Tactical blunders. A strained relationship with the media. An insurgent rival drawing enormous crowds.
For Hillary Clinton, the past few weeks of her 2016 presidential campaign have brought back uncomfortable memories of her failed bid in 2008.
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ON THIS TOPIC
- Clinton raises record $45m for campaign
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- Team Clinton reins in defender-in-chief
- Clinton tries to draw line under email saga
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Three months in to what should be one of the best funded, best organised campaigns in history, Mrs Clinton has been unable to draw a line under a series of controversies, or to generate the kind of grassroots enthusiasm that will be crucial to maintaining momentum in the gruelling months ahead.
As she prepares to outline her economic vision for the country in a high-profile address on Monday in New York, Mrs Clinton’s team is betting that a rollout of popular, middle-class friendly policies such as paid sick leave and universal prekindergarten provision will help to reset the debate.
But her rockier-than-expected start continues to unnerve some long-time allies and Democratic donors, who view the rise of rival Bernie Sanders, the 73-year-old self-proclaimed socialist who has galvanised progressives, as a symptom, rather than a cause, of so-called “Clinton fatigue.”
“We are worried about him, sure. He will be a serious force for the campaign, and I don’t think that will diminish,” Jennifer Palmieri, the Clinton campaign’s communications director,” acknowledged this week.
Aides have been quick to brush off speculation about the kind of disquiet that plagued her 2008 bid. Mrs Clinton started her campaign with huge advantages over the rest of the Democratic field, and her move to position herself as a liberal champion reflects an astute assessment of how issues such as income inequality and wage stagnation have risen up the national agenda.
Mr Sanders may be drawing huge crowds in progressive, predominantly white enclaves such as Madison, Wisconsin and Portland, Maine, but he will struggle to close the gap with Mrs Clinton with the more moderate Democrats that make up the majority of the primary electorate across the country, polls show.
We are worried about [Bernie Sanders, below], sure. He will be a serious force for the campaign, and I don’t think that will diminish
- Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton communications director
Among women and nonwhite voters in particular, Mrs Clinton holds an advantage she shows little sign of relinquishing, having prioritised policies such as expanding protections for unauthorised immigrants and improving the affordability of child care to help women back into the work force.
Her campaign raised an impressive $45m over its first three months, three times the size of Mr Sanders’ war chest, and she has built an army of volunteers across key early battleground states such as Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Her message has been sharper and more disciplined than it was in 2008, casting herself as a warrior for the middle class and her Republican rivals as out of touch and out of date on issues such as same-sex marriage, healthcare access and gun control laws.
What has surprised some advisers from her 2008 campaign has been her failure to sidestep some basic tactical errors, given those advantages.
A social media storm over her campaign’s decision to rope off reporters like farm animals during an Independence day parade in New Hampshire was followed this week with an awkward nationally televised interview with CNN, where a stiff Mrs Clinton struggled to respond to claims that many voters do not trust her and blamed the “rightwing” for fomenting imaginary scandals.
That lack of responsiveness may only exacerbate voters’ concerns that she is not being forthright on issues such as her use of a personal email server during her tenure as secretary of state and whether foreign oligarchs inappropriately courted her favour by making big donations to the Clintons’family charitable foundation, those close to her have warned.
“Painful to watch,” said one.
Some insiders are pushing for changes that would allow for a fuller discussion about what talking points her team is using to respond to attacks before they are put out. While Mrs Clinton’s social media team has been effective at crafting a friendlier, more down-to-earth image through outlets such as Instagram and Twitter, they have urged her to drop her reflexive defensiveness with the press corps.
And in spite of the early speed bumps, many senior Democrats are calling for calm. Mrs Clinton is still polling ahead of Republican rivals such as Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, and Florida senator Marco Rubio.
In fact, some of her strongest support this week came from a surprising source: Daniel Pfeiffer, the former senior adviser to President Barack Obama who helped to vanquish her campaign in 2008.
“While Clinton’s campaign to date hasn’t been perfect, she is doing exactly what she needs to do to ensure that she is the Democratic nominee,” Mr Pfeiffer said in an article.
“A lot can change in the coming months, but at this point in the race, everyone should stop all the bed-wetting.”
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