CNN: Clinton Lost Michigan Because She Is Not Matching the Mood of the Country

CUOMO: “Well, look, and a nice example for Bernie Sanders of the difference sometimes between where people’s heads are and pundits’ heads are. So Jeff, stick around. Let’s bring in some other top-notch journalists. We have journalist and author David Gregory; CNN national political reporter Maeve Reston here, as well. So, David, when we look at this, you had the preference poll show Hillary Clinton somewhere between 12 and 14 points up. But then, the turnout was low. And you saw independents and middle-class people who fall into that disaffected group of voters coming out strong. Do we see that as the tale of the tape?”
GREGORY: “Yeah, I think that’s a big part of it. It’s enthusiasm. It’s also an open primary that allows not just Democrats to come out but independents and others to come out, and that’s fueling Sanders. But I think there’s something that’s pretty simple here about this environment. You know, we talk in elections about the desire for change. Change elections. This is something that’s much more convulsive. There’s so much more ferment out there. There’s a brokenness to our politics and to government. And there are so many voters who want to see all that simply turned on its head. And I think that’s what fuels a lot of what’s going on with Bernie Sanders and with Donald Trump. And here we’re talking about the Democrats, you have voters in Michigan who really responded well to his message about how trade takes away jobs from people in the country, particularly in this part of the country. And this is government not delivering for the people it’s supposed to serve. And so people are saying, ‘No. We’re not going to take that anymore. We want something really different.’ And I think that part of the enthusiasm gap is what Clinton is dealing with.”
CAMEROTA: “So Maeve, that’s interesting, because maybe she didn’t calibrate the issues quite right. So trade, it turns out, it sounds like eclipsed the auto bailout and even the Flint water crisis.” 
RESTON: “Yes. She made that surprise visit to Flint, really obviously was setting Michigan in her sights. But she went so hard on that auto bailout attack, and in some ways, that seems like it was out of tune with what voters were most concerned about, which is that the idea that trade is taking away jobs. And clearly, that has been, you know, Bernie Sanders’s message from the beginning. That is his brand. He gets that. He channels that anger. He understands it. And so she may have, you know, mis-calibrated a little bit. And obviously, her advisers were telling Jeff that last night, that perhaps that attack was a little bit awry, didn’t go hard enough on the trade issues. She maybe is still getting some of the blame for her husband’s policies on that front, and you know, clearly wasn’t able to connect in the way that she wanted with those voters.”
CUOMO: “If you’re talking about the studied voter, the auto bailout wouldn’t work. Because if they did the research, they would say, ‘Well, she’s really talking about TARP. She’s really talking about the bank bill that he hated.’”
RESTON: “Right.”
CUOMO: “The main auto bailout he voted for it.” 
RESTON: “And we know their history in Michigan.”
CUOMO: “But that’s one voter. Another voter is, David, you could make the point that she didn’t get anything wrong. It’s that she’s not matching the mood of the country. She’s not the face of discontent. That’s what Bernie Sanders is, and that’s playing bigger than people expected it to in Michigan. And the problem for her is Michigan, tell me if I’m wrong, it looks a lot like Ohio.”
GREGORY: “Yes, no, I think that’s right. I mean, look, younger voters. A lot of college towns in Michigan. White working-class men. This is an area of strength for Sanders so far. He’s showing that. Not so much for Hillary Clinton. That’s also, I think, a warning sign for the general election if — if she gets that far. So I think that’s exactly right. And again, I think all of this talk about her becoming inevitable again, that she had the nomination wrapped up, there’s a lot of people who were very enthusiastically behind Bernie Sanders. Or, to your point, Chris, are still in the mood for big-time change. And they say, ‘Wait a minute. Not so fast. We’re not ready to throw in the towel and just turn to the general election and cast aside our concerns.’ I think a lot of people view it that way.”
CAMEROTA: “Jeff, if Michigan is some sort of harbinger of what’s to happen in Ohio, we do have some new polls just out nine minutes ago. Here’s the new CNN/ORC poll. It shows, at the moment, I mean, again, the pulse has failed us. But here’s the snapshot this morning of where Clinton is versus Sanders. She gets 63 percent in Ohio to his 33 percent. Is it possible that Ohio could have a big surprise in store?” 
ZELENY: “There’s no doubt that what happened in Michigan last night is going to bleed over here in Ohio. I talked to top Ohio Democrats who are aligned with her campaign, who said, ‘We don’t believe any surveys, any polls going into this. The next week is going to — on the ground here is going to determine who wins this contest.’ But so interesting here, eight years ago Ohio is the place that helped save her, at least for a while, during her primary campaign with Barack Obama. It was the white working-class voters that were going to her side. So what her advisers are going to try and do over the next week or so is sort of get some of that back. But David is absolutely right. The anger and the discontent, and the disruption that is going out there is siding with Bernie Sanders. And you talk to Democrat after Democrat out here in the field who say, ‘You know what? If Republicans are siding with Donald Trump, all that disruption there, why do we have to fall in line?’ And that is also helping Bernie Sanders as well here. So yes, she has a mathematical lead here in pledged delegates. It is hard for Bernie Sanders to catch up to her. But this race is not settled yet. And a big concern for the Clinton campaign here is getting some of those Bernie Sanders supporters over to her side. She’s going to be spending a lot of time here in Ohio between now and next Tuesday. And of course, that debate tonight so critical as she tries to still find a message that resonates with these voters.”