Oh, the drama! The intrigue! The juicy bits of political gossip that make you go, “Well, I did not see that coming!” In a shocking revelation, our good ol’ pal Bill Clinton reportedly had some rather harsh words to say about Hillary’s 2016 campaign. And when I say harsh, I mean it. According to a new book by The Intercept’s Ryan Grim, Bill claimed that the “egghead” staffers advising Hillary “could not sell p**** on a troop train”. Now, ain’t that a zinger?
So, what got Bill so riled up? Well, apparently he was not a fan of the eggheads running the show. He thought they were too wrapped up in identity politics and didn’t appreciate the value of good, old-fashioned, face-to-face campaigning. I mean, who needs data-driven strategies when you can just shake hands and kiss babies, right?
When Bill suggested focusing more on the Midwestern states like Michigan, his advice was ignored. And guess what? Trump ended up winning Michigan by less than half a percentage point. Talk about a slap in the face!
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about the internal strife within Hillary’s campaign. Journalists Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen highlighted similar issues in their 2017 book “Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign”. They reported that Bill Clinton thought the campaign staff didn’t really understand politics or persuasion.
Despite her loss in 2016, Hillary has been called upon to aid Joe Biden’s reelection effort. She’s already held a fundraiser that raised close to $1 million for Biden’s campaign. But given the recent polls, it seems like Biden might be heading for a similar fate as Hillary in 2016.
It seems like Bill Clinton saw the writing on the wall for Hillary’s campaign. And his brutally frank assessment of the situation is a stark reminder of the importance of understanding your audience and the value of good old fashioned campaigning.