Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign began when then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared her candidacy for U.S. president on April 12, 2015. Clinton became the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee on July 26, 2016 after defeating rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) in the party’s primary. On July 22, 2016, Clinton announced that Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine (VA) would be her running mate in the general election.

Clinton was defeated by Republican Party opponent Donald Trump on November 8, 2016.

Though Clinton officially announced her candidacy for president in April 2015, Politico reported at the time that she had been effectively running for the better part of two years. ^[1] She entered the race as the prohibitive favorite for the Democratic nomination, but throughout the primary, she was dogged by email-scandal criticisms and the insurgent campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). ^{[2] [3]} Clinton eventually won the Democratic presidential nomination and faced off against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. ^[4] In the general election, Clinton won more votes overall, but lost the Electoral College to Trump. ^[5]

Liberal Policies

During her 2016 presidential primary campaign, Clinton was characterized as a mainstream liberal who has consistently pushed for policies that would significantly advance progressive causes. ^[6]

She supported increasing payroll-tax collections by increasing the cap on income subject to Social Security taxes; called for a capital-gains tax increase; and supported the “Buffett rule,” which would have applied a minimum tax rate of 30 percent on individuals making more than $1 million per year. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

Clinton also wanted to raise the federal minimum wage to $12 and supported efforts to expand Obamacare and Medicaid, stating that “there are plenty of things that could be done to strengthen Obamacare and expand coverage.” ^{[10] [11] [12]} She also supported the “public option,” a government-run health-insurance proposal favored by some on the far-left. ^[13]

Clinton called for the passage of strict gun-control laws and supported the “cap-and-trade” system of environmental taxes and regulations. ^{[14] [15]}

She called ending for the embargo of Communist-controlled Cuba, wanted to protect “illegal immigrants from deportation,” and argued that illegal immigrants should be able to obtain drivers licenses. ^{[16] [17] [18]}

“Deplorables” Comment

In September 2016, Clinton commented that “you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables,” going on to call them “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic—you name it.” ^{[19] [20]} While some speculated that the comment was a strategic effort to split educated and less-educated Republican-leaning voters, it was widely publicized by the press and her opponent’s campaign and has been blamed for her ultimate defeat in Pennsylvania. ^[21] [22]

“Postmortem”

A 2016 campaign postmortem by the Atlantic described the flaws that led to her loss: claiming that Clinton’s campaign was arrogant; alienated white non-college voters particularly in decisive Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin; over-relied on elements of President Obama’s coalition that weren’t inspired by her candidacy; and focused more on social issues than on economic policies that might win the support of rural working-class voters. ^[23]