Constructive criticism: biggest campaign mistakes of the primaries

[LordJFT]

by both Obama and Hillary. Other democratic candidates can be included as well. I'm not talking about stupid foot-in-mouth moments, but actual strategical errors that we can learn from so that we don't repeat them in the general.

[babylonsister]

1. Clinton bad-mouthing another Dem, and her words are being used

in rethug ads? Seems pretty severe to me.

[grantcart]

2. underestimating your opponent

[Asgaya Dihi]

3. Off the top of my head...

I'd say her biggest mistake was the whole "ready on day one" bit and the rest of the package that went along with it. After she hyped herself up so much like that then followed it with the third place finish in the first primary, the money problems, the misunderstanding of the importance of the caucuses, then finished it with sniper fire her campaign for all intents was over already. Modesty and honesty would have worked better, if she had to be calculating then she'd have done better to reduce expectations. When she raised them then didn't live up to them the media feeding frenzy was inevitable.

Obama... probably when he went into that "Annie Oakley" bit after Pennsylvania and another gesture or two associated with that time period. His whole campaign was about change and a new attitude, new politics, and for a bit there it started to look like he was enjoying the fight of the old politics. He probably did take some damage for it and for a time there I worried that he was going to lose something he'd need for the general election, the mandate for change. It might not be fair to ask someone not to ever get pissed but fair has nothing to do with it this time, when you campaign based on a specific message you'd better not give voters any excuse to doubt that message. It was his message, so his burden to bear and for a moment there he slipped. We'll have to see what if anything it costs him in the long term but in the primary at least I'd bet he regrets it.

[hokies4ever]

8. That Annie Oakley bit was hilarious

and it turned the tables on Hillary's attempts to throw Obama under the bus.

[Asgaya Dihi]

11. It as deserved, but not productive

The ABC 'debate' which happened around that time was way out of line and at the time most of the country was taken aback by it, he didn't need any help to stop any bus. All it accomplished was to take the focus off of him as the victim of unfair treatment and focus it on his reaction. Keep in mind that to most of Clinton's supporters they think she did fine too but if the public didn't react well then it wasn't a good idea anyway. Same here. The thing we have to do is to take ourselves out of the seats of 'fans' and look at it from a pure strategic perspective.

A far as I could tell those who already liked Obama liked that fine, those who didn't like him much just got more pissed, and those who were still trying to decide were offered a reason to wonder if the new politics thing was real or not. Those are the ones that mattered more there. I'd take it by the speed at which Obama backed off of that approach that he saw it as an error as well.

[JVS]

4. "working Americans, hard working Americans, white Americans"

Might have helped squeeze some more votes out of KY, but made her poisonous to the Super Delegates.

[JVS]

5. Mark Penn not knowing that delegates are proportionally assigned

[FrenchieCat]

6. Well yeah...that was a duzy!

and got paid millions for it. How's that for can't "loose" for loosing? :rofl:

[slinkerwink]

10. that's how you know Mark Penn's a Republican

[Dogmudgeon]

7. Running as a messiah figure

At least half apply to each ...

• Running as a messiah figure
  
• Pretending to be above politics
  
• Using other people to talk trash for you
  
• Accusing other candidates' campaigns of using tactics you use
  
• Hyperbole ("No one has ever acted worse!")
  
• Poorly affecting a flowery style of writing and speaking
  
• Hating a candidate for NOT getting a divorce
  
• Running as the rightful and sole heir to revered historical figures
  
• Implying that your rival is going to "defer" or "deny" civil rights
  
• Taking the most jaundiced view possible of a candidate
  
• Repeating Republican talking points -- not only from 2007-8 but also from 1997-8.
  
• Using a campaign gaffe as a defensive "in-joke" long after it has been forgotten by everyone else
  
• Blaming your rival for causing you to lose an election that has yet to happen
  
• Accusing your opponent of physical violence
  
• Running an us-vs-them campaign, then accusing your rival of being "divisive"
  
• Sophomoric irony ("Enough about Candidate A, what did Candidate B do?")

--p!
Only a few more hours ...

[WeDidIt]

9. Undeniably the BIGGEST mistake of the primary

Mark Penn