If Obama did a good job as President, why did Hillary lose?
What if Obama wasn’t such a good president as many seem to assert?Let me point out that when he was elected, Obama was supposed to be the opposite of George W. Bush.Instead, we saw a President that:Increased inequality and in many cases, signed legislation that increased inequality.Had a cabinet selected by Citigroup.Refused to persecute Wall Street executives for the 2008 Crisis.Did not reinstate Glass-Steagall nor pass anything more than Dodd-Frank, which overlooked too many issues.Chose to write a debilitating healthcare system that even today bitterly divides Americans nicknamed Obamacare, instead of trying to copy say, the Canadian healthcare system or at least trying to implement a serious public option.Largely continued the wars of Bush and started new ones, in Libya for example, while “surging” in Afghanistan.Did not address the fundamental problem of Washington, which is political corruption.Had a pro-austerity budget and made no attempts after the first partial stimulus.Waged a war on whistleblowers that was unprecedented.Did not mobilize his base in an attempt to address the very issues that he ran to fix. He could have used his base to try to overcome an obstructionist GOP. There was a ton of goodwill after his election. He chose to throw it away.I don’t think that Obama will be well regarded. IN fact, I suspect that he will be compared to James Buchanan, who was facing a profound crisis and made a bad situation worse.There’s a reason why Bernie Sanders gained so much popularity. It was because Obama had not delivered the Change that we so pushed in 2008. There’s a reason why Clinton’s attempt to say that she was Obama’s third term failed to generate excitement.Combine that with Clinton’s poor campaigning skills and the Democratic National Committee’s unethical sabotage of Bernie Sanders, then you have Trump.
How did Obama beat Hillary in 2008?
By being more charismatic and slightly to her left.
How could Hillary Clinton have defeated Barack Obama in 2008 Democratic primary?
Briefly, I think you need to do a few things:Ignore Iowa. If you don't try to get higher than top three in Iowa, and set that expectation, you would have slowed down Obama's momentum going into later contests. The impression Obama was about to kick Hillary out of the race pre-NH was wrong, but it forever killed the aura of invulnerability that kept the party actors supporting her in line.Manage your money better. The Clinton campaign was bloated and spent to much, too early, and on foolish/extravagant things.One of those foolish things was Mark Penn. Never having hired Penn would have been the solution, and ridding yourself of him later on second best.Finally, and this was Penn's fault as much as anyone, you needed to have a coherent Super Tuesday and beyond strategy, as well as a caucus strategy. The Obama campaign planned ahead and gamed the caucus and delegate system so that they could and did lose state popular votes and still win in the delegate count. This let them effectively win the nomination in March, pre-Race speech.The problem with games like these, though, is that it is easy to know what to do in hindsight. 2. and 4. should have been commonsense, but 1. and 3. were not obvious at all in 2007.
Is Hillary Clinton smarter than Barack Obama?
Any answer to that would be speculation. I will say this: Eight years ago it became quite evident during Democratic primary debates that she was much more politically knowledgeable. Obama himself has recently even admitted to this.Whether that holds true eight years later is unknown, but I suspect that she still is at least on par with him. A Secretary of State is often a little more in the trenches than a President. She is also a known policy wonk.
Why wasn't Hillary Clinton Barack Obama's running mate in 2008?
In Chapter 13 of “The Audacity to Win” by David Plouffe, Obama for America campaign manager, described the process for VP selection first hand. While the ultimate decision was Obama's, the vetting team was responsible for bringing the initial list of twenty people down to a short list of people that would make a good fit on the ticket and more importantly to Obama possible performance as an actual VP.Some of the points that Marc, Jon, Ian, and Charlotte made were all covered in relations to Hillary. While Hilary made the initial cut to six, she did not make the next cut to three. Plouffe observed that Obama was less concerned about what had happened during the campaign, but he did have an issue with the idea of Bill Clinton being part of the picture. Plouffe explains Obama's decision, "At the end of the day, Obama decided that there were just too many complications outweighing the potential strengths” of selecting Hillary.In modern presidential politics the VP slot is less about the ability for the person to deliver a state out of 50. In fact a few VP candidates in the last several elections have not carried their home state. It's more about what they bring to the campaign trail for voters, Biden's strength was his foreign policy experience being Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. His personal story had "some blue collar appeal as a middle-class kid” with a close connection to Pennsylvania. His performance in the primary debates made the campaign feel confident he would do well in the one VP debate that usually occurs. Ultimately Biden during the final three interviews made a strong case for his selection that influenced David Plouffe to give him as the recommendation to Obama. The rest will have to wait for Obama memoirs.
How did Obama come out of nowhere and knock Hillary out of contention for President?
Barack Obama never did win against Hillary Clinton. It was only an elite group of democratic super delegates that gave Barack Obama the nomination. The DNC had to change the rules. They would not and still have not counted the voters votes in Florida & Michigan (States that Hillary Clinton won). Hillary Clinton won the popular vote of the democratic party. It is only when you don’t count the votes in Florida & Michigan that Barack Obama wins by cheating. Barack Obama should have never even of made it past the Democratic nomination. Hillary Clinton is the rightful winner.
Why did the democratic party choose Obama??????
You got it. He appealed to the hard left of the party due to his extreme liberal views. Hillary was too moderate for Soros and Michael Moore. The problem is, America won't elect someone that liberal. I guess that's what happens when you allow the fringe left control of the party.
Who did you vote for, Hillary or Obama, and why?
This is a strange question, I voted for both at different times. Given where I was in 2008, working in TN, I wasn’t able to attend the MN caucus, so I didn’t vote for either. I voted for Obama in 2 general elections and voted for Hillary in one.Why?I left the GOP when Reagan ran. The GOP has turned its back on the needs of the Northern urban states (I lived in NJ from birth until 2004). The GOP has turned its back on the needs of industrial workers (as have the Democrats since Clinton). The GOP is against the environmental movement, even if the environmental movement was an outgrowth of the Northern GOP (slum dwellers don’t go to National Parks).The modern GOP thinks that the only interests that are important are those of business and profit. The Democratic party since Bill Clinton has adopted some of those ideas, but they are at least interested in responsible government, unlike the modern GOP.
Who will be the Democratic nominee in 2020?
It's not clear and lot may depend on what Trump does, what state the country, and his administration, is in in a couple years, and who among the Democrats has risen to national prominence. Some of it will also depend on whether Trump looks weak in 2020. If he doesn't, then younger potential candidates, who could still rump in the open election of 2024, might put off running in 2020 in order to improve their chances. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo clearly wants to run for president at some point. New Jersey Senator Corey Booker is often mentioned too. Bernie Sanders could run again, although he'd be pretty old. A lot of people talk about Elizabeth Warren running, but it's not clear that she's actually interested in doing that. It could also be someone who we're not even really considering now. Back in 2004, Barack Obama was a little known state legislator who was running for Senator. Four years later he was the Democratic nominee for president. We could see someone else come along similar to that. The specifics of the country in 2019-2020 could also determine who the nominee is. Barack Obama beat Hillary in 2008 in part because Americans had soured on the Iraq War an Obama had always opposed the war (in contrast to Clinton who had voted for it). Bernie Sanders did so well this time around because of concerns about economic inequality, concernes which weren't so pronounced in 2008. In 2020 who knows what the new concerns may be. If Trump critics are right and his administration is particularly corrupt and scandal plagued then that could hurt Democratic candidates with their own checkered past (such as Cuomo, who plays a little fast and loose with ethics himself).