First post-Trumpocalypse diary and it’s going to be a quick one. Wanted to talk about something I saw in the comments in another diary. Namely, asking if Hillary could’ve done anything differently in her campaign.

Well, besides securing the Democrats’ home turf instead of investing in longshots like Arizona and even Texas, how about the WAY her campaign went after Trump? Rather than highlight how much of an unrepentant asshole Trump is, why not elucidate how that assholery has AFFECTED people? Maybe less of how he mocked a disabled reporter and more of how Trump’s refusal to pay contractors devastated the lives of working families. This sort of thing worked before, against Romney. Did anyone in Hillary’s camp think to try what worked before?

A good parallel might be this work-related seminar I just went to about microbiomes. Now, most of us understand the severity of growing antibiotic resistance, but messaging is key in how to affect change. The speaker noted that typical approaches to overpresecription of antibiotics that go into the nitty-gritty aren’t very effective. But perhaps big, blaring warnings about antibiotic misuse making you fat (and there is evidence that microbiome disruption can lead to weight gain) might grab people’s attention instead.

Same principle I’m trying to get at. And it’s a principle Democrats better start considering, because trying to be the intellectual adults in the room hasn’t worked in the last few decades while the righty-tighties have mastered appealing to emotion.