Hillary Clinton has not shied away from recriminations against others over her 2016 presidential election loss, and Democrats are concerned about how far she will go in her upcoming book What Happened.
Democrats do not think having Clinton in the news helps them and wish she were not releasing the book this September, according to Bloomberg columnist Albert Hunt. They fear further intra-party recriminations damaging them as well as her low popularity dragging on other Democrats.
Clinton said that in the book she plans to "let my guard down," and if it turns out to be unfiltered it may harm Democrats' efforts to build momentum. President Donald Trump's approval ratings have been sagging, but Clinton's are also extraordinarily low; a Bloomberg poll from last month showed that 58 percent of respondents viewed Clinton unfavorably, including more than one in five who voted for her in November.
Clinton has blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin and former FBI Director James Comey for her election loss, along with sexism, fake news, and much more. Top Democrats have called for Clinton not to be so quick to assign culpability.
"When you lose to somebody who has 40 percent popularity, you don't blame other things—Comey, Russia—you blame yourself," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said. "So what did we do wrong? People didn't know what we stood for, just that we were against Trump."
Sen. Al Franken (D., Minn.) said Clinton should "move on." Many apparently agree; Hunt listed a diverse array of Democrats' recommendations for Clinton, including that she should stay out of politics or even leave the country.
Many wish that Clinton would handle her defeat more like Al Gore did in 2000, when he refrained from criticizing President George W. Bush and focused on climate change activism. Those on the far left want Democrats not to "carry the stench" of Clinton going into 2020.