One year later, Democrats try to use painful lessons of 2016 to guide future campaigns

Los Angeles Times ^ | November 3, 2017 | by Evan Halper and David Lauter

[Oldeconomybuyer]

As hordes of progressives make plans to scream helplessly at the sky Wednesday to protest the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump’s election, the influential Democrats whose strategic missteps and disconnectedness to the electorate helped deliver his victory have other plans.

The operatives and donors who propelled Hillary Clinton’s campaign are combing ever deeper through the painful details of an election gone terribly wrong for Democrats as they determinedly try to correct course. They are seizing on the clarity that comes with distance to plunge into difficult discussions about what might have been done differently – and how they can put those lessons to use in upcoming elections.

The refocusing is driven by reams of election autopsies, many making use of modern tech tools to pinpoint with impressive precision how steep the cost was of each false move the Clinton campaign made and how badly the campaign missed the pulse of an electorate yearning to shake things up.

There was another a big problem the Clinton campaign couldn’t do much about: Voters perceived her as the establishment. Among the many voters who disliked both her and Trump, most broke toward him in the end, analysts poring through polling data have found. Democrats are quick to point out now that Republicans control everything in Washington, hoping that voters’ continued anti-establishment fervor will be the GOP’s problem now.

But last year’s election made clear that exploiting the desire for change requires a different playbook, one that involves paying more attention to what voters are thinking, instead of what a computer model predicts they should think.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“Painful lessons”:

1. Lesson #1. Stop the identity politics that is tearing the nation apart and making people flee the Dem party.
2. Lesson #2. Ignore Lesson #1.

[DannyTN]

Lessons for Democrats...

• When your candidate can't stand, don't hide it. Go for the sympathy vote.
• Don't blame others for colluding with the Russians. Own it. Be proud of it.
• Don't get out socialist'ed. Swing as far left in the primary as you need to.
• Don't hide your illegal email server in the bathroom closet. Hide it in the kitchen pantry.
• Don't just call Trump supporters delorable, that divides the country. Treat members of both parties equal. Let voters of both people know that you hold a low opinion of all of them.

[RayChuang88]

In short, the Democratic Party got destroyed by the BAD influence of the post-2000 Clintons.

[Bonemaker]

They’ll just double down.Too stupid and corrupt otherwise they wouldnt be democrats in first place.

[Hartmann]

Hire the Russian political wizards who managed to steal a billion dollar election with a pocketful of rubles. /s

[aquila48]

I wonder if they will ever dig deep enough to discover the simple truth staring at their faces that Americans don’t want to buy what they’re selling.

Hopefully not.

[catnipman]

“I wonder if they will ever dig deep enough to discover the simple truth staring at their faces that Americans don’t want to buy what they’re selling.”

Ad Exec One to Ad Exec Two: “But the dogs won’t eat the food ...”

[Terry Mross]

This is going to be like the YouTube videos of strange sounds.

[Lurkinanloomin]

Maybe they should try representing American citizens instead of citizens of other countries who broke into our country.............nah.