Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign began when former U.S. 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

1. Thrush, Glenn, Debenedetti, Gabriel, and Karni, Annie. “Hillary Clinton’s slow walk to ‘yes.’” Politico. April 12, 2015. Accessed October 24, 2017. http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/hillary-clinton-2016-announcement-slow-walk-to-yes-116887
2. Merica, Dan. “Hillary Clinton launches second presidential bid.” CNN Politics. April 12, 2015. Accessed October 24, 2017. http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/12/politics/hillary-clinton-president-2016-election/index.html
3. Mccaskill, Nolan. “Hillary Clinton breaks the glass ceiling.” Politico. July 26, 2016. Accessed, October 24, 2017. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/dnc-kicks-off-roll-call-vote-to-nominate-clinton-226239
4. Mccaskill, Nolan. “Hillary Clinton breaks the glass ceiling.” Politico. July 26, 2016. Accessed, October 24, 2017. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/dnc-kicks-off-roll-call-vote-to-nominate-clinton-226239
5. “2016 election results.” CNN Politics. Nov. 8, 2017. Updated Feb. 16, 2017. Accessed October 24, 2017. http://edition.cnn.com/election/results/president
6. Cohn, Jonathan. “Hillary Clinton Is A Progressive Democrat, Despite What You May Have Heard.” Huffington Post. May 2016. Accessed October 20, 2017. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-progressive_us_572cca08e4b0bc9cb0469098
7. “AT THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND MICHAELA.” CNN. June 2016. Accessed October 20, 2017. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1606/27/ath.01.html
8. Ehrenfreund, Max and Gearan, Anne. “Clinton is open to raising Social Security taxes on six-figure earners.” Washington Post. August 2015. Accessed October 20, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/08/12/clinton-is-open-to-raising-social-security-taxes-on-six-figure-earners/
9. Weissmann, Jordan. “Hillary Unveils Her Wonky Plan to Jack Up Taxes on Rich Investors.” Slate. July 2015. Accessed October 20, 2017. http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2015/07/24/hillary_clinton_capital_gains_plan_she_wants_to_jack_up_rates_on_rich_investors.html
10. Pianin, Eric. “How Obamacare Could Backfire on Hillary Clinton.” The Fiscal Times. May 2016. Accessed October 20, 2017. http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2016/05/06/How-Obamacare-Could-Backfire-Hillary-Clinton
11. “Hillary Clinton: Raise Federal Minimum Wage To $12 Per Hour.” Huffington Post. November 2015. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-raise-federal-minimum-wage-to-12-per-hour_us_56394247e4b0411d306eca12
12. Sullivan, Peter. “Hillary’s ObamaCare problem.” The Hill. May 2016. Accessed October 20, 2017. http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/281579-hillarys-obamacare-problem
13. Sullivan, Peter. “Hillary’s ObamaCare problem.” The Hill. May 2016. Accessed October 20, 2017. http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/281579-hillarys-obamacare-problem
14. “Clinton urges gun control after deadly Oregon shooting.” AFP. October 2017. Accessed October 20, 2017. http://news.yahoo.com/clinton-push-gun-controls-oregon-shooting-062248840–election.html
15. “Hillary Clinton on the Issues.” New York Times. April 2015. Accessed October 20, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/13/us/politics/hillary-clinton-on-the-issues.html
16. DelReal, Jose. “This time, Hillary Clinton supports giving driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants.” Washington Post. April 2015. Accessed October 20, 2017. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/04/16/this-time-hillary-clinton-supports-giving-drivers-licenses-to-undocumented-immigrants/
17. Vasquez, Michael and Luna, Jenny. “Hillary Clinton in Miami: Lift the embargo against Cuba.” Miami Herald. July 2015. Accessed October 20, 2017. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/election/article29656990.html
18. Lauter, David. “Hillary Clinton has shifted left, but so have Americans.” LA Times. May 2015. Accessed October 20, 2017. http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-democrats-shift-left-20150522-story.html
19. Reilly, Katie. “Read Hillary Clinton’s ‘Basket of Deplorables’ Remarks About Donald Trump Supporters.” Time. September 2016. http://time.com/4486502/hillary-clinton-basket-of-deplorables-transcript/
20. Reilly, Katie. “Read Hillary Clinton’s ‘Basket of Deplorables’ Remarks About Donald Trump Supporters.” Time. September 2016. http://time.com/4486502/hillary-clinton-basket-of-deplorables-transcript/
21. Hessan, Diane . “Understanding the undecided voters – The Boston Globe.” BostonGlobe.com. November 21, 2016. Accessed October 25, 2017. https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/11/21/understanding-undecided-voters/9EjNHVkt99b4re2VAB8ziI/story.html
22. Scher, Bill. “Hillary’s Risky ‘Deplorables’ Strategy.” POLITICO Magazine. September 15, 2016. Accessed October 25, 2017. http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/basket-of-deplorables-strategy-democrats-214246
23. Ball, Molly. “Why Hillary Clinton Lost.” The Atlantic Magazine. November 15, 2016. Accessed October 24, 2015. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/why-hillary-clinton-lost/507704/