Why Clinton lost
Ten reasons.
1. She was a woman. I don't buy the idea that this was the determining factor but it still counts for something - when it started to go wrong there was an extra edge to the nastiness directed at her. A hard-faced woman - an aggressive woman - is not something America is culturally attuned to liking. Women can be tough and savvy and clever and winning - but can they be brutal, as she arguably was, and be liked?
2. She was Bill's wife. This was, of course, why she was in a place to make the bid in the first place. But having brought her to the party he would not, could not, just leave. They were and are a pair. It made people queasy.
3. Mark Penn (her chief strategist until he was fired) is (allegedly) not the greatest people person.
4. She failed to tip a waitress in Iowa.
5. She failed to speak at all to the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳.
6. She lacked authenticity in a year when authenticity was in; her story is one of determination and valour and struggle and hard work and achievement, but marrying Bill still looks like one heck of a career move. I heard him rather sweetly suggesting the opposite - that it showed how unambitious she was. But nobody (except Bill) believes this.
7. She has a wooden speaking style (it got better but it's still hectoring rather than magical) and she happened to come up against a natural.
8. She was not shot at in Bosnia. These things matter. This was a terrible gaffe suggesting a loose interest in veracity.
9. No other candidate took on the job of getting rid of Obama. This is often what happens in primaries - someone else deals with a candidate and you can win without having to attack him directly. But the attack was left to her.
10. It is not easy to attack a handsome black guy with sweet kids and a decent resume. You look mean. She looked mean.
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