Did "basket of deplorables" cost Hillary the presidential election?

[cwt]

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[Erich Maria Remarque]

Trump would likely win anyway, but I knew it was over, when she said it. (Though I thought under couple of weeks that Pussygate would kill Trump's chances, but Americans are wise and vote with their brains )

[100% pro-life no matter what]

I'm going to say yes, but there were a lot of things Hillary did wrong that fixing any one or two of them could have saved the election for her.

[Tender Branson]

It was one ingredient that contributed to her loss, yeah.

But middle-class people cared a lot about the Obamacare premium hikes too: people here are already going nuts if their rents increase by 3% a year, because that's a lot to pay. If a healthcare premium increases by 20% in a single year (!), the rage is deep. And they care more about paying their bills, then Trump grabbing some pussy. That's also the reason why Hillary didn't get as many women as polls thought she would, because they cared more about their bills.

Also, the German/Austrian/Swiss/Polish ancestries in PA, MI and especially WI might have played a role: Yesterday, the Austrian ORF TV had a debate about the outcome and a Prof. from Univ. of Berkeley said they did an experiment with voters before the election. Factual arguments didn't move the needle towards either candidate, but when they used emotion and authority, voters moved to Trump. It seems voters in the rust belt and great lakes area responded well to the emotion and authority talk by Trump.

[Shadows]

No - It was not 1 single reason - But many reasons coming together.

It didn't help that she came up with the number at 50% out of thin air - The whole thing was condescending - She was completely oblivious to her flaws & her being unelectable.

She was very antagonistic to Trump's supporters & felt she was entitled to all votes simply because she was running vs Trump. She never sympathized with millions of people who are genuinely worse off & trying to make by.

The economy is in a bad BAD state, Obamacare is exploding, her trade deals have ravaged the Rust Belt - And she has no sympathy for these people - Bernie recognized this & has a much better appeal.

She is completely detached from the struggle of the middle class!

[Ye We Can]

No- just like 47% percent didn't cost Romney- but it certainly hurt her in the midwest among other things I think.

[RFayette]

Perhaps, but the attitude of her campaign which was reflected by that statement definitely cost her the election.

[cinyc]

Insulting your opponent's voters is never a good idea, so, yes.  It just annoys those voters and drives them to vote against you.  Hillary should have learned this lesson from Mitt Romney.

[Mr. Smith]

Nope, it's the only reason she got the popular vote.

[rafta_rafta]

No...a huge chunk of Trump supporters are deplorable and she was right to call them out on it. This chunk was also highly motivated and would have turned out regardless

[Rules for me, but not for thee]

Not only that, it was she was still playing Donald's game until the end when Donald switched hard to issues after the last debate.  She played his game and lost.

[dax00]

nothing said truly affected either candidate substantially. she didn't have a genuine message to get people excited about

[Egalit]

That phrase was another evidence of Clinton arrogance and contempt for common people. It contributed to her debacle, of course.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Given the massive surprise, Hillary's defeat was more a "death by a thousand cuts" than one or two major factors.

[Middle-aged Europe]

It wasn't helpful, even though it was also true.

One lesson from the Trump victory is that you have to tell the people what they want to hear, even if it isn't the truth.

[Egalit]

It wasn't helpful, even though it was also true.

Then you should put into that basket all Russians including Putin.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

It wasn't helpful, even though it was also true.

Then you should put into that basket all Russians including Putin.

He is quite deplorable.

[Middle-aged Europe]

It wasn't helpful, even though it was also true.

Then you should put into that basket all Russians including Putin.

You've got a deal, pal!

[Umengus]

yes. So symbolic of the clinton's elitism.

[Egalit]

It wasn't helpful, even though it was also true.

Then you should put into that basket all Russians including Putin.

He is quite deplorable.

"Putin intervened in our elections and succeeded", states McFaul, former ambassador to Russia.  I.e. Putin actually won the election. If he is deplorable how could he have done that? Only because people whom he defeated are deplorables.
If he is deplorable how could he have done that? Because people whom he defeated are deplorables.  

[anarchy2day]

I was firmly #NeverTrump when I went to cast my ballot.  I was also #NeverHillary.  I was #NeverAllofThem.

In the end, when I did cast my vote, I had cast it for Trump.  It was the sense of rightness about doing it when I was in the booth that was the final reason why.

As for Hillary's "deplorable" comment, I don't think it mattered.  Americans already know what she thinks of them.  Much like Obama "bitter clingers" comment.

It was a plethora of issues that Hillary had that made the difference, all of them contributing to her election defeat.  If I were to suggest the largest reason why she lost, it would be Wikileaks.  In the end, taking states like New York, Illinois and California by huge margins doesn't help you win states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Florida by thin margins.

This election shows why the Founding Fathers were brilliant geniuses for establishing the Electoral College and why Democrats and Marxists will continue to call for the elimination of using it.

[‼realJohnEwards‼]

I'm going to say yes, but there were a lot of things Hillary did wrong that fixing any one or two of them could have saved the election for her.

Agreed. Pulling out of MI/WI was a big one...

[Vern]

It was the beginning of the end for her.

[Dan the Roman]

Ultimately Hillary lost the Presidency by 12,000(0.2%) votes in MI, 20,000(1%) in WI, and either 60,000 in PA(1.2%) or 110,000 in FL(1.3%).

At that margin, almost anything probably could have accounted for the first two. So yes, maybe without the "Deplorables" remark she would have carried them, and maybe it might have been enough to swing PA.

That said, I think the remark was representative of a deeper malaise afflicting the Clinton campaign which did cost them the election. Namely the Clinton campaign was the ultimate caracature of Obama's 2012 effort. It had a series of young staffers who had absolute faith in what the Obama campaign did, but had not been high enough to understand what those things actually were, or were they experienced enough to understand politics on a wider level. With most of their experience coming from advocacy groups that lobbied either political elites in DC, or local governments in massively democratic urban areas(ie. on gay issues, or abortion) they had no understanding of the Midwest, except numeric from browsing election data. As a result, they aped what they perceived as the rituals of the Obama team, and eschewed any information that conflicted with their preconceived notions, either on campaigning or the shape of the field.

Ignoring rural voters and working class whites in general, and neglecting the Kerry states of the Midwest in particular were consequences of this mindset, as were the deplorable remarks, but the former did not follow from the latter.

[yawa]

It wasn't helpful, even though it was also true.

Then you should put into that basket all Russians including Putin.

He is quite deplorable.

"Putin intervened in our elections and succeeded", states McFaul, former ambassador to Russia.  I.e. Putin actually won the election. If he is deplorable how could he have done that? Only because people whom he defeated are deplorables.
If he is deplorable how could he have done that? Because people whom he defeated are deplorables.  

Nothing to boast about. Interfering into US internal affairs Putin committed a crime.