2016 Postmortem

general. On a local level, many Vermonters went to NH, a state that was completely not enthusiastic for Clinton in the primary. I know people who spoke of speaking to people they spoke to in the primaries and won for Bernie, who they persuaded to vote for Clinton in the general election. In some cases, it was not an easy sell and they leveraged the fact that they were Bernie supporters to win the votes for HRC. This was, of course, in addition to working to get out reliable Democratic voters who were with Clinton.

On the west coast, my youngest daughter, who caucused for Bernie, worked very hard to convince people of the many areas where HRC's positions - some over a life time - were closer to Bernie's and that Trump would work against everything Bernie was ever for. She won people over - many connected to her via the internet were in swing states.

I realize that for you this might sound upside down, but the fact is that Bernie and his supporters were essentially ambassadors trying to reach many people who - for the most part - had written Clinton off as someone they could support. As many noted, there was a large group of anti establishment people, very soured on the government and both parties. Bernie won a portion of these people in the primaries. They NEVER were people the Democratic party had as sure votes.

As to the ad, it was brilliant and as noted it was incredibly positive -- especially for babyboomers. It was a return to the optimism of the 1960s, a time period that politically was as dark as it is now. The incredible music of that time was not just the song track of our life, but something that pushed us to hope. I think HRC should have ended her campaign with ads like that and a few other Sanders ads.