“In 2016, the economy was the top issue, just as today, with the exit polls showing 36 percent of voters saying it was excellent/good and 62 percent saying not so good/poor. But instead of an economic strategy, Clinton’s campaign focused on driving negative stories on Trump’s personal life rather than policy differences, with one goal in mind: to drive up his negatives. They succeeded. Trump ended the campaign with a 60 percent unfavorable. But the harsh tone of her campaign also pushed up her negatives, to a 55 percent unfavorable in the exit polls and an election night loss. Clinton had gone after Trump supporters, calling them “deplorables” in front of a laughing New York City audience. That speech, in my view, was critical in tipping the scales to Trump, so it’s mystifying to me that Biden has adopted a similar messaging strategy, referring to Trump supporters derogatorily as MAGA extremists.”