For example, Dylan Scott suggests that Sec. Clinton faces a dilemma between distancing herself from President Obama and appealing to what has become known as "the Obama coalition."
They are of course linked: If Obama is unpopular, a Clinton campaign will be tempted to present a sharp contrast. At the same time, the President will likely remain popular with the core Democratic base that she needs to harness. But the record tells us that, however the Obama presidency is faring like in its final months, it's going to influence his aspiring successor's White House ambitions.Former Clinton staffers Douglas Schoen and Patrick Caddell make no bones about where they come down on that one. They weigh in with: Obama is Damaging Hillary's Chances.
I am reminded of the fact that Vice President Al Gore faced the same dilemma when he decided to run in 2000. President Bill Clinton had actually been impeached by the House of Representatives and it was unclear whether his involvement in a Gore campaign would help or hurt. As we all know now, Gore chose to "position" himself by staying mum on the issue.
What I think Hillary Clinton could learn from all of this is to avoid the whole idea of "positioning" yourself based on how the electorate might react. An awful lot of us cringed at the lack of authenticity in Al Gore's presidential campaign. That's why - whether they were true or not - stories about advice he got from Naomi Wolf about being a "beta male" rang true. And when, in 2003, Gore let loose of all that and gave a barn-burner speech on how the Bush administration was trampling on civil liberties, we all wondered "Where was this guy in 2000?"
Of course running a presidential campaign requires positioning. But rather than catering to what someone thinks the electorate wants to hear, it has to be based on an answer to the question "Who is this candidate?" Looking back on how she ran in 2008, I'm not sure that Hillary Clinton has answered that question. That was highlighted by the fact that some people even thought that the tears she shed on the trail in New Hampshire were contrived.
If Hillary Clinton can find her core and speak to us from that place, she can toss out all the advice she's getting from folks about how to position herself vis a vis President Obama and his coalition. Whether or not she can do that...we'll see.
I find the answer to be in asking yourself a question, "Why do I want to be President?"
ReplyDeleteIf you can't answer that in a clear fashion then maybe you shouldn't run.
I suspect Hillary could answer that question clearly - the problem would be that her truthful answer, IMO, would have very little to do with the average citizen ..... therefore she dare not make it.
Delete'If Hillary Clinton can find her core and speak to us from that place'
ReplyDeleteNot much that I have seen of Hillary suggests she has a core from which to speak. So far as I can remember, she rarely (never?) comes out with a position on an issue until it's clear in which direction the heaviest wind is blowing, or unless that has already been previously clarified. Plus, I haven't seen Hillary's 'leadership' skills in play restraining them when her minions/former campaign heads go too far, and in addition, I do not she has two 'progressive' ideas for the nation. I see her as more reactive, than proactive, frankly.
For the record, Pat Caddell didn't work for Clinton. He wanted to do polling for him, but Clinton rejected him. As for Douglas Schoen, he's the conservative half of his consulting partnership with Mark Penn, so it's unlikely that his advice will be heeded. Had Gore not distanced himself from Clinton and let the president campaign for him in West Virginia and Arkansas, Gore would have been president, Supreme Court or not. One thinks that with a number of Obama advisors now working with Hillary, she'll be smarter than Gore was in 2000 and maybe learned her lessons in 2008. The Democrats who ran away from Obama in the mid-terms should be a wakeup call for her, particularly since she and her husband campaigned for many of them. It'll be interesting to see.
ReplyDelete