David Brock's Hardball Tactics Worry Clinton Supporters

[Purveyor]

By Jonathan Swan - 02/18/16 06:07 AM EST

Key Democratic players are worried that Hillary Clinton ally David Brock could be hurting her image and hampering her chances of winning the presidency.

In interviews over the past month, Clinton donors, fundraisers and operatives have told The Hill that the concerns about Brock’s comments, particularly some of his attacks on Bernie Sanders, stretch all the way to the top of Clinton’s political machinery.

A leading figure in the Democracy Alliance, the liberal equivalent of the conservative Koch brothers’ donor network, said donors he associates with would like to put Brock “back in the can.”

“I have heard people express concern that what he does could be harmful generally” to the campaign, the donor said.

Longtime Clinton fundraiser Bill Brandt, an Illinois-based businessman and personal friend of Bill Clinton, said of Brock, “David is well meaning but I think perhaps like a zealot. He should keep it in check a bit. I don’t think this needs to be about tearing Bernie down. … It’s getting nasty and it doesn’t need to be.”

One Brock comment that drew backlash regarded his plans to raise questions about the 74-year-old Sanders’s health, seen by many as a low blow at the senator’s age and one that left Clinton vulnerable given attempts by conservatives to portray her as being in fragile health.

After news reports emerged that Brock was going to raise the issue of Sanders not having released his health records, Clinton campaign chair John Podesta shot off an unusual tweet on Jan. 17 to Brock: “Chill out. We're fighting on who would make a better President, not on who has a better Physical Fitness Test.”

MORE...

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/269791-david-brocks-hardball-tactics-worry-clinton-supporters

[Jarqui]

1. He shouldn't be on any reputable candidate's campaign nt

[Purveyor]

2. Brock is tailor made for the clintons...perfect fit, indeed. eom

[HooptieWagon]

3. Reputable is the key word there.

Slimeball Brock fits right in with the Clintons.

[kristopher]

4. Please edit the headline. 'hardball' should read 'sleazeball'. nt

[CoffeeCat]

5. Brock makes the Clinton camp look desperate

and appear as if they are without real solutions.

It adds a slimy, unprofessional slant to the campaign.

When you hire these hit men, you run the risk of their slimy reputations leeching onto the candidate. Gone are the days when "Rovian" meant devious and clever. Swiftboat attacks used to signal that someone was powerful with their messaging and outwitting the other side.

Brock. Rove, Penn and swiftboatting are now viewed as hatchet jobs conducted by henchmen. It looks classless. Behavior like this peaked about 10 years ago.

Besides, it's effectivness has been diminished by the rise of social media/the Internet. Social media fights back, often debunking baseless attacks and galvanizing supporters against attacks. Look at what happened with Capehart asserting that Bernie's photo wasn't Bernie. The Internet took down Capehart, and the attack, in 36 hours.

John Kerry could never be swiftboatted today, like he was in 2004. Such a shame what was done to him.

I'm glad Bernie avoids this slop.

[Oilwellian]

15. Nailed it!

I agree with every word.

[enigmatic]

6. Brock is a sleaze merchant

No different than Lee Atwater, Karl Rove, and Dick Morris.

[delrem]

7. Brock's pac uses a loophole to coordinate directly with Hillary's campaign.

It's top down.
If Hillary Clinton wanted him to stop it, he'd stop it. If Hillary Clinton wants him to go there, wherever it is, he'll go there, wherever it is.

Let's nobody play innocent. The sleazeball tactics have been a fixture of her campaign for over 8 months now. It's what she does.

[Aerows]

8. I wouldn't trust David Brock to go on a donut run

and I don't even eat donuts.

[speaktruthtopower]

9. He's a strange one..

different teams but same old style.

Read what he wrote about the Clintons way back when..

http://www.shwiggie.com/articles/clintons.html

How can he be in her inner circle? Has he repudiated everything he wrote in that article? It was the first identification of Paula Jones, whose lawsuit led to the deposition for which Bill Clinton was impeached.

Very strange.....

[UglyGreed]

10. Good to see

I thought those tactics of using Fox News soundbites to slander Sanders were acceptable in some supporters' eyes.

[Babel_17]

11. That's a Genie that might not be dismissable

If Brock demands being an ally, there might not be much the Clinton campaign can do about it at this time. If you read his book, Blinded by the Right, you'll see that he developed an appetite for being in the game.

The trick was not to use him at all.

If disrespected, would Brock find solace in tearing to shreds the Clinton campaign? Or might he just become the worst possible ally until his ego was assuaged? For all I know, that's one way to interpret his recent remarks.

"Loose cannon here!"

Huh, I made the Dick Morris comparison in another thread, but now that I think about it, didn't Morris send out weird signals when it looked like President Clinton had enough of him?

[CharlotteVale]

12. He reflects Hillary. Too late to undo the damage, and besides, all of Hillary's

surrogates who sling their disgusting slurs at Bernie supporters - from Bill calling us Tea Partiers to Madelyn saying we'll burn in hell - speak loud and clear as to what she's all about. If she treats us like this before the election, imagine how she'd treat us if she were nominated and elected. Rahm Emmanuel comes to mind.

[cali]

13. Hillary and her henchman on the same filthy tricks page

[bunnies]

14. Water seeks its own level.

It is what it is.

[frylock]

16. They deserve each other.