2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Schumer had one question: Is Bernie coming? [View all]TwilightZone
(28,834 posts)Like "progressives" who voted for Trump, Stein, or Johnson as some kind of meaningless protest or just stayed home out of spite or because "both sides are bad". 10% of self-described liberals voted for Trump, and 9% of Democrats. Lots more stayed home.
And a campaign that didn't understand what was happening in MI, PA, WI until it was too late. A critical mistake, without a doubt.
I'm not convinced the message was the problem, though. The message won with voters who considered the economy the most important issue 52/42. Trump won on immigration and terrorism. Clinton won on the economy and foreign policy. Fear (and more than a little apathy) won out.
Same candidate, slightly different strategy (target MI, WI, PA more), we likely win and we're talking about a Clinton win and a PV blowout instead of a narrow EC loss. Another 80,000 voters in the right places, and we wouldn't be having any of these conversations.
And, that's with a candidate that we're told everyone hates.