Why Hillary Clinton lost the election
Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
1 Warmer
In one sentence, explain what happened on 8 and 9 November, 2016.
2 Key words
Match the key words with the definitions below. Then, find them in the article to read them in context. The
paragraph numbers will help you.
economy
establishment
stagnant
campaign
divisive
1. causing arguments between people ___________________________ (para 1)
2. a series of things that a politician or political party does to try to win an election
___________________________ (para 2)
3. powerful people and groups in politics ___________________________ (para 2)
4. the whole of a country’s business, industry and trade, and the money that they produce
___________________________ (para 3)
5. not growing or changing ___________________________ (para 4)
convincingly
debt
rigged
memorable
slogans
6. influenced in a dishonest way in order to produce a particular result ___________________________ (para 4)
7. in a way that makes people believe that what you are saying is true ___________________________ (para 5)
8. money that you owe for something ___________________________ (para 10)
9. easy to remember ___________________________ (para 10)
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NEWS LESSONS / Why Hillary Clinton lost the election / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
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10. short phrases that are easy to remember and are used to say what a political party believes in
___________________________ (para 11)
Why Hillary Clinton lost the election
Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
Why Hillary Clinton lost the election:
the economy, trust and a
weak message
Dan Roberts
9 November, 2016
1 For years to come, Democrats will try hard to
understand how Hillary Clinton lost the election to
someone as divisive and unpopular as
Donald Trump.
2 Trump’s surprising success almost became a
golden rule in American politics in 2016. Often
not taken seriously during the election campaign,
he is the best example of the anti-establishment
mood in the US. Fairly or not, voters closely
connected Clinton with the establishment.
The economy
3 “It’s the economy, stupid” was a phrase made
famous by Clinton’s husband’s adviser, James
Carville, in the 1992 election and, in many ways,
it should have helped the Democrats again in
2016. During his presidency, Barack Obama
helped rescue the US from the financial crash
and there was a lot of job growth.
Message vacuum
9 It also did not help that Clinton was mainly selling
herself. The campaign’s strongest message was
that she was the person best qualified to become
president. This was mostly true, especially when
compared to the very inexperienced Donald
Trump, but many voters did not think this
was important.
10 Even though there were a thousand policy ideas,
from changes to the healthcare system to ideas
on what to do about college debt, they were
not memorable.
11 Campaign slogans often mean very little and
Clinton’s “stronger together” only made sense
when Trump showed how divisive he was.
12 And so 2016 gave us a political bombshell and
the US electoral map will never look the
same again.
© Guardian News and Media 2016
First published in The Guardian, 09/11/16
4 Unfortunately for Clinton, many Americans simply
did not feel positive about the economy this
time. They were worried about stagnant wage
levels and rising inequality. Trump successfully
convinced them to believe this was caused by
bad trade deals and a rigged economy.
5 Clinton never really found a good response. Her
sudden change of opinion on trade sounded
unconvincing. But the bottom line was that
Clinton simply failed to convincingly defend
modern American capitalism.
Trust
6 Because of her paid speeches to Goldman Sachs
and unclear business connections to the family
charity, many Americans didn’t trust Clinton on
money matters.
7 It did not help that, up until two days before the
election, the FBI was investigating Clinton for not
respecting email data security laws.
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8 Even though the investigation reached a dead
end, the timing of it was damaging and it
gave voters the idea that the Clintons
behaved illegally.
Why Hillary Clinton lost the election
Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
3 Comprehension check
Use key words from task 2 to complete the sentences about the article.
1. Clinton lost the election to an unpopular and ______________________ rival.
2. The article says there were three main problem areas in Clinton’s ______________________.
3. Despite Obama’s successes, many Americans do not feel positive about the US ______________________.
4. Trump convinced voters that the economy was ____________________ and that bad trade deals were made.
5. Although Clinton had lots of policy ideas, they were not very ______________________.
6. Her campaign ______________________, ‘stronger together’, did not mean much to the voters.
7. Many Americans see Hillary Clinton as part of the ______________________ that they hate.
4 Metaphors
a. Find the metaphors in the article. What do they mean? What do they describe in the text?
1. the bottom line
2. a dead end
3. golden rule
4. political bombshell
b. Use the metaphors in sentences of your own.
5 Video
Watch the 2:38 minute video about Clinton’s campaign.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/09/hillary-clinton-election-president-loss
Match the number of the campaign day with the event that happened on that day.
1. On day 194, …
a. … Hillary Clinton gets pneumonia.
2. On day 296, … b. … Hillary Clinton becomes the Democratic Party’s official nominee for president.
3. On day 451, … c. … Bernie Sanders is as popular as Hillary Clinton.
4. On day 474, … d. … there is an investigation into the deaths of four US citizens in Benghazi.
5. On day 518, …
e. … the FBI first reports that Clinton was careless with her emails.
6. On day 575, …
f. … the FBI clears Hillary Clinton of doing anything wrong in the email review.
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What one question would you most like to ask Donald Trump?
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NEWS LESSONS / Why Hillary Clinton lost the election / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
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Why do you think Hillary Clinton lost the election?
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6 Discussion
Why Hillary Clinton lost the election
Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
KEY
1Warmer
4Metaphors
Teacher’s note: The idea here is for students to
practise writing a short, informative sentence. Get
students to pass their sentences around and read what
other students have written. This will also give you an
idea of how your students feel about the US election
result and allow you to pitch your lesson accordingly.
1. the most basic fact or issue in a situation – used
here to talk about Clinton’s failure to defend
modern American capitalism
2. a situation in which no further progress is possible
– used to talk about the FBI’s investigation into
Clinton’s emails
3. an important basic principle that you should always
obey when doing a particular activity – used to
talk about the way Trump has defied expectations
throughout the campaign
4. a political event or piece of news that is unexpected
and shocking – used to describe Clinton losing the
US election
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
divisive
campaign
economy
rigged
memorable
slogan
establishment
Teacher’s note: Be prepared to show the video a few
times or simply let the students watch the video on their
smartphones or tablets as often as they need to.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
d
c
e
b
a
f
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NEWS LESSONS / Why Hillary Clinton lost the election / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
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3 Comprehension check
5Video
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1. divisive
2. campaign
3. establishment
4. economy
5. stagnant
6. rigged
7. convincingly
8. debt
9. memorable
10. slogans
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2 Key words