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Hillary still doesn’t get it

May 5, 2017
T. Keith Gurnee

T. Keith Gurnee

OPINION by T. KEITH GURNEE

After reading accounts of Hillary Clinton’s latest interview on why she lost the 2016 election, she’s unbelievably still in denial. Blaming the FBI Director and WikiLeaks for her defeat on the brink of what she called her “imminent victory” could not be further from the truth.

Here are the real reasons why she lost:

1.       She failed to realize that WikiLeaks simply told the truth about how she and her party were behind-the-scenes manipulating the election to defeat Bernie Sanders in the primaries. It was that truth that hurt her, and if anything, WikiLeaks provided voters with a much-needed service.

2.       In what was the biggest anti-establishment race in history, her 25 years in the public eye made her the big face of the establishment. The nation concluded that it had suffered too long from Hillary and Obama fatigue.

3.       Rather than appealing to working people, she devoted her energy to courting Hollywood plutocrats and limousine liberals, and that cost her the Rust Belt.

4.       Bernie Sanders captured the imagination of anti-establishment liberals. Hillary captured none.

5.       Despite all his faults, her maverick opponent successfully tapped into public sentiment that the pendulum had swung too far to the left and that big government, big taxes, and overregulation were no longer the answer.

6.       Rather than running for president and making her case for why she should be elected, she ran a nasty full court press against her opponent, drawing ever more attention to the man who beat her.

7.       Last but not least, her arrogance didn’t help.

During her campaign, this former Democrat and my former Democrat wife developed a visceral negative reaction whenever she appeared or spoke on TV. Until Hillary and her party stop deluding themselves and get honest with what really happened to them–and until the Dems decide to become positive contributors to our evolving national government– they will continue their sad slide towards oblivion.


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“The nation concluded that it had suffered too long from Hillary and Obama fatigue.”


I agree somewhat with Gurnee’s sentiments in this column, especially as regards Hillary’s treatment of Bernie Sanders, but some of it shows that he’s either not been paying attention for the past 25 years of carefully manufactured right-wing radio hate of anything having to do with the Clintons and Obama, or he’s being disingenuous and is really a republican in disguise.


First, Obama is not Clinton. And he sure has a lot more dignity than “grab ’em by the pussy” President Petty Spite.


Your comment about “big government, big taxes and over regulation” tells me that you’ve swallowed the wing-nut koolaid there too. What really makes corporate CEOs mad are regulations on big business. That’s why they’ve got all those liar-for-hire “think tanks”, Fox News and a.m. radio Limbaughites dissing the government. They don’t want any regulations that protect people or the environment from from arrogant corporate abuses. It would be so much easier and cheaper if they can just legally dump their toxic wastes into river beds like Monsanto did for 40 years before being caught.


Now though, they’ve finally got one of their own in office, a real Ronald McDonald orange haired clown. And what was one of the first things President Petty Spite did, get rid of the rule that disallowed mining companies dumping their toxic tailings into riverbeds. What a surprise!


Really something to be proud of guys!


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I’m not a “republican in disguise”, I’m an avowed one, albeit a moderate rather than a right wing one. And I don’t ascribe to the views of Limbaugh, nor do I think Trump is the greatest thing since sliced bread. But what you and your fellow Trump bashers fail to realize is this essential truth: there are few people who had more to do with Trump getting elected than Hillary Clinton!


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I get it about Hillary, Keith. But we both know that’s not the full story. (Not counting the Sanders thing) Hillary’s main sticking points during the campaign was that she had a private email server (maybe because she didn’t want her sworn enemies reading her private email? Would you?), and that she was indiscreet about some classified emails. Then throw in the fact that Russia was gunning for her via wikileaks, and a week before election day the FBI decided to publicly reopen a case against her (which again found nothing). But it did her damage. The Ruskies had stuff on Trump too, but chose not to reveal much about that.


Trump, on the other hand, was able to just make stuff up, then change his mind at the drop of a hat all through the campaign season. He was able to get away with revelations of his egregious behavior toward women (grab ’em by the pussy”, be a peeping Trump in his beauty pageants, etc.), state that he’d be “one of the greatest” mafiosos. And just be a general all around sleazebag. Yet, nothing fazed his followers.


https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/donald-trump-scandals/474726/

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/05/donald-trump-presidential-scandals/522468/


I see you talking about Hillary but just brushing off Trump’s faults by saying “nor do I think Trump is the greatest thing since sliced bread” and leaving it at that; Come on.


Hilary does not represent everything that is good and positive about the left. Yes there’s things I don’t like about the left too, but by and large the values they stand up for, equality, environmental protection, consumer protection etc. are so much better than those the Republicans are for.


http://professorplum2.blogspot.co.uk/2003/10/new-feudalism.html


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Very true article.


Hillary needed to convince middle class white Americans that she cared about them, that their concerns were valid, and that she had real plans to address their concerns. People out there in middle America have lost jobs, have seen their jobs outsourced, have trained their replacements. People were disillusioned. People lost health insurance, lost their families to the overwhelming pressure that comes with job loss and financial ruin. Meanwhile, illegals keep coming to America, taking JOBS, driving down wages, taking billions in benefits, then screaming for their “rights”. If middle class America asked why this was allowed to happen, why corporations were given tax breaks even when outsourcing jobs, the were called racist, told they were “lazy” and that undocumented were “doing the jobs Americans won’t do”. Yeah, I wonder who did those jobs BEFORE illegals?


Middle class Americans are NOT deplorable. They needed hope. What they got were two icky options- Hillary or Trump. They went with the snake oil salesman who had the better sales pitch.


Agree or disagree with middle America, but that was their sentiment. Ignoring it doesn’t make it go away.


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8-She is a serial lier.


9-She attacked women who were sexually assaulted.


10-She cannot point to one accomplishment in all her years of government.


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I for one, would really love to never hear about any of the Clinton’s ever again for

as long as I live…Just sayin”.


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She’s not a woman. She only “identifies” as one.


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Calling Trump’s supporters deplorables sure didn’t help her. I guess #7 covers that.


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You hit the nail on the head. Showing her disdain for the people she would be governing was her let them eat cake moment, and she never recovered from it.


We can disdain our politicians, they cannot disdain us, particularly a person who thinks she should be anointed queen.


Democrats will look back in 50 years and realize what a scam Hillary has been from the get go. Forget the coverups and corruption. A woman who rides her “husbands” coat tails to her every achievement is not a female role model.


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Oh no! And Trump can’t read!


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That’s funny. Hillary’s campaign could have used witty humor like this to portray her as human. You missed your calling!


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Are ALLAN COOPER and T. KEITH GURNEE the same person?


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Hardly!


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No, but I am glad they are both here giving their opinion pieces. While I generally do not agree with Allan most of the time, I am thankful CCN provides a forum where different opinions are voiced and heard.


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Here is an opinion from someone worth reading.Your “maverick”. Politicians you can get behind Gurnee- you know the insane ones: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-has-a-dangerous-disability/2017/05/03/56ca6118-2f6b-11e7-9534-00e4656c22aa_story.html?tid=pm_opinions_pop&utm_term=.40c30b6b3105


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