Hillary Clinton's campaign: What she should be proud & ashamed of

Business Standard looks back at the campaign of Hillary Clinton to dissect where he was right or went terribly wrong

ASHAMED 
Negative campaign: Clinton launched one of the most vicious campaigns in US presidential campaigns against Trump. Associated Press had reported that 24 out of the 32 ads on TV released by the Clinton camp had references to Trump in it. Most of them had visuals of Trump rather than containing the views of the voters on him.

 

Unimpressive presidential debates: Although Clinton was more composed than Trump, she often harped on her experience more than her vision. Her agendas look good on paper. But Clinton failed to present coherent arguments, as was expected from her, to back her policy vision. A case in point, her plan to make college education debt free without being clear on how would colleges be funded. 

 

Using Trump’s victims for her campaign: Clinton not just pointed out former Miss Universe Alicia Machado(Pictured) during the second presidential debate as having been harassed by Trump, but used her as an effective campaign tool to rally Hispanic voters behind her. Machado's campaign for Clinton gave the impression that she was being exploited by Clinton for her own means.

PROUD

Exhibiting a global mindset:Maybe it’s her experience as secretary of state or the initiation as the first lady with Bill Clinton. But Clinton certainly has a global perspective which was evident during her campaign and the presidential debates. From China to Syria, from NAFTA to Mexico, her world view as opposed to Trump’s myopic vision was evident.

Backing minorities: In times where there is growing antipathy to Muslims globally, Clinton’s voice on the need to take the community along was a sobering one. Clinton’s emphasis that all Muslims could not be painted with the same brush stood out as opposed to Trump’s attempts to single out the community.  

Admitting she was wrong: With the email controversy threatening to negatively impact her campaign, Clinton took a bold step by admitting that she was wrong to set up a private server for her emails. Doing so during the second presidential debate further convinced voters that she was more honest and reliable than her opponent.

Regulating Wall Street: Clinton has promised to increase prosecution of executives who indulge in corporate wrong doing. She emphasized the need for bankers to work for the American public and not for their selfish ends. Although these were pre-election promises, Clinton’s intent was commendable.

Getting more funds than Trump: From January 2015 to October 2016, Clinton managed to raise $687 million FROM Super Political Action Committees (PACs) and individual donors. In contrast, Trump managed to raise merely $250 million from all sources. That just might make the difference in who emerges as the next U S President.