Who ran the worst campaign this year (D&R)

[This account no longer in use.]

O'Malley is the obvious answer on the Democratic side. On the Republican side, it's probably between Yeb! Bush, Rubot, and Scott Walker.

[Holmes]

Chafee and Republicans

[publicunofficial]

D - Webb. Running to the right of Hillary Clinton was doomed from the start.

R - Bush or Walker. Voted Bush.

[Mr. Smith]

For this year specifically (and my votes): Fiorina and O'Malley

For the campaign season overall: Walker and Chafee

[Kleine Scheiße]

I love the three or four people that voted for "Democrats" and "Republicans".

[DINGO Joe]

I voted Webb, though as noted above, he didn't really run a campaign, he just stood there for about 20 seconds.

Voted Jeb on the R side, though it was a cavalcade of fail on the R side this year.

[136or142]

I voted Webb, though as noted above, he didn't really run a campaign, he just stood there for about 20 seconds.

Voted Jeb on the R side, though it was a cavalcade of fail on the R side this year.

With regards to Webb, you could say the same thing about Jim Gilmore on the Republican side.

I voted for Jeb! but I forget about Scott Walker when voting.  I don't know though that those who dropped out before the primaries started really ran the same type of campaign as those who were still in the race.  Maybe the Republicans should be split in those two separate categories.

[TDAS04]

Webb and Jeb. 

[136or142]

Webb and Jeb. 

Unfortunately the Jim(my) Webb who ran is the one who wrote what is generally considered to be one of the worst songs of all time, MacArthur Park, and not the (same) Jim(my) Webb who wrote the classics Galveston and Wichita Lineman among others.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Webb is a good answer. Remember all the hype he got? (much appeal to the southern Democrats etc.)

[Simfan34]

Walker and Chaffee.

[DINGO Joe]

I voted Webb, though as noted above, he didn't really run a campaign, he just stood there for about 20 seconds.

Voted Jeb on the R side, though it was a cavalcade of fail on the R side this year.

With regards to Webb, you could say the same thing about Jim Gilmore on the Republican side.

I voted for Jeb! but I forget about Scott Walker when voting.  I don't know though that those who dropped out before the primaries started really ran the same type of campaign as those who were still in the race.  Maybe the Republicans should be split in those two separate categories.

Well, Gilmore stood there much longer.  Kind of like one of those street performers that stands still so long, you think he might really be a statue.

[Maxwell]

C'mon, Chafee ran the worst campaign in history. Possibly the worst debate performance I've ever seen since Jan Brewer.

[IceSpear]

I voted Webb, though as noted above, he didn't really run a campaign, he just stood there for about 20 seconds.

Voted Jeb on the R side, though it was a cavalcade of fail on the R side this year.

With regards to Webb, you could say the same thing about Jim Gilmore on the Republican side.

I voted for Jeb! but I forget about Scott Walker when voting.  I don't know though that those who dropped out before the primaries started really ran the same type of campaign as those who were still in the race.  Maybe the Republicans should be split in those two separate categories.

But nobody ever cared about Gilmore (except Atlas, of course.) Webb got a lot more hype since he was the first to enter the race.

Webb is a good answer. Remember all the hype he got? (much appeal to the southern Democrats etc.)

Though on that point, if we're going by hype, O'Malley definitely beats Webb there. The pundits were insisting in early-mid 2015 that he would become Hillary's main challenger (if Warren and Biden didn't run, lol.) Instead he got 0.5% in a state he camped out in for a year then dropped out.

[136or142]

I voted Webb, though as noted above, he didn't really run a campaign, he just stood there for about 20 seconds.

Voted Jeb on the R side, though it was a cavalcade of fail on the R side this year.

With regards to Webb, you could say the same thing about Jim Gilmore on the Republican side.

I voted for Jeb! but I forget about Scott Walker when voting.  I don't know though that those who dropped out before the primaries started really ran the same type of campaign as those who were still in the race.  Maybe the Republicans should be split in those two separate categories.

But nobody ever cared about Gilmore (except Atlas, of course.) Webb got a lot more hype since he was the first to enter the race.

Webb is a good answer. Remember all the hype he got? (much appeal to the southern Democrats etc.)

Though on that point, if we're going by hype, O'Malley definitely beats Webb there. The pundits were insisting in early-mid 2015 that he would become Hillary's main challenger (if Warren and Biden didn't run, lol.) Instead he got 0.5% in a state he camped out in for a year then dropped out.

Despite his terrible approval ratings when he left as governor of Virginia, on paper Gilmore's resume should have made him somewhat of a credible candidate.  Had he campaigned more actively I'm sure he would at least have received more than 12 votes in Iowa and 133 votes in New Hampshire.

[pho]

The 'block of granite' and the boy scout.

[Hammy]

O'Malley on the Democratic side

Meanwhile I picked Rubio on the GOP side, which shows Jeb ran an even worse campaign because I'd already forgotten he ran in the first place until reading the comments...

[Zinneke]

This was a massive opportunity for Rand Paul and boy did he blow it.

[JMT]

I picked O'Malley and Walker, because both were largely hyped and had a real opportunity to become serious candidates / their party's nominee and they completely blew it. O'Malley was talked about as the major Hillary Clinton alternative, and he practically lived in Iowa prior to the election and only received about 0.5%. Realistically, he should've been the Hillary alternative and he allowed a 75 year old Democratic socialist from Vermont to steal that title from him. I love Bernie, and of course Bernie's strengths played into his rise (it wasn't only O'Malley that led to Bernie's rise) but I feel like O'Malley should've performed stronger.

For me personally, I never expected Jeb Bush to win. He wouldn't have rallied the more conservative voters needed to win a primary, and he was generally boring. Not to mention, I think "Bush fatigue" is real and he would have been far from the best candidate to beat Hillary in the general election. A main argument against Clinton is to have a fresh face and to avoid political dynasties, so nominating Bush wouldn't have made sense. That being said, I think Scott Walker ran the worst campaign on the GOP side. He was largely hyped: he's young, appeals to both the establishment and the more conservative Tea Party types, and won election as Governor 3 times in a blue state like Wisconsin. The fact his campaign didn't even make it past September is a huge embarrassment to him and his campaign team. They had a perfect resume to win a GOP nomination and blew it. Of course, no one saw the rise of Trump and no candidate really knew what to do about it, but Scott Walker should've at least lasted until Iowa..

[IceSpear]

This was a massive opportunity for Rand Paul and boy did he blow it.

I agree he ran a terrible campaign, but did he ever really have a chance? He looked decent in 2013-2014 as the GOP began to gradually move away from hawkishness, but after the rise of ISIS and multiple terror attacks, hawkishness was reinvigorated and he was basically DOA. On top of that, the rise of Bernie stole all the college students/internet activists/Redditors/young white men in general (his dad's main demographics) away from him, leaving him with basically nothing left.

I picked O'Malley and Walker, because both were largely hyped and had a real opportunity to become serious candidates / their party's nominee and they completely blew it. O'Malley was talked about as the major Hillary Clinton alternative, and he practically lived in Iowa prior to the election and only received about 0.5%. Realistically, he should've been the Hillary alternative and he allowed a 75 year old Democratic socialist from Vermont to steal that title from him. I love Bernie, and of course Bernie's strengths played into his rise (it wasn't only O'Malley that led to Bernie's rise) but I feel like O'Malley should've performed stronger.

I always thought O'Malley's flameout was predictable, for one simple reason: anyone who was against Hillary Clinton for being too right wing/neoliberal/warmongerish/whatever was not going to be afraid of a guy who called himself a socialist. If anything, it would be a positive (and indeed it was among that segment of voters.) O'Malley's constituency of "voters who think Hillary Clinton is too right wing but are also scared of socialism" is about as big as the percentage of the vote he received in Iowa. His campaign was bad though, but like Paul, even if he ran a good one I think he was doomed regardless. He was completely boxed out.