Former President Bill Clinton gave suggestions to his political party in order to earn back the popular vote the next cycle.
CBS Sunday Morning aired Clinton’s first sit-down interview since the Nov. 5 election was called for the Republican candidate Donald Trump. Clinton had endorsed and stumped for Vice President Kamala Harris to no avail as she garnered only 226 electoral votes and 48.3% of the popular vote.
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“I don’t mean that we don’t have work to do. We gotta get either in better tune with non-college educated America or we certainly have to talk to ’em more. I don’t agree that you have to just roll over and play dead and be like everybody else,” Clinton said. “Keep in mind: All elections are decided at the margins and we’re living in a period of time when they’re pretty close.”
Bill Clinton reflects on the Democrats’ path forward after the 2024 election loss, stressing the need to connect more with non-college-educated voters without abandoning their principles. https://t.co/vmndbS5fpE pic.twitter.com/5QDbJtvo0X
— CBS Sunday Morning
(@CBSSunday) November 17, 2024
Harris garnered 55% of college graduates’ votes, which make up 43% of the electorate. Meanwhile, 56% of voters without degrees went for Trump.
Clinton pointed out that since he was last in office in 2001, Democrats have only lost the popular vote twice: in 2024 and in 2004. According to the former president, this was proof that his party was once on the right track. He also noted that election results show that “people hire us to solve problems.”
“They would hire Trump to gripe about problems. He’s a genius at it,” Clinton said. “He deserves a chance, but I don’t think that we should just roll over and, you know, cry ourselves to sleep at night. I think we just get up every morning, suit up, and see what happens and keep working.”
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The other change maker in both these popular vote wins for the Republican Party was the Latino voter. The last strong Latino turnout for a Republican candidate was when former President George Bush swept 44% of the Latino vote in 2004. At the time, they only made up 8% of eligible voters.
This cycle, Trump broke that record with 45% of the Latino vote. Since 2004, the population has only grown more politically active, as they now make up 14% of eligible voters.