2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Wisconsin 4-month run-up: Clinton leads by 6 points ... until Nov. 8: [View all]davidn3600
(6,342 posts)Hillary was underperforming all over the place in the swing states. You go to the Democratic areas and the margin of victory was smaller or the overall vote total was lower than Obama. That was a common theme in literally every single swing state. Heck, Trump was even doing way better than expected in Minnesota. So it's unlikely any one type of voter suppression or rigging was to blame here for the loss. Outside of NY, MA, CA, and Maryland....Hillary struggled with turnout in key areas needed to win swing states. That's why many are blaming the loss on identity politics.
The reality is that a number of Democrats that voted in 2012 just decided to sit this one out. I know that sounds stupid but not really that hard to believe. Most of Hillary's rallies were lacking energy. Compared to Obama who could fill a football stadium on his own, Hillary had to rely on celebrities to break 10k. The Democratic party just simply was not that excited about its candidate. It's truly that simple.