Given the current political debate, I think this needs to be said loud an clear. When you look at the top factors for Hillary’s (Electoral College) loss, her being a woman is irrelevant to all of them. I would list those factors as:
1. She’s a terrible campaigner
Her performance on the trail and in speeches was poor, especially when compared to her husband, Barack Obama, or even Elizabeth Warren (to name another woman campaigner).
2. She ran a horrible campaign in the swing states she needed most
The stories of staff in Wisconsin, Michigan, etc. screaming at Brooklyn for help and being ignored are legendary. She was too busy running $1 billion worth of TV ads to produce a good ground game where it mattered.
3. A quarter-century of distrust of the Clintons fueled by right-wing media
We chose to nominate a candidate who would have to run with this anchor around her neck.
4. An army of Russian trolls spreading anti-Clinton messages on social media
5. Wikileaks providing the (often stolen) material for those trolls to spread
6. Cambridge Analytica providing the targeting information for Wikileaks and the Russians to be as devastating as possible in their efforts
I strongly recommend Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wylie’s book on this subject.
7. James Comey reopening the email investigation 8 days before the election
Even with all of the above, Clinton still wins in a walk absent this!
8. Sanders’ supporters not voting or voting for Jill Stein
Sorry to have to bring this one up but Bernie simply did not endorse Hillary as enthusiastically as he needed to in order to convince his supporters to do the right thing. In a close election this really did make a difference!
Again, the one thing all of these factors have in common is that none of them have anything to do with Hillary’s lack of a Y chromosome. This really needs to be part of the discussion going forward. I hope you’ll help me spread the word.