the White House.
Forget the rest.
And, the Democrats still ran her for President.
15
Hillary and practically all the commentators weighing in on the reasons she lost the election miss a crucial point. I agree with Hillary and Nate Silver the "Comey letter" swung the election. But the letter had little to do with resurrecting interest in Hillary's private email server. The letter revealed a multitude of State Department documents were on ANTHONY WEINER'S COMPUTER. This is perhaps the only man in the country more vile than Donald Trump. In the days following release of the letter no one in Hillary's camp explained how those docs ended up in Weiner's computer. To this day I haven't heard Hillary place any blame on Huma Adedin for putting State Department documents into that computer or failing to inform the FBI in the early summer of 2016 State Department documents might be on her husband's computer. Neither of those sins can be blamed on James Comey. Given the web sites Weiner visited I can't think of a less secure place for State Department documents. So it wasn't her private server that destroyed her candidacy. It was the revelation of an astonishing, nauseating and irresponsible association with ANTHONY WEINER, that cost Hillary the election.
10
I had already voted before the Comey letter. My state sends us our ballots in the mail, we fill them out, either drop them in the mail OR walk them to neighborhood drop boxes that resemble GoodWill donation bins, and we tear off a tracking stub in the event of some suspicious election that needs a recount. No waiting in line, no worrying about a polling device, just sit at my desk and vote.
1
Hillary is over the hill. After losing out to Obama (and even Biden) in 2008 she got a second chance in 2016 and blew that, too. That's what happened.
Hillary's feeling that her elevation to the Presidency was inevitable and well-deserved blinded her to the realities and needs of Americans in fly-over country, all of those voters whose hopes and dreams and needs she failed to understand and address.
Hillary says she takes full responsibility for her failings yet blames her loss on seemingly countless other individuals, organizations and factors. A better book title, certainly one showing more self-awareness and insight, would have been "Mea Culpa."
Those who continue to claim that Hillary "won the election" only reveal their profound ignorance of the American Presidential election process, which under the U.S. Constitution (and modified by the 12th and 23rd Amendments) awards the Presidency to the person with the majority of votes from the Electoral College (see details on Wikipedia if you slept through those boring civics classes). If you hate the Electoral College because Hillary lost, look up how to create a Constitutional Amendment and get started.
Very few people have taken the time to offer comments here. I suspect this is because Hillary's opportunity has come and gone, and she is no longer relevant to the U.S. political scene. If the Democratic Party is to revive itself it must turn to a new generation of leaders, whoever they may be: certainly not Hillary.
15
Hillary has achieved so much over many years yet she continues to blame everyone else for her defeat. I admire her but wish she would move on.
8
Julia, if you had actually read the book you probably would not make that comment. She places a ton of blame on herself, yet also points out other factors. I know it must seem complicated but there are many things that went into the election result, including many of Hillary's decisions, Russian interference, Comey, etc. To say that she "...continues to blame everyone else..." is just incorrect.
7
Have you read the book? Because she reserves plenty of blame for herself, and is remarkably clear-eyed about her many failures, shortcomings, and weaknesses as a candidate. And I believe she has moved on--she seems to have accomplished more in the past six months than Congress. I believe that it is logical, when so much of the history of the momentous 2016 election is being written as we speak, that she, the primary actor in that event, would like to have a role in shaping that narrative.
1
We have a robust history in this country of defeated candidates reinventing themselves and pursuing lucrative opportunities such as television appearances or book deals. The days of John Adams quietly retiring to the farm are long gone. Clinton has every right to fight to reclaim her narrative and make a few bucks in the process. Even in defeat, we hold her to a different standard.
30
James Earl Carter, Jr?
George Herbert Walker Bush?
George Walker Bush?
3
No question, how insidiously unconscious it must be, that we hold Hillary to a different standard than Trump.
2
From comments that I am reading here and also have heard in many other occasions, comments full of vitriol and hate against Hillary Clinton, I surmise that a large number of people would much prefer that she still lived in an era when a woman's voice would only carry weight, if she chose to express herself by using a male pseudonym. The rancor directed at women's voices (written or oral) in today's world is still beyond pale. I get the feeling that a great many people simply attack a woman's tone or pitch of voice because it subverts political stability and the traditional authorized masculine voice. In my opinion, the attacks have nothing to do with the shrillness or the anger of the voice but rather with the usurpation of the male space by a woman. The attacks, more than anything else, speak loud about our cultural anxieties regarding whether a woman has a right to speak. Whatever we say about Hillary, let's not forget that she won the popular vote by a wide margin. She only lost the election because our second least democratic institution, the Electoral College, chose Trump. The other even less democratic institution is the US Senate. Wyoming with 500.000 people has two senators and California with over 50 million has also two. It's time to stop the condescension towards Hillary; she has the right to express in her own voice, regardless of pitch and tone, and also through her writing her opinions and feelings about "What Happened" in the last presidential election.
33
There are enough Democrats whining about the Electoral College and the Senate that they should just 'we don't like the Constitution' to the platform. See how well that works out.
12
Clinton lost 80% of the counties in the US. The Electoral College was put in place to, among other things, keep one region (eg California) from dominating.
14
Not true John, although I am sure you think that is a logical conclusion to the debate about the Electoral College.
The problem is, that most of our presidents were somewhat competent and even had the ability to actually govern with logic and mental stability.
The current occupant of the White House has none of the above. It actually scares the blank out of a lot of us that someone so inept could win the highest seat in our country through any means, let alone the Electoral College.
The three branches of government are supposed to provide a check on one another. In our current situation, that doesn't seem to be working.
The Constitution is a living document; it could be changed or strengthened. Whether anyone will actually move to do that is debatable.
1
Clinton knew that winning the Electoral College decides the election. Her strategy seems to have ignored that fact and left it to Trump to exploit. The rules being what they are, it is frustrating to see the better candidate playing at another level. I suppose that when she lost the nomination to Obama, who came out of "nowhere", she could have considered that it was time to call it a day.
14
I've read several reviews, quotes, and interviews about this book now. Just from the excerpts I've seen, Ms. Clinton absolutely blames herself in the book a number of ways: for using the email server, for not appealing more strongly to people's emotions, for acting distant, for paying too much attention to policy as if she'd won even before she'd won...
So I have to wonder why there is a chorus of critics claiming she shifts the blame - exactly how much self-abasement is this woman supposed to do?
The factors in this election were complex and her margin of loss was tiny - a few 10's of thousands of votes in 3 states. Any one of many factors could have swung it, including each of the items for which Clinton blames herself OR the numerous factors outside her control. Any single one going a different way, whether that was Comey's October announcement or a different Clinton strategy toward populist sentiment, might have done it.
I'm just tired of the volume of criticism thrown at her from all sides. The woman has walked a tightrope while being pelted with rotten vitriol, as no other woman has navigated it before. She's gotten further than anyone, and yet faltering on the last step has not ended the public's need to keep pushing her off.
37
The formula.
One. Hillary has honestly faced up to the loss.
Two. Uh, the election was close because of many clueless foolish decisions she made. As a non Sanders up porter the biggest was going after Sanders supporters rather than copying them. Inexcusable. And I watched it happen day by day once she got scairt the old socialist might beat her. The performance was disgusting. Krugman joined in, misrepresenting Sanders supporters with reptilian disdain for their countrymen Which, Hillary had to work into her book.
Three. The comment ends with anger that Hillary is picked on. A fascist buffoon runs the country with nuclear war in the wings (the risk developing for four years on Hillary's watch) because Hillary could not even get fifty percent of the white women vote and the commenter's concern is Hillary is picked on.
I pray oh how I pray for judgment day.
2
In 2008 my son was interested in politics as part of a high school project, and we ended up being delegates for Clinton in a Democratic caucus. I thought that she had better experience than Obama. In 2016 I thought that her time has come and gone, but I was dumbfounded by the press who seemed to believe that the country was obligated to elect her as President, especially the New York Times, as they disregarded everyone else in the primary. It seemed that they believed that since a black man had been President it was only natural that finally a woman would be elected, and the polls reinforced the belief. One could sense that the press and the Democratic party tasted victory, so self assured that Clinton would win. That seems to have fueled the disbelief, the denial that the press and Democrats have embraced since the election. How could she have lost? Worse of all, how could she have lost to Trump? Michael Moore correctly predicted that she would lose in July of 2016, even how she would lose.
As Democrats struggle with the question they have lost sight of the fact that it was merely the tip of an iceberg of losses which have extended back a decade. Obama was a problem for Democrats, his legacy was leaving the party in the worst shape since the Civil War. Clinton's time was 2008, for her and the party, now the best thing that she can do is to leave the spotlight and let others pick up the pieces.
13
Says she is done with seeking office. I think many who supported her wanted to hear from her, wondered where she was, wanted her or want her still to speak out about some things (i.e. state Department issues). Beyond that I think many are angry with her not only from before for various possibly valid reasons too but also now especially since they feel she should have prevented Trump; her candidacy failed to prevent Trump. Never mind that many never thought he had a chance. Somehow it was her failure alone that brought Trump and not the crowds that he demagogued into voting for him and the GOP support, not to forget the media circus.
I am not a fan- but I hate the unfairness.
5
Hillary Clinton will never accept the fact that she gave away an election that she should have won easily. Her resume, qualifications and experience to be president should have swept her into the Oval Office last fall but she got in her own way. The Clinton brand was always an anathema to the GOP but her own sense of entitlement and “it’s my turn” pushed Democratic voters towards Bernie Sanders, and later Independents and moderate Republicans to her opponent.
The Secretary’s own missteps caused her downfall, yet she continues to assign blame freely. Her use of a private server, her unwise “deplorable” gaffe and Bill Clinton’s tarmac blunder to chat with Loretta Lynch did more to help her opponent win on election night. She handed the GOP nominee political gifts and favors no deft campaigner ever would have done. No, James Comey didn’t help the Secretary last fall but she probably lost the election when she was confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of State in 2009. The rest is a history she has to live with.
12
What is it with our society? Why is it the woman always has to "fess up", "look inside herself" and "take blame" for any misfortune that befalls her?
OUR society usually blames the woman if she is raped or her children go wrong. OUR society usually blames the woman if everything isn't perfect in a marriage. Why?
The answer is simple. For centuries "men of the cloth" have painted women to be the cause of all evil. Of course, it was Eve's fault that Adam ate that damned apple in the supposed garden of eden. That was made up by supposed "christian" men - the celibates or homosexuals who stared the catholic church. Other "men of the cloth" have fostered the same hatred of women and tried to suppress them.
Sorry, boys and girls. Women are over one-half the population of the world that you are continually trying to destroy with hate-anger-fear-violence-WAR-Lies,Lies,Lies. Women will no longer allow themselves to be discounted or "blamed" for every bad thing that happens.
Women found their self worth and voices and will decide how to run their own lives and bodies. Step aside. Women are going to take over one-half the power position in the world to bring balance to it - provided of course, you do not kill all the men in wars again first. Then Women will have over one-half the power in the world, which might be the best thing for our planet in centuries.
9
Being a women doesn't make you a better human or a progressive. I'm sorry you think Hillary should have won or that she shouldn't be criticized because she is a woman. Your are wrong and she was wrong. She lost the election because of the things she did and the xorproatist policies she supported. She didn't lose the election because she is a woman.
11
I can't think of a previous presidential candidate that has felt the need to justify their loss with a book. What an embarrassment!
28
There's nothing embarrassing about it. We had an election that may have been tainted by foreign influence. I'm amazed that so many people want to sweep that under the rug. So I want to hear what she says about it! And apparently a lot of others do as well since the book is a best seller.
6
Lol, really? How about Bernie Sanders, who published a book on November 15, 2016. The amazon dot com description starts with: "Our Revolution, Sanders shares his personal experiences from the campaign trail, recounting the details of his historic primary fight and the people who made it possible."
3
Isn't that kind of the definition of an echo chamber. Something happened I don't understand that involves lots of people I've never met, what do my people have to say about it?
Better, go drive three hours west to rural Pennsylvania and ask a the nearest farmer or factory worker why they voted for Trump. Seriously, try it!
The reason she lost is that the democratic party assumed it was time for a woman to be president. More to the point, it assumed that it was a slam dunk, that one would, come November, lead our nation for the first time.
Yet, the guy still brings home the bucks. And the wife still retreats when Hubby dearest takes the rostrum at Monday Night football with the buddies. AND the guys with the cards in one hand and a beer in another cannot imagine a wife of a city slicker like Billy C run a man's world.
Finally, it was a fool's errand to put a guy who cheated on his wife in the President's chair. If Mrs Clinton didn't know what Billy was up to until it was too late, how could anyone have confidence she would be able to stare down Putin?
2
First we need to know if crimes were committed, if they were, then Hillary did not lose. But, the requirements for President of the USA are so low, that the USA already lost.
5
Abso-postively-lutely Hillary should run again.
All the polls show her winning.
3
Clinton has a favorable rating of 30%. That's 6 points below Trump! She absolutely should not run again.
19
I suspect that Mr. Orwell is a Republican having a bit of fun. If not, i'd say Dems are in more than a bit of trouble.
8
Oh God, please no! We appear, finally to be rid of the possibility that she could be President. Please don't resurrect it.
3
The NY Times and other news outlets wrote dozens and dozens of vague poorly sourced articles about the "doubt and shadows" around Clinton's emails and Benghazi, endlessly striving to be the story to bring Clinton down, while Trump got endless "isn't he entertaining" free press coverage and single day coverage of odious and criminal conduct. Now the Times has selected reviews so as to completely conceal her discussion of this problem from the book. You bill yourselves as beacons of light in the political swamp but instead are driven by grade school resentments of powerful women and click-bait conflict stories. Just as you never really changed your behavior after credulously selling the Iraq war, I don't expect you to grow up now.
For years, I kept a print subscription as a subsidy to the importance of a free press but now only an online subscription.
16
Hillary is just not clear on the concept. She is opaque and obtuse. I think we have heard the last from her except for an occasional "cash grab" book or a $100,000 speaking gig.
15
Why is writing and selling a book a cash grab? Maybe we should worry more about the grifting family in the White House fleecing us all.
2
Clinton got a $10 MILLION dollar advance and she's charging more than $2,000 a seat at a couple of her "signings".
That's why many see this book as a cash grab.
1
So don't buy the book and don't attend the event. It's called personal choice.
2
Parts of an interview between her and Judy Woodruff were aired on PBS Newshour in the past week. When they announced the upcoming segment, I kind of rolled my eyes, since at this point I believe she is burned as a national politician -- just too divisive a figure on both the left and right. But as I watched the segment, I was reminded, "what a smart, experienced and thoughtful person she is, someone of her caliber should be our president." But I still don't think she should try again, for the aforementioned reasons. It's time to move on for Democrats, whatever and whoever that might mean.
4
Bernie went straight from defeat in the primary back to promoting his platform: Healthcare, minimum wage, childcare, support for working families. Agree with him or not, we all know where he stands, and he has made tremendous progress garnering support for these issues.
I still have no idea what HRC stands for, and don't remember the last time she enunciated and championed a policy proposal clearly and effectively.
Given the moral and substantive vacuum that is the GOP, she should have won in a landslide- and didn't.
28
Dear Pete: She stands for herself. End of story.
6
Why would any sane person buy into this revisionist bunk from a known liar and a crook that escaped prosecution only because she had friendly F.B.I director to get her off the hook?
25
A joke. Her continued lame excuses and denial are mind-boggling in true Clinton fashion. And you wonder why she's not president.
25
Hillary just doesn't get it. She is not a like able person, at least she does not project that image to the public. She just sat around thinking she would be elected, narcissism runs deep. She also did not show fierceness as trump attack her in the debates, she is smarter than him and should have taken him on in those debates. However let's keep in mind that she won the popular vote by over a million votes and if she let her passions be known she would have won the needed states to be elected. No question she would have been a good president it is too bad she got bad advice.
6
Only a narcissist assumes that a person he/she does not like is by definition unlikable.
The middle defeated her, not the right or the left.
6
Once again, Thomas Frank nails it.
9
Why does everybody say that Clinton lost? She won the election. She was clobbered by a stupid obsolete Constitutional rule, the Electoral College, that was devised to end a feud between New Jersey and Virginia 200 years ago..
If Democrats bear any blame, it's their refusal to admit that the Constitution is flawed and needs fixing. Even after the election I've heard nothing about amending it to take out the College. They don't have the votes, but that doesn't stop them from talking about impeachment.
7
Ms. Clinton could have had her self-therapy session much less expensively and more quickly if she had just been a guest on Oprah, and in the interest of balance, one of the Fox programs.
3
Hillary Clinton is clearly working through her psychological election trauma in the public sphere, but what would be most helpful to the Country is if she were to take to task the awful mess DJT is creating in our world.
2
So many of the comments seem to come from people who have not yet read the book. (I have read just half of it so far.) At least open your minds enough to listen to her opinion! Some of what HRC says may be hackneyed and/or self-serving, but much of it is smart, poignant and educative. Why the vitriol?
Too many people seem anxious to tell this woman to keep quiet; and yet "she persists". There sure is a long history of women being told to shut up - I wonder if that has anything to do with this.
19
My feelings for Hillary have NOTHING to do with her being a woman. I have listened to her for over 30 years and do not believe a word she says about anything.
If the Dems had gone with someone like Senator Murray or Senator Feinstein, they would have fared better. Taking a candidate that has less than 50 percent approval to begin with AND is deleting emails left and right while telling me to just trust her is not going to win my vote. Calling your fellow countrymen deplorables does not win them over either.
6
There are differences between a review and a characterization. One requires that you actually read what you are writing about, the other not so much. I commend James Fallows for his review of Clinton's "What Happened." In contrast, before anyone publishes another review by Kyle Smith or Rebecca Traister, maybe they should have to pass an exam.
3
I'm convinced that most of the people critiquing the book and slamming Secretary Clinton haven't read it.
There are a lot of pages, and many words. No pictures. Listen to her interview with Terry Gross. HRC explains it all for you, in simple words.
20
She explains what she thinks caused her defeat. She still does not get it, which is most of the reason why she lost. It had nothing to do with James Comey and his letter. She lost because she was an identity-politics driven Democrat who despised working class Americans and considered both them and their concerns to be "deplorable."
If Comey had come out on that day with a letter which said "Hillary is as pure as the driven snow," she STILLL would have lost.
24
@kathleen880
Not all working class Americans are white like the white identity-politics driven conservative Republicans who despise white working- class Americans. By dividing Americans by their colored caste instead of uniting them by their socioeconomic class working-class too many white Americans vote against their real class interests and for their imaginary caste benefit.
The Republican Party is the party of, by and for a majority of white American voters of every economic class. Winning 57%, 59% and 58% of those voters in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Presidential elections has made the Republican Party about 90% white. While the Democrats are the party of, by and for a majority of black working and other class Americans and a minority of white working and other class Americans.
1
I do not need someone to explain to me why Hillary lost. I watched her run the worst campaign I have seen in my lifetime. And she still does not understand.
7
If one Hillary basher could just say one thing that has not been heard before it would be amazing. Insteed we get the same exact criticisms almost word for word over and over again. Do peoople not realize they are parroting the exact information that was given to them on social media. This unusual hatred of Hillary Clinton that seems to grip so many people is interesting in the fact that these "haters" do not realize they are being manipulated. They are spouting the same talking points that they have been fed. The mud throwing against Hillary Clinton was organized, efficient and evil and it seems to have worked. Sheep, Sheep, Sheep.
12
If it were just her who was hated, I could kind of see your point. But if you read the Times regularly, you will find everything you said about the hatred directed toward Mrs. Clinton could also be said about the hatred directed towards Trump - and in most ways, doubled! And it is also organized, efficient, and evil, and has worked just as effectively in creating an atmosphere of hatred in this country. And yes, I know: they claim their hatred towards him is justified because, they claim, he started it. Haters in this world always feel justified.
1
I heard she has cerebral palsy. I think I read it on facebook. Someone also said it on twitter (for some reason this person had 257,000 tweets yet only 2 followers...I thought that was weird...but whatevs).
Baaaaa!
1
Nancy Reagan was an AIDS activist? That one made me roll my eyes. And it was not from social media but from Hillary herself.
1
We had a candidate from the reality-based community and a candidate from the fantasy-based community. The fantasy-based candidate won. Put that fact in your reality-based-analysis pipe and smoke it, before going into a more detailed analysis.
10
Why Mrs. Clinton lost:
1. She ran a terrible campaign. She let Trump define the discourse while she fulminated against "deplorables" (a huge mistake to attack voters.)
2. Her slogan says it all, "I'm with her." What kind of call to action is that? Compare to Trump's slogan which is very powerful. The voter can invest it with whatever he sees as America's greatness. Brilliant.
3. The Democratic Party bought the feminist agenda. With all the problems our country has, their only issue was the fact that we had never had a female president, as if this was supposed to solve everything.
4. Trump ran an excellent campaign based on 3 problems: Infrastructure, Jobs, Immigration. One can argue with his solutions. These are Democratic issues, but Clinton had no solutions and no interest. The Democrat elite just wanted a woman for president. Very stupid.
5. Actually Mrs. Clinton was not the candidate the rank and file really wanted. The Clinton machine had locked her in well before 2016. The candidate of the moment was Sanders, winner of primaries, who DID address the top problems. (Again, his solutions one can argue with.) He was sabotaged, partly by Obama, who made a huge effort on Clinton's behalf-- obviously hoping for a role in her administration. And the Clinton machine also sabotaged Sanders, along with the media, e.g., the New York Times. Sanders would have given Trump a run for his money. Clinton was the candidate of 2008, obsessed with herself, and out of touch.
24
Why did the working class voter desert the Democratic party and vote for the other side?
You have to wonder if the working class feels the Democratic party deserted them? Given loss of working class jobs, trade deals that send their jobs overseas, health care costs that force them into bankruptcy, schools that don't adequately educate their kids, increase violence in their towns and the plague of drugs. Maybe these folks are tired of the empty promises of one party and wanted to try the empty promises of another...
17
Let's face it: this female politician is one of the worst to have ever populated our political landscape: she's cynical, highly opportunistic, amoral and lacking in any ethical guideposts judging by her public and private behavior, and never deserved--save for the fact that she was a so-called "First Lady--to be named Secretary of State. Will someone please escort this shameless excuse for a political figure back to her cave and make triple-sure that she stays there?
13
Rafael Gonzalez, you seem to forget that Secretary Clinton was also elected to the Senate and, by all accounts, she did an excellent job while she was there. She was one of the most highly qualified candidates to run for President. And, while your description of her may be accurate, lets not kid ourselves, President Trump is "cynical, highly opportunistic, amoral and lacking in any ethical guideposts . . ." So, if our President is going to have those characteristics, isn't it better that he/she be highly qualified, intelligent, experienced, and competent to do the job. HRC was certainly responsible for her loss, but President Trump was given many passes during the campaign that were not afforded to her. It would be nice if all the Hillary haters recognized these facts.
6
Secretary Clinton is absolutely correct. If only her and her dynamic duo, Debbie Wasserman and Donna Brazile of the DNC had done the following: learned why the Democrat Party was thrashed in the preceding midterm elections and in turn allowed those issues to become part of their platform. Selected a VP running mate that bridged those issues, rather than fortified the catering to corporate America mindset. If only, Hillary had not piously attacked Trump for not releasing his taxes while in the same breath refusing to release her speeches to corporate America. If only, Hillary and the DNC had been more transparent, If only the best ideas for Americans, not the DNC's apparatchiks had been allowed to go forward.
If only, Hillary, if only indeed. Cleanout the DNC/corporate America cesspool or perish again.
16
A common theme can be found across the sociopolitical spectrum: GET OVER IT! Although if it helps, for many of us that sentiment may be prefaced with "We love you, but..."
I always said she should have run as Hillary Rodham. Anyway, spilt milk department, let's move ON, shall we?
1
It's more interesting to understand how Trump prevailed over good and worthy Republicans than how he prevailed over a Democrat that forgot The Economy, Stupid.
I bought a computer a few weeks ago, and the FedEx tracking showed it being shipped directly from the factory... in China. That's what happened. Who do you think those (computer) manufacturing employees that lost their jobs to China voted for? Or the auto workers? Or the Carrier workers? Or the coal miners? What financial alt-reality will provide social support for so many millions of Americans out of jobs?
Clinton was entirely clueless, and Trump knew (instinctively) which lies to tell.
6
Say what you will about Trump, he is authentically himself: erratic, sexist, racist, bullying, in general a horrible person. Sadly, those qualities appeal to some people, and he's an entertaining blowhard.
Hillary, however, in spite of her accomplishments and abilities, is endless calculation as a candidate. When she got sick during the campaign, she couldn't just come right out and say so. That fact had to be ferreted out. When asked why she should be president, she once said because she was a woman, hardly a good reason.
She had two shots at the presidency and lost both times to candidates she should have beaten. She lost to Trump for a lot of reasons, but the main one is she could not connect with voters.
5
She was same old same old. People want change.
It's that simple
The less she is in the news, the better
26
Reading the comments raises the awareness of how different we all are. Some praise her work, her conviction and her efforts to help women everywhere as an example of achievement through hard work.
Others see her a victim of meddling by Russians, loosing due to an outmoded Electoral College, and as someone who is untrustworthy and self centered.
I am confused as to how the same person can be seen in such different light, and perhaps she might be a case study for social scientists and psychologists as to why this effect exists.
2
Very few political people are entirely one thing or another, nor easily characterized with uncomplicated perspectives. And, particularly narcissistic people are always chameleons, changing color to suit the surroundings, and the (stage) lighting.
1
She lost for the same reasons that the president is only elected to a four year term.
1
Hillary Clinton has every right to be heard and to give her version of what went wrong in her 2016 presidential election bid. I don't recall John McCain, Mitt Romney or Bernie Sanders ever being told to zip their lips. I hope she stays on the national stage for a long time.
Caveat: I'm not a Democrat. I am a true believer in the rule of free speech!
8
No one had to tell McCain, Romney or Sanders to zip their lips. And free speech here is a complete red herring. No one remotely is arguing she should not be permitted to make her case. They're arguing that she looks very bad doing so and that she *ought* to zip her lips.
6
McCain, Romney, or Sanders: did any of them write a book whining about the multitude of reasons and people who brought about their defeat in the presidential election?
4
Freedom of speech is a red herring? Never!
Clinton apparently still doesn't realize that her inability to connect with a large segment of the traditional Democratic base was instrumental to her failure. Going forward, it's a lesson that party bigwigs ignore at their peril.
8
The comment by Rebecca Traister is kind of funny. She says:
"There’s nothing Americans find “more repellent in women than anger,”
What did she do? Take a poll to find out that Americans feel this way? And what Americans is she talking about? Herself?
Now, if you read her article that's linked, you will see that in one paragraph she says, Mrs. Clinton wasn't "allowed" to show her anger during the campaign, because - you know - she's a woman, as Trump and Sanders were because - you know - they're men. Then, in a subsequent paragraph, she quotes Mrs. Clinton who said she just isn't "wired" that way. So, which is it? That she wasn't "allowed" to show her anger because Americans find that "repellant" and therefore wouldn't "allow' her to? (how do they accomplish this, anyway? Is there a fine or something for women who show their anger?) Or is it because she thinks for herself and just doesn't do that? Ms. Traister, of course, doesn't get into that, content with her "Hillary the victim" narrative - you know - because she's a woman. I guess, in that last thing, at least, Ms. Traister and Mrs. Clinton are on the same page!
6
With all that is going on in this country as a result of the Trump presidency and the machinations of the republican majority congress it seems to me a waste of time and energy to continue to analyze and re-analyze the reasons for the defeat of Clinton's bid for president. It's true she brought it on herself by writing and publishing the book but that doesn't mean we have to give it more attention than perhaps it deserves. It seems to me also that many of these commentators, unable fully to understand Trump's win and inexplicable popularity, instead are blaming Clinton and the Democrats for his election. When the damage wrought by the current administration multiplies daily, isn't it time to forget about Clinton once and for all? We have better and more important things to do, like saving our democracy before it's too late.
1
I laugh at the idea that a true perspective can be gained, written and published within a year of this chaotic election.
4
I voted for Sec. Clinton. However I did so reluctantly. I think she and the DNC underestimated how much a lot of folks still have very negative feelings about the policies of Bill Clinton which have proven to be wrong. Perhaps it was unfair to cast the sins of Bill on her but I'd had enough of the Clintons.
3
Traister thinks Clinton "could and should 'serve as a useful model' to other female politicians to channel and express their righteous fury." Funny I feel like 29016 Clinton was anything but. I'm a white male who was initially very enthusiastic about Clinton; I supported her in the 2008 primaries and was very disappointed she did not prevail then. She reminded me then of qualities that I saw in some very effective women in my professional life. But by 2016 something happened, she did not seem to be the same dynamic leader, everything about her seemed hesitant, calculated. Maybe she was trying to adapt to lessons that she learned in '08, try to be inoffensive to anyone, I don't know. I just found her lackluster. I went from being a very strong supporter in early 2015, to being a big supporter of Sanders by the end of the year (I actually gave him more $ than any other candidate in my life). I didn't even necessarily agree with Bernie 100%, but I at least felt some passion from him, some sincerity, some sense that he wanted to be President to try to DO things, not first and foremost just to be President for its own sake.
10
Could we please devote more time featuring and talking about younger up-and-coming Democrats? I really don't want to spend the next two years hearing about 70-plus year-old politicians and how they woulda-coulda-shoulda won the election. Their time is over; let's move on.
8
I'm not interested in the book reviewing Hillary Clinton's reckoning, but we all need to be interested in the book reviewing the reckoning of democracy. We're used to fake news and GOP gerrymandering, albeit ramped up last year, but this is the first known presidential election with significant interference from an enemy of state. That calls for close review, analysis and public broadcast of the results, so yes, a reckoning.
1
To me, Hillary Clinton, whom I voted for, was an obligation candidate of the Democratic party. The Democratic party is more to blame for this loss than Hillary because they could not endorse the candidate that was bringing in the youth voice and had a plan to help all Americans, Bernie Sanders.
11
The Democratic party was fully controlled by the Clinton machine before the primaries ever got underway, so in essence we can blame Trump on Hillary. That Democratic (in name only) party needs to go away and never return, lest it be the death of that party.
5
What happened?
Let's take a look at the basics as summed up in her campaign slogan, "I'm with her". What might have happened if her outlook, and therefore her slogan, was
"She is with us" ?
I voted for Mrs. Clinton not out of a sense of inspiration, but rather a sense of desperation given the alternative put forth by the Republican party.
15
Jeb Bush got his clock cleaned by Trump. That was the canary in the coal mine that Clinton should have seen. This country is tired of the Clintons and Bushies. We are a country of 300+ million people and we can't find any good candidates besides those who have a last name of Bush or Clinton? I voted for Clinton because of the alternative, but it wasn't with enthusiasm. Clinton needed to realize that she was like a guest who has overstayed their welcome.
20
I agree.
Incidentally, I was amazed at just how easily Jeb did get his clock cleaned. Trump condescended to him and ridiculed him, quite effectively. I think his older brother, W, is simply tougher and would have fought back more effectively.
But Trump is sui generis, and it's difficult to say whether W's success minimizing Al Gore in the debates would have worked against Trump.
3
"tired of the Clintons and Bushies"
And I am tired of the false equivalance:
Bushes: 20 years (HW veep 8 + prez 4, W prez 8)
Clintons: 8 years prez
I never felt like Jeb wanted to be president.
Clinton admits her mistakes and looks in the mirror for answers. Was she the best candidate? Probably not. Was she infinitely better qualified to lead the country than the current occupant of the White House? No question. Were there forces at play working to throw the election to Trump? I have no doubt about it. See Russia and Comey for starters.
5
I would have voted for Hillary 25 years ago. Before she was co-opted by the "military-industrial complex." Her biggest financial contributor...corporations dependant on military sales. Her commitment to Empire resulted in a war she never opposed.. The U.S. should be at war with Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria etc. No President is denied money for the military by Congress. Too bad there is nothing left to help the poor, the elderly, single mothers.
Hillary lost to Obama because people wanted change. Hillary offered a continuation of American policy represented by Viet Nam. Foreign wars the U.S. has no right nor any history to justify. She lost to a comic strip character this time because of her policies, not because of sexism (Elizabeth Warren could have won). As a Democrat I find her policies abhorrent. End of story.
11
I appreciate the opportunity to say that if we were looking at the shortcomings and failures of Secretary Clinton in a context other than her loss to a man who never attempted to elevate the discussion, hide his vulgarity, or disguise his profound ignorance of what constitutes good leadership, I might be persuaded to consider some of these analyses.
I prefer to let go of it except to remember what can happen when people allow themselves to let others do the thinking for them.
1
It's amazing that the reaction to Hillary's loss pretty much boils down to the perception that she's "unlikeable" or something basically rooted in emotion. Because Trump is so, so likeable, isn't he, and so very qualified for the job as he has shown every day since the election. For anyone who denies that white male privilege exists, I submit these two candidates as the definitive example that it does.
10
A couple of years ago, everyone in this country pretty much knew that Hillary Clinton would be the next president whether we liked it or not. The reason Trump won was because he was not Hillary. The Dems could have put up Warren or Feinstein or Murray and had better luck. Hillary could have chosen Warren as her running mate and would have done better than her choice.
Clinton shares some observable behavioral traits with Donald Trump. 1) A smug sense of omniscience and infallibility leading to a lack of personal responsibility and the need to blame others. 2) An ego that needs to bask in the spotlight. 3) An insatiable lust for money. Yes, she was robbed of the presidency and now the country is paying for it. But, but her post-election behavior should be less Trump-like, and more noble. Instead, her book appears to be divisive whining whose timing is poor. It is a media distraction at a time when progressives are struggling to check a loose-cannon oligarch. Of course she is very aware of the timing, and that to maximize her profit she needed to strike while the iron was hot. But we shouldn’t take it personally; it’s just privileged opportunism – an attitude that the disenfranchised Trump supporters detested in the election and led her (and the Democrats) to defeat.
7
I don't remember there being this much vitriol when other politicians - often male - released books about their experience running for President.
Gotta say, though, for someone who's achieved as much as she has all while dealing with the Press and public's hatred for achieving as much as she has, Hillary Clinton is standing strong.
I wonder how many of us, facing the vituperative onslaught she has for thirty years, could honestly say the same? (Not many, would be the answer)
6
I missed McCain's book. And Romney's book. And Dole's book. And Bush Senior's book.
Hillary was not writing a book "about her experience running for President", in which the candidate puts the election in the rear view mirror. She wrote an elaborate justification for losing.
7
I heard the last few minutes of her interview with Terry Gross. It was the most lucid and least whiny version of Her I have ever heard. I will probably look into the rest of that show later.
What struck me was her clear and unselfconscious explanation of how Comey (The Commie) interfered in the election with the announcement 11 days prior to opening of the polls. She did preface this with the complaint about his unnecessary press conference on July 5. She compares his justifications for doing that to the relative nature of her email issue with the fact that he had been investigating Trump for his suspicious contacts with Russia since 2016.
It really makes a good case for Comey intentionally sabotaging the election. A better one than any I have heard she made in her book.
2
But Comey did not make her put a server in her house, did he? That is where it all began and she has only herself to blame for her loss.
10
Yes, she did. She had a configuration not much different than Bush jr (who had a private email server and conveniently "lost" 22 MILLION emails when they were requested as part of an investigation), Colin Powel, the previous Secretary of State, Mike Pence (as governer of IN), and the Trump campaign. I'll sit back and wait for the "Lock him up" chants and months of obsessive news coverage to commence.
2
How many people who commented here actually read the book? I have not read it yet, so there is little I can legitimately say about its content. As for its author, the criticism that she was a "flawed candidate" always baffled me. To my knowledge, no candidate in the history of the United States was not "flawed" in some way or another, especially according to the opposing party's reckoning. For those on the left, please tell me what made her so fatally "flawed" when compared with Obama, Bill Clinton, Carter, LBJ, Kennedy, and F.D. Roosevelt, other than the fact that she wasn't male? Mrs. Clinton is not an entertaining person. She doesn't make me laugh. She doesn't put a smile on my face by how clever she can be. Frankly, though, that's not what I look for in a President of the United States. Yes, she lost the election, but reducing it to a criticism of her character is a childish dismissal of an intelligent human being. For the right, please look past your bias to examine the legitimate concerns raised by Clinton and those who voted for her — foreign interference in our democratic process, concerns about the financial corruption of the electoral process, and the relationship between politics and the media. For those on the left, please look past your anger to reflect on a failed, short-sighted strategy that began eight years or more before Clinton ran for office — she's not to blame for Democrats focusing on urban areas to the abandonment of the rural america.
7
Maybe if in the last thirty or so years I had ever caught Hillary telling the truth it would have helped.
3
@tom harrison ~ Check out PolitiFact and you'll find that Hillary Clinton is an honest politician and vastly more honest than djt. Telling the truth is not our so called president's strong suit, he's a chronic liar, yet Hillary Clinton is still being accused of dishonesty.
1
If Hillary Clinton shilling her book had no greater ramifications, I wouldn't care what she said or wrote.
But Clinton's litany of reasons she lost, other than her own actions, is keeping the Democrats from doing an honest examination of "what happened."
As long as Clinton is out there blaming everyone but herself, the Democratic leadership is not going to be able to do an honest appraisal and move forward. They are not going to go against her.
Not only do the Clintons still have a lot of power, and allies. They also now have a super-PAC, and also have access to a lot of the big money donors.
If the Democratic leadership starts coming up with reasons that find fault with Clinton--especially when she disagrees--the money is going to disappear.
The Democrats are in an untenable position. Without an honest appraisal, they're not going to be able to change direction to take back the House, Senate, governorships, and state legislatures.
But an honest appraisal is impossible as long as Clinton is blaming everyone but herself, and making her loss the central focus of the Democratic party.
24
"“What’s missing from Clinton’s media indictment is her part in it, her initial responsibility for the coverage. It’s her own shortcomings that did her in.”
Precisely.
The bottom line is that Mrs. Clinton was a terrible candidate. She was unable to capture the imagination of the public, failed repeatedly to deal in a forthright way with minor scandals that could easily have been put to rest, and was completely out of touch with the issues that face working Americans today. A friend who attended one of her rallies described it as like being addressed by an actuary.
At each juncture, at each challenge Clinton responded in a manner that made me cringe, and her failure to genuinely accept responsibility is just another example of that. Sure, she was treated unfairly, but welcome to politics -- most everyone is and in the end, a candidate's job is still to win. I supported her, but throughout the campaign, my greatest wish was that she'd drop out and cede the nomination to someone who wouldn't do the inconceivable and lose the election to Donald Trump.
30
So by this standard Bernie Sanders shouldn't whine about unfairness either?It was his job to win the nomination and he couldn't. C'mon. I really don't understand all these people who assumed it was easy to beat Donald Trump when 16 republican couldn't. That should have been a hint.
Nor do I understand why you assumed it would be easy for the first woman to win. Nobody assumed it would be easy for the first African-American to win, they assumed it would be a problem and worked accordingly. They even thought it might be hard for him to win a second time.
Yet mysteriously people assumed there would be no work involved getting a woman to be President. They assumed there was no work beating D. Trump even as scandal after scandal that would have destroyed another politician failed to even matter to his candidacy. Incompetence and ignorance failed to matter.
What part of any of that indicates it was easy? And then Russia intervened in an unprecedented fashion. And then Comey too. An Easy election? Are you kidding?
And still she won the popular vote. The sexism of your expectations and assumptions a man could have done better is ridiculous.
6
NSH, I hate to borrow a phrase from the Republicans, but in this case, I'm afraid you're playing the woman card.
Hillary was an awful candidate pure and simple. That had nothing to do with her sex -- as someone pointed out here recently, Elizabeth Warren was a far more compelling candidate.
That Bernie -- a socialist, for God's sake! -- came close to defeating Clinton even though he was an unknown without Wall Street backing and was ignored or belittled by the press (including this newspaper) is actually a testimony to how bad Hillary was as a candidate. (Note that he remains the most popular politician in the country, and according to the polls would likely have won against Trump.) And note that he has not ascribed his loss to the DNC. Some of his supporters have.
The Republican field was split, with too many conventional candidates running against Trump. Together, they had most of the vote; individually, none could ever achieve a significant plurality.
You really have to get past assuming that very woman who loses an election did so because she was female. It starts to sound like an entitled whine.
11
@Josh ~ You come across as an ardent Bernie supporter but he did NOT come close to winning the primary.
"Clinton won 16.8 million votes to 13.2 million for Sanders, or about 55 percent of the vote to his 43 percent, a 12 percentage point gap."
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/was-the-democratic-primary-a-close-c...
1
There's a sensible passage in the first chapter of the book that seems lost on Clinton's detractors who find her insufficiently contrite.
"I've tried to learn from my own mistakes. There are plenty, as you'll see in this book, and they are mine and mine alone."
47
While she or her ghost writer wrote those words, they reflect the same lack of sincerity and all her messages did during her campaign.
Many times I heard portions of speeches she made which should have been inspiring, empowering and invigorating. Due to Hillary being Hillary, they fell flat came across as unbelievable, or more from another candidate willing to say whatever ti takes to get elected. How that type of feeling gets attached to someone (and seems unshedable) is difficult to explain, but it represents one great reason she was and remains such a poor candidate and viewed as so insincere by many in this country.
5
That could have been strongly suggested by the publisher. And one sentence does not offset providing dozens of excuses that she claims were not her fault.
3
Mrs. Clinton is a perfectly respectable and experienced political figure. She stands for reasonable and even attainable policy objectives. During the campaign to lead our country the press seemed interested only in playing "gotcha" in their interviews, never accepting her initial statement concerning e-mail security. The press never showed any adverse effect of this security practice on our national or international posture. Instead much attention was given to hate spewing opponents who themselves would bring no facts to bear. A free press would defend against baseless charges and rabid invective and not attempt to show an even hand in an effort not to be smacked around by these same scoundrels. Mrs. Clinton has demonstrated more strength and more backbone than even today's investigative reporters. Is it a little too late for them.
41
Look up and read Executive order 13526, signed by Obama. Clinton failed bigly in regards to e-mail security.
6
Time for this ego maniac to get off the stage. Hillary is a most divisive person and continues to live in the past. The Democratic Party will be doomed in 2018 and beyond if she and members of her party continue with the vitriol against President Trump. The election is over. The Russians have been hacking into accounts during Obama's administration but nothing was done to suppress it. Why now? Too little, too late. I could never understand her greed of obtaining huge speaking fees from Wall Street corporations and gaining favors to individuals contributing to the Clinton Foundation while she was with the State Department. And yet she continues to point her finger at other individuals for her loss. She and her husband have amassed a fortune and are no longer relevant. This country must move forward in a positive way yet she continues in her quest for attention and acceptance. It's not working. And the Democratic Party is suffering because of it. Leave the stage, Hillary.
50
I welcome Clinton's "reckoning" of the last election. It seems more wholesome than a candidate that didn't win the popular vote and who is still campaigning, spreading vicious misinformation about voter fraud and constantly complementing himself on the vast amount of "success" he has had since taking office while dismantling all the good from the previous administration. Yes, I would rather hear about why Hillary Clinton lost the election. Only when Mueller finishes his Russia investigation will this stop. We are doomed to have for at least 4 years an incompetent and unfit person in the White House.
30
Her interview with NPR on Monday yielded good news and bad news, which is to say, bad news. First, there were the rote protestations of abandoning candidacies for public office. Second, there was the lusty boast of having created her own moneysucking networking machine, for influence-wielding and raking off the donations urgently required by others to invigorate the new Party. This is the most depressing possible refutation that what happened is in the past.
17
I can't believe we are even having a debate whether Hillary Clinton gets to have any voice after the election, when Bernie has been writing books and running around grandstanding, and Trump keeps trolling Clinton with Tweets virtually nonstop since taking office.
Isn't telling women to shut up a classic misogynistic move? It seems as if this is what is happening, and frankly it's disgusting.
Millions of people like/love Hillary Clinton and her book signings are drawing more crowds that Trump's "Mother of all rallies".
Enough with the condescending tribunals over whether she gets to say anything or not. It's frankly disturbing how sexist the left is/has become.
82
I see what you're trying to say, but I'm not sure it's that reason people are rolling their eyes at this book. John Kerry, John McCain, and Bernie Sanders still had senate jobs after their loss so they're still going to be heard. Michael Dukakis was still a governor. I don't recall them writing books months after on why they lost which claimed to take responsibility but blame other. Al Gore is doing climate change awareness now so he's heard for that. Bob Dole left politics after his loss.
5
"Isn't telling women to shut up a classic misogynistic move? It seems as if this is what is happening, and frankly it's disgusting."
As stated I agree with your statement. However, telling one woman to shut up cannot logically be translated as "telling women" to shut up.
This kind of illogical generalization muddies issues rather than illuminating them.
6
She lost. She lost because she needs to go away. Will she just go away?
It is not a sexist thing. Her husband needs to go away as well. Maybe they can head into obscurity with Anthony and Huma. Do you really need any other reasons besides Bill Clinton and Anthony Weiner to not trust her judgement?
6
Debbie Wasserman-Schultz should get a heaping helping of blame for propping Hillary up while shunning Bernie Sanders. Only she and Hillary can know why, but I suspect there is some "her turn" involved. Her incompetence at running the DNC resulted in her last-minute firing.
79
All these interviews...I got the feeling from the first couple that Clinton was trying out various responses to see which ones played best. I presume the remaining stops on this tortuous tour will be a now-standardized bowl of pablum that offers major doses of blaming others, couched in her "sorry to do this" mien, with minor attempts at very-qualified admissions at some faults within.
One big hope is that will be a farewell tour.
32
I voted for Hillary last November (after having backed Bernie before the convention), and think Trump is loathsome. But Hillary comes across as the woman who lives across town in a nicer neighborhood than yours, has a bigger house than you do, has flashier friends than you do, and yet when she needs support for her favorite worthy cause -- i.e., herself -- shows up at your door, acting like your best friend ever, and not quite comprehending when you don't invite her into your place. Many factors contributed to the result, but ultimately she was not a candidate that did, or could, get enough people really excited. Call that personality, call that the effect of all of her baggage, whatever... but she was just not a very good candidate --
97
Don't see how that is the perception. I thought she was (and remains) very down to earth and for the common person. If she is "elitist" in any way, it's her elite qualifications and intelligence. Sure could use that right now in the WH. So tired of the HRC bashing.
5
HRC is an exceptionally talented woman that was/is preeminently qualified for the office of the Presidency of the U.S. All the typical bashing will probably begin (get a life...), but nothing will change the fact that she is (understatement) a trailblazing mentor for millions of women. Whatever future strides women make in politics or business, they can thank Mrs. Clinton.
54
Really, she rode the coattails of her husband and tried to convince a nation that being married to a president was qualification for being president. That hardly seems like a trailblazing path. And whether she was qualified isn't really the issue. From Elizabeth Warren on the left to Nikki Haley on the right there are plenty of qualified women not trying to use their husband's name and fame to carry them to the White House.
12
HRC did not run a perfect campaign. But she won the election anyway. She won it! The election was stolen by the obsolete and anti-democratic Electoral College, which should be a abolished forthwith.
37
HRC lost the election - because the rules stated the winner is the one who had the most Electoral College votes, not most votes.
And if you think the Electoral College is anti-democratic and should be abolished, I presume you also think the Senate, which is even more anti-democratic, should also be abolished. (I do.)
25
Mr. Light: There are those of us who feel she stole the Democratic Party's candidacy to run for president by having the Super Delegate system in place. That is a fix if there ever were one. It is a recent machination to allow the selected few to control the real vote, even more so than the Electoral College, which has been in place far longer than the Super Delegate charade.
7
Both candidates knew they needed to win the electoral vote, not the popular one. It is unknowable who would have won if both side's goal had been to win the popular vote instead. And I would be fine eliminating the electoral college though I don't Republicans in Wyoming or Democrats in Delaware would agree. But Hillary winning the popular vote is no different from gaining more yards in a football game but losing on points. Irrelevant.
2
When all's said and done, Hillary won…the popular vote by almost 3 million, despite Karl Kobach's futile attempts to find illegal voters. The outmoded Electoral College had more than anything to make the difference. Time for a constitutional amendment to delete the outdated barrier. P.S. This has very little to do with the contents of HRC's book.
21
It's always sad that the country has to be held captive...still..by Hillary who has consumed enough of our media for how many years? Her anger and inner rage is never far from the surface and people are smart about sizing up others personalities and issues. She lost because of a genuine inability to be real or even caring. It's a fatal flaw. And, really troubling that she can't ever look deeply into herself and realize it's time to move on and stop blaming the world for her loss. Her form of feminism is old and women are doing remarkable things in all walks of life. They're not screaming about it.
34
" Her form of feminism is old and women are doing remarkable things in all walks of life."
Beautifully put. Our big mistake here was to treat a former first lady as heir apparent -- "it's her turn now -- rather than to let a genuinely qualified woman like Elizabeth Warren win the nomination under her own steam.
18
You should take a moment to objectively review your comment. I hope, then, you will realize that it was only cheap babble- of the lowbrow, mouth-breathing style one would expect from Rush. If you don't like H Clinton, and feel compelled to tell everyone around you, at least form an argument that includes logic and elements of reality.
4
I don't believe I need to read Ms. Clinton's book to understand why she lost. I watched the painful election process for over 18 months. This was her election to lose and she did her best to do so.
Admittedly Trump had and has a very loyal following, but if Secretary Clinton had done a better job as a candidate she would have won with or without Russian interference.
I voted for Secretary Clinton only because I could not imagine Trump as president of this country and he's proved to be worse then anyone could have imagined.
I understand from her CNN interview that she does not rule out the possibility of contesting the election contingent upon what Mueller may find on the Russian interference. Hopefully this is possible, but highly improbable as its never been done this long after an election. Impeachment looks like the only probably course of action to remove Trump, but this will not help Ms. Clinton's cause.
16
I watched Hillary Clinton interviewed by Judy Woodruff on PBS News Hour Friday evening and was appalled by her lack of personal accountability for her campaign's loss. What Comey did in October 2016 was not right, it was unusual, the optics of it were horrendous for her, but it did NOT, DID NOT, make tens of thousands of working class whites in Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania turn around in a couple weeks and vote for Donald Trump. To suggest that is the most delusional and disgusting lack of personal responsibility I have almost ever seen from a politician. Not that there haven't been worse offenses, but the cost, a Trump America, is just that substantial. Again, no one made Hillary Clinton put her emails on a private server, no one made Hillary Clinton promote Wall Street friendly neo-liberal policies for decades, at the cost of the working class to line the pockets of the rich and enfranchised. No one made Hillary Clinton a serial liar, except herself. I then watched Steve Bannon talk to Charlie Rose on his show yesterday, which I think was a potion of the 60 Minutes interview from last week. Bannon's values and beliefs are completely antithetical to mine. His vision of America is radically different. But his ability to pinpoint why Trump won, and how he won, and the message he brought to those white working class swing voters from the upper Midwest had more hard and uncomfortable truth in it than anything Hillary said her entire campaign. These Dems are done.
48
Wrong, wrong, wrong! She lost because of the Electoral College. The voters actually chose her.
17
But that's the game she was playing to win.... She knew the rules.
6
Maybe it's time the Democrats push for the elimination of the Electoral College as they've been burned twice by the electoral votes. In this particular case the Electoral College didn't do the job that they were created to do and that is to protect the American public from an incompetent President elected by emotional voters.
1
Douglas MacArthur said "old soldiers never die, they just fade away". Hillary Clinton seems to lack either the grace or wisdom to follow this advice. Losing an election that was widely thought to be a layup must be a bitter pill. But her need to blame everyone for her failings is tiring whether you like her or hate her. She just needs to fade away.
79
Have you read this book?
9
You obviously have not read her book, or even been listening. She has blamed herself in many ways for her loss, but ALSO blames other factors, all of which are true. Stop repeating right-wing propaganda.
4
She should read Jocko Willink's book Extreme Ownership. A terrible candidate who was untrustworthy and blames everyone for the debacle except herself. She says she "owns it" but everything in her book points to someone else. Her gender had nothing to do with it, either. She said she was creeped out about the debate - wouldn't her hubby get the same standard? Hillary - time to shut up and move on. He was the one who went after an intern! I am so glad she lost. Had Biden run, he would have won in a landslide. Our loss.
39
When you have a person who claimed entitlement, and ran a campaign, as if it were a rubber stamp, then the chances of winning go by the way side. Also, it does not help when a candidate insults a portion of those who will be casting ballots. Finally, it never looks good when a candidate plays "deflect and blame".
Ms. Clinton's book, and subsequent interview, does a lot of "deflect and blame" to everyone, but herself.
In addition, the DNC was so bent on making history, but electing a a woman to the presidency, that they ignore the fact that the person they chose was unpopular to many Americans. Yes, she had a solid base, but not enough to seal the deal, as they say. Yes, she go more votes than Trump, but they were not in the right places. Also, she chose a very weak vice presidential candidate, which did not help.
It was easy to blame Comey, Russians, etc., but a campaign ran like she was guaranteed the presidency, was her undoing. Never the mind how much out of touch the DNC and the campaign were with the voters.
The DNC should have run Biden, with Clinton as VP. Biden would have beaten Trump; gaffs and all. The country was not ready fro Sanders, but A Biden/Sanders ticket would have won too. But, Clinton, her baggage, her attitude, feeling of entitlement, her husband, and "deflect and blame" cost her teh election.
64
Trump played deflect and blame. It was his platform. He lost the popular vote.
3
You either haven't read the book or what I suspect is more likely you're secretly a Russian bot or a member of the Republiclan party. Hillary admitted to many mistakes in how the campaign was run in the book, your critique notwithstanding.
I suspect the people 'recommending' your post haven't read 'What Happened' either.
2
"A Biden/Sanders ticket would have won too."
Hey can I borrow your crystal ball when you're done using it?
2
When you point a finger at someone else, three fingers of your hand point back to you. Mrs. Clinton,her advisors and the DNC need to take responsibility for their failure to win the election, and look introspectively at what happened. If not, the Democrats will not have learned from their past.
And by the way, where are the Democrats in the news?
103
We can properly blame Comey, and Russian interference, but the bottom line is that Obama inspired us and Hillary Clinton did not. I think Biden or Sanders might have won. I remember watching Elizabeth Warren speaking on Clinton's behalf during the campaign and thinking how much more authentic and compelling she was. It's a disaster having an incompetent, pathological liar in the White House, but Clinton's lack of appeal seems to me to be the deciding factor.
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I see now. It's all about appeal, not competency. I missed that.
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Yes, we did get an incompetent pathological liar in the white house.
This is partly because the only choice was a competent pathological liar.
For most people, the distinction is lost, and they knew Clinton better.
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Greg ~ Hillary Clinton is not a pathological liar!! djt is!!!
Check out PolitiFact to see that Clinton is 72 to djt's 21 on the truth scale.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/lists/people/comparing-hillary-c...
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