My take on Clinton's loss to Obama in the 2008 Presidential campaign is that she largely self-destructed by continually re-inventing herself, apparently responding to focus groups and polls. That alone was not fatal, however. What really hurt her was that she advertised the continual re-settings by way of her campaign announcing them. Of course, they didn't say explicitly that that was what they were doing. They just said things like:
In extensive interviews by telephone ..., Mrs. Clinton’s strategists acknowledged missteps ... and promised that this fall the public would see the sides of Mrs. Clinton that are often obscured by the noise and distractions of modern campaigning.
or
They want to show her humor. [snip] They want to show her heart ...
But the above quotes are from today's
NYT, not from 8 years ago.
As is this:
Previous attempts to introduce Mrs. Clinton’s softer side to voters have backfired amid criticism that the efforts seemed overly poll tested.
It's no wonder people find her calculating, insincere and untrustworthy. Who's the real Hillary? The poll-tested, focus-group tested person? What's unfortunate for her is she could probably get away with it if her people didn't talk about it. The contrast in the 2008 campaign with Obama's staff was striking: they never talked about their strategy, whereas Clinton's people did what they are doing now all the time. Maybe this time she'll learn to at least shut them up or maybe she'll show us the authentic version for a refreshing change.