Speaking of 2016 flashbacks, this release transported me back to James Comey’s damaging letter to Congress about Clinton’s use of a private email server, which the news media feasted on during the final week of the presidential race. In the end, Biden flipped the last election on its head, handily beating Trump in the Electoral College, with a result of 306 to 232. The chattering class might not have loved Biden, but as he racked up primary wins and endorsements from former rivals, the perception grew that perhaps the only person equipped to take out one old white guy was another. The media’s dismissal of Biden that election cycle was perhaps best displayed in the New York Times editorial board’s endorsement of two of his rivals, while the paper’s elevator operator joyfully took a selfie with the former vice president. After weak showings in Iowa and New Hampshire, members of the pundit class, like me, wrote off Biden’s electability, only to see his fortunes change dramatically in South Carolina. The Atlantic called it “the electability primary.” Democrats became obsessed with the Goldilocks candidate, someone who wasn’t too far to the left or right, or too female, or too diverse. The aftershocks of that tumultuous race carried over into the 2020 Democratic primary, as voters just wanted someone who could win. Did Democrats nominate the wrong person? Had she just run her campaign wrong? Would Bernie Sanders have won? It’s almost eight years later, and looking at the 2016 Electoral College map ( 306 to 232) still makes me feel kind of sick. After leaving a party at a friend’s loft in SoHo, I walked down Houston Street and tried to figure out how I was going to tell my children what had just happened.ĭemocrats were especially gobsmacked by Clinton’s loss, opening the door to a lot of hand-wringing and soul-searching. But I remember vividly when Clinton’s Electoral College chances plummeted as the Times’ prediction needle dropped to the 50s, then to the 20s-and then, shockingly, the election was over. My husband pointed out how The New York Times gave Hillary Clinton an 85% chance of winning. For the next year-plus, people told me to stop being a Cassandra. I take no pleasure in reporting that I have been anxious since Donald Trump came down that gold escalator in June 2015.
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