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Saturday, February 6, 2016

HILLARY GET'S SOME ADVICE; FOOL THE VOTERS

Which unfortunately this article refers to as her "strengths"



Perhaps it was the closeness of the result earlier this week in Iowa that prompted Clinton to go on the attack; perhaps it was the polls in New Hampshire showing Sanders leading by a large margin. Perhaps she simply couldn’t hide her irritation after Sanders mentioned that a super PAC supporting her campaign raised fifteen million dollars from Wall Street in the fourth quarter of last year. In any case, the ensuing exchange, which my colleague Amy Davidson covered at length, presented Sanders with a perfect opportunity to restate the central argument of his campaign: big money is corrupting the political process and undermining American democracy.

Clinton needs to address this critique—or, more accurately, to feature a version of it more prominently in her own campaign. What she doesn’t need, surely, is a lengthy debate about what, if anything, her Wall Street donors received in return for their money: that would be fighting on Sanders’s ground. (After the heated exchange, the Sanders campaign e-mailed reporters to point out that Senator Elizabeth Warren has criticized Clinton for changing her position, when she was in the Senate, on a bankruptcy bill, elements of which were vehemently opposed by the financial industry.)

Although it might sound a bit counterintuitive, Clinton needs to return to the strategy that allowed her to eke out a narrow victory in Iowa. It will serve her well as the primary moves on to larger, more-populous states with more nonwhite voters. This strategy, rather than trying to meet Sanders head-on, focusses on acknowledging his good intentions and questioning whether he can deliver on his promises. It involves having Clinton emphasize her own program, which is carefully targeted at middle-class voters, and her experience in foreign policy, as well as her support for civil rights. Above all, it means appealing to Democratic voters—moderates and liberals—who are terrified of the prospect of the Republicans retaking the White House and controlling all three branches of government.

The advice is, let's avoid saying like it is; as Bernie Sanders does, and dance around the issue by creating a smoke screen that only filters what the audience needs to hear to get her elected. 

The problem with that is this. Hillary can't control the narrative on "social" media which will bust her every time she dodges the truth. My advice to Hillary is, change your ways and stop pandering to big money donors and walk the talk when it comes to representing all the people you want to vote for you. 

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