Hillary Rodham Clinton ...

[Tatiana]

151. Your very cogent points have not been addressed.

This map:



speaks to some of the reasons why Clinton found it difficult to win in reliably democratic states. You have contiguous portions of strength on the east and west coasts, but look at the rest of the country. Clinton never built true, grassroots support. The kind of support where someone is excited about their candidate and goes knocking on doors and speaking to their neighbors and colleagues about why they should vote for the democratic candidate. Most people were not motivated to do this for Clinton. Think about all the energy and excitement that surrounded Barack Obama's 2008 candidacy. I remember travelling to Michigan and Minnesota and Indiana on his behalf. Illinois was, obviously, locked up for him, but I wanted to talk to others on behalf of the campaign. I (perhaps, naively) believed in the message of Hope and Change (We Can Believe In).

The problem here is that Stronger Together was not a great sales pitch and, let's be honest, people did not believe in Clinton. We ran the first serious female candidate for President. All the electricity that surrounded Barack Obama's candidacy (as the potential first black President) should have been present and ready to be harnessed for Clinton's candidacy. Yet, you knew things were flat. A high school friend of mine was dispatched to Nevada on behalf of the campaign and in my conversations with him, he expressed some anxiety. They didn't have nearly the number of volunteers expected and I suspect that type of trouble repeated itself across the campaign offices in states that weren't California, Illinois, or New York.

Perhaps if Clinton had selected Sanders as her VP, she would have been able to overcome the daggers thrown her way. But she didn't. And I do think this was an example of her judgment. The other side picked a VP who strengthened the weaknesses of their ticket. Our side did not. Clinton was lacking in excitement. She should have picked someone who could excite the base. Any number of choices would have worked.