‘I’m With Her’: Deconstructing Clinton’s Failed Presidential Bid

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at Carl Hayden High School in Phoenix, Arizona. Photograph by Gage Skidmore.

It’s highly doubtful that Hillary Clinton’s campaign slogan doomed her presidential hopes. No, that falls into another area of communication: her inability to connect with people on a human level. But, roll with me here a minute on the slogan.

Slogans are intended to serve as an articulation of a brand. Slogans should answer questions such as who are you and what do you stand for? There are a lot of ways to interpret the ambiguous meaning of “I’m With Her.”  However, none of those answers get to the core of who Senator Clinton is and why voters should support her.

At worst, her slogan is evocative of a derisive t-shirt I saw a lot as a kid. It featured a wide arrow pointing to the side with the words: “I’m With Stupid.” (such as this one, found on teesbox.com).

I’m With Stupid T-Shirt

“Make America Great, Again” speaks to exactly what Donald Trump, er, President-elect Trump, intends to accomplish. We can debate his ability to do that, or even what golden era he’s referencing. His message, though, is action oriented. The ambiguity is strategic; it allows people to recall a better period in their life and connect that time with Trump’s intended destination. It’s aspirational. It’s something people can own.

In fact, people did own it … in 1980, when Ronald Reagan rode into the White House with the charge “Let’s Make America Great Again.” They called President Reagan “The Great Communicator.” Clearly it was with good reason.

The plagiarized slogan alone didn’t vault Trump to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., just as the lackluster slogan didn’t doom Clinton on its own. But, “I’m With Her” is indicative of bigger problems — and it certainly is a sign of her inability to connect with people. Her slogan might as well have been “I’m Not Him.” In a way, it sort of was. Because the best Clinton could articulate to voters was that people should side with her because she’s not Donald Trump.

If she had a unique marketing position, this was exactly it: vote for me because I’m not as bad as him.

That certainly doesn’t rally the troops like Bernie Sanders did. In fact, the masses generated his slogan: “Feel the Bern.” Sanders inspired people because he delivered the authentic connection that Gary Vaynerchuk touted in “Jab, Jab,Jab,  Right Hook.”

Clinton, in contrast, never connected. She never told America why she was great. As a result, she failed to deliver the knockout blow.