In rushing to get a 500-page memoir published less than a year after her upset loss to Donald Trump, was Hillary Clinton motivated by introspection, vengeance or greed?
Probably all of the above. The two-time Democratic candidate for president clearly has had a hard time digesting how a political novice and boorish showman could beat her.
In “What Happened,” she comes up with lots of predictable reasons to explain it — from Bernie Sanders’ splitting the progressive vote, to James Comey’s investigation into her improper use of a private email server, to Russian meddling, to male chauvinism.
Certainly, all those things played a role, but it wasn’t as if Trump had clear sailing either. How about all those allegations that he molested women, substantiated by Trump’s own words caught on an entertainment news video?
Clinton’s undoing was more about herself than about exterior influences. Many voters didn’t trust her. They were tired of the Clintons and the scandals that follow them. She didn’t connect well with working-class and middle-class voters. These were the same reasons that a U.S. senator with a light resumé, Barack Obama, beat her in 2008.
Clinton was a seriously flawed candidate. When Democrats hitched their wagon to her, it made Trump’s unlikely victory possible.
