Ouch! WaPo: Hillary Backers fear old weaknesses stalk Clinton campaign

[99th_Monkey]

Backers fear old weaknesses stalk Clinton campaign

It was supposed to be different this time. After the wounds of 2008, many of them self-inflicted, Hillary Rodham Clinton rebooted for 2016 with a new message, new advisers and new energy.

But two dynamics have crystallized this month, suggesting the New Hillary is hobbled by old weaknesses. Once again, worried supporters see signs of a bunker mentality in response to bad news about her e-mail server and other controversies, and they see a candidate who can seem strangely blinkered to the threat posed by a lesser-known challenger.

“A lot of the people who were hired by the campaign were new to the Clintons,” said a prominent Democrat who counts both Hillary Clinton and former president Bill Clinton as friends. “I kind of assumed it would be different. But it hasn’t changed.”

That Democrat and other supporters requested anonymity in order to discuss the shortcomings of a candidate whom they still overwhelmingly support and think can win the White House. Several supporters said that while no one is pulling the fire alarm, they see worrisome patterns emerging.

Among them: insularity, rigidity and a sense that the operation is tone-deaf to changes happening around it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/new-campaign-same-old-problems-clinton-hurt-by-familiar-shortcomings/2015/08/15/ce80e2d8-42ad-11e5-8ab4-c73967a143d3_story.html?hpid=z1

[oasis]

1. "Anonymity" by supporters and friends.

'Nuf said.

[cantbeserious]

4. Yep

eom

[Live and Learn]

2. k&r nt

[DanTex]

3. I agree, she needs to pick it up a bit.

It's still early, and what's happening now probably doesn't matter so much in the long run. And maybe there's some 6-dimensional chess going on -- for example, spending more time fundraising in the early running in order to build up a war chest, rather than doing big rallies.

Still, the main thing is, Hillary is the only thing standing between us and the catastrophe that a Republican presidency would be. So she needs to get this right.

[Live and Learn]

5. She is not the only thing, thank goodness. Go Bernie! nt

[cantbeserious]

6. Nope - Bernie Stands Between The People And The Establishment Candidates

eom

[Picking Dem]

7. Clinton will just aggravate the Republicans

that they will be lining up to vote against her, rather voting for the Republican.

Bernie is the best solution out of the five major candidates, with O'Malley a steady second, Clinton dead last for reasons related to 99% of the voters.

[Frances]

8. Disagree

Bernie has yet to connect with minority voters and no Dem wins without them

There is time for Bernie to do this, but he needs to start now

[SonderWoman]

12. Agreed. And I might add...

Would we even want to nominate a candidate that doesn't have the backing of minorities? No.

[Doctor_J]

18. If Clinton can take liberals for granted in the ge, why can't Sanders take blacks

for granted? Hillary actually is a corporate conservative, while Sanders racism is a lie.

[snagglepuss]

19. This is an excellent question and ought to be an OP.

The popularity of Bernie speaks to the fact that Establishment Dems have ignored demands of Progressive and simply expected their votes.

[Frances]

26. That could be why Nader

got so many votes in the W vs Gore contest

But since I wrote my post, Bernie is reaching out to minorities

I have not committed to Bernie or Hillary or O'Malley yet. But I have committed to voting for any one of them over any Repub.

[roguevalley]

24. putting up a fix of big wigs is b.s. we are the only big wigs she has to win

And I don't see it. I got tired just reading that. I wish they both had better character.

[BeyondGeography]

9. This is a good quote

“There’s clearly emotion out there and she’s just not going anywhere near it, and she needs to find a way to.”

Finer minds can figure it out, but I really don't think the feisty, VRWC-type rhetoric she offered up the other night is the way to go. That's inside baseball to most people.

[azmom]

13. She simply can't do it. She has been part of

The political elite for years. She will sound fake and phony.

[hedda_foil]

27. She already sounds "fake and phony" to altogether too many Dems.

I'm pretty much assuming that she'll start campaigning in earnest in September (because as Andy Card once infamously said, "You don't roll out a new product before Labor Day.&quot

[Rosa Luxemburg]

10. 2008 all over again

[Vinca]

11. It seems that way. You might have thought they would have learned.

[Roy Ellefson]

14. be a liberal

all she had to do is be a liberal...unfortunately, since she isn't she is clearly vulnerable from her left flank...it was there for the taking...had she come out for the things that the Democratic base has been begging for, for years...she really would have been inevitable. Unfortunately she chose the 3rd way...she might still win the nomination but I'm feeling a little bit more optimistic for Ol' Bernie's chances.

[99th_Monkey]

22. +10 nt

[nashville_brook]

15. dang, they must be pretty worried to go on the record like this. n/t

[oasis]

21. "On the record"? That's not the case here. WaPo is hanging

their hat on supposed "reliable sources" who asked to remain anonymous. Low level or high level supporters and campaign people? Who knows?

I took three "journalists" to come up with this story which is "full of the sound and the fury, signifying nothing".

[nashville_brook]

23. the thing is, though, that anyone in the campaign will know who these people are

clearly this is people within the campaign talking. the question is, are they pushing an idea that helps or hinders her? my thought is that they wouldn't put anything out in the press that would hinder her. they must think that she needs a kick in the pants, or (more likely) that they'd benefit from people thinking that she's resting on her laurels -- lowering expectations.

[oasis]

25. Hillary has always had a measured approach to issues. It has

served her well. Her campaign advisers aren't going to have her doing more than she capable. I'll admit, not a great campaigner. Hillary's strength lies with her ability to assemble competent people with "know how".

Hillary's the one, without a doubt.

[hedda_foil]

28. "Hillary's strength lies with her ability to assemble competent people with "know how."

So the underlying message of her campaign is "trust me. I'll put together a team with knowhow"? And where are those capable people going to come from?

Right.

Unfortunately we're very familiar with most of these folks. In fact that's the problem in a nutshell. Virtually every one of them are Third Way/DLC/ types from way back when. And most of us agree that's exactly what we don't need.

Disclaimer: Yes, of course I'll vote for her if she wins the nomination, but only because she's better than the Republicans.

[oasis]

29. I'm one who still remembers the Clinton prosperity of the 1990s.

22 million job created. Someone knew how to get it done.

[DesertFlower]

16. bill maher joked the other night that hillary's

campaign is boring.

even though i'm supporting bernie i will support hillary if she is the nominee. i fear having a republican as president.

[seabeyond]

17. OUCH*** meh. when i see her numbers deteriorating, i will get excited.

[tblue]

20. The more they target Hillary, the more I support her.

Same with Bernie. I plan to vote for him but I am ok with loaning myself out to Hillary to beat back the VRWC wolves at her door. Show me a bandwagon and I'll jump off it.