From the new York Times:
As much as Mr. Trump won the election in Wisconsin, Hillary Clinton lost it. Her campaign, which prided itself on employing all the data wizards and ground game gurus money can buy, did not do nearly enough to lock down the upper Midwest, particularly Wisconsin and Michigan, and instead treated those states as a given.
Paul Soglin is the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin’s capital city, in cerulean Dane County. He supported Senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, and said he talked at least once a week with a field organizer from the Sanders campaign during the primary. But once Mrs. Clinton locked up the nomination, it was radio silence from the Clinton campaign.
Not one call.
I have started to come to a conclusion based on conversations since the election.
I do not think the Clnton people ever believed losing was a possibility. As a result the campaign was kind of a massive CYA job. They did things to check off boxes, not because they were necessary to win.
It really shouldn’t come as a surprise WI would be close.
This is the cheat sheet based on Obama’s ’12 margin. It’s really not a shock the state would be competitive – the margin was close to NV for example which was fought over tooth and nail.
They did other things. But the choices they made make me think they never really thought they had to defend their path to 270. OK – so they had polls. But during the summer surely some organization would be built in the state. If for no other reason than as evidence as their support for “downballot” given the Senate race..
But no. And I think that is because the Clinton people didn’t think they could lose.
