Political strategist David Axelrod said Hillary Clinton’s weaknesses led to her defeat at the hands of Donald Trump in the presidential election.
Axelrod offered his thoughts on the campaign and other topics during a talk called "From Obama to Trump: American Politics Today" at Aurora University Thursday night. The event featured Axelrod, former chief strategist and senior advisor to President Barack Obama, discussing politics with the Chicago Tribune’s chief political reporter Rick Pearson.
Regarding the recent election, Axelrod said the same weaknesses that plagued Hillary Clinton in 2008 reappeared again in the 2016 election.
"Authenticity is a big factor and a leading indicator for candidates and they have to be comfortable in their own skin," he said. "There is no one wishing that Donald Trump would speak his mind. Hillary Clinton has always been allergic to revealing herself and when she does talk, it comes out through a political filter."
National election polls were right, Axelrod said, as Clinton received 3 million more votes than Trump, but the state polls, he said, were wrong.
"Clinton knew she had the women and minority vote, and didn’t feel she needed the working class guys in places like Wisconsin and Michigan, which made Trump’s job easy," he said. "He went in there like the U.S. Air Force into Iraq and said they were disrespected and he’d be their champion."
When it comes to elections, he said, candidates "are never as smart as they look when they win or as dumb when they lose."
Crimi Auditorium at the university was packed for the event. Aurora University President Rebecca Sherrick said that the auditorium "could have sold out five times over" to hear more about November’s historic election.
During a question-and-answer session with the audience, many of the questions revolved around the issues of alternative facts and fake news.
Audience members like Cheryl Johnson of Batavia said she had read Axelrod’s best-selling book about his 40 years in politics and that the political strategist, "tells it like it is."
"I think he’s real and I read his book last summer," Johnson said. "I don’t know if he can predict what Trump or anyone will do, but he has an outstanding background."
Director of Latino studies at Aurora University Eva Serrano said she hoped beyond all the political rhetoric, Thursday’s program would remind people "of our commonality."
"We need to remember there is this great spirit of democracy we were founded on that connects us all and hopefully we’ll be motivated and reminded to engage in the process," Serrano said.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News
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