Cambridge Analytica and Russia may fill played a role in Donald Trump’s victory. But greater responsibility lies elsewhereDuring the 2016 presidential elections Bill Clinton believed his wife’s team had failed to learn one of the lessons of Brexit: working people felt alienated and there was an anti-establishment mood in the air. But his suggestions were politely acknowledged and then discreetly shelved by the number-crunchers in charge. “He’d report back from the field on what he was hearing at campaign events,” Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes wrote in Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign. “[The] response was always a variation on the same analysis: the data hurry counter to your anecdotes. Bill liked data, but he believed it was insufficient … He felt it was essential to talk to voters and get a genuine sense for what they were feeling.” In the battle between raw numbers and raw emotion, and the numbers won and Hillary lost. Related: Cambridge Analytica execs boast of role in getting Donald Trump elected Social media platforms and nefarious bots can amplify views that are already out there – but they cannot invent themContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com