President Barack Obama reflected further on the Democrats’ failure in the 2016 presidential election, criticizing the Democratic party for failing to beat Donald Trump.
Obama specifically referred to problems with specific candidates in 2016, but did not mention Hillary Clinton by name.
“Although the results of this election involved some of the specifics of the candidates and aren’t going to be duplicated in every subsequent election, Democrats do have to do some thinking about how do we make sure that the message we have is received effectively and results in winning elections,” he admitted.
He urged the Democratic party to rethink their campaign platform.
“I think that there does have to be better organization, a smarter message,” Obama said during a press conference in Peru.
He specifically criticized the party for focusing too many recourses on micro-targeting.
“[A] strategy that’s just micro-targeting particular, discrete groups in a Democratic coalition sometimes will win you elections, but it’s not going to win you the broad mandate that you need,” he said.
Clinton worked tirelessly to court black Americans, focusing on issues like systemic racism, social justice, and gun control. She also focused intensely on Hispanic voters, believing that they would carry her to victory in important swing states.
Obama hinted that Clinton’s campaign was too divisive, pointing out that during his campaign, he was speaking to “everybody,” instead of just specific special interest groups.
“Ultimately, the more we can talk about what we have in common as a nation, and speak to a broad set of values, a vision that speaks to everybody and not just one group at a time, the better off we’re going to be,” he said.