The Fundamental Problem Facing The Hillary Clinton Campaign

[99th_Monkey]

The Fundamental Problem Facing The Hillary Clinton Campaign
By James Kroeger * Tuesday Feb 16, 2016 * Kos

The fundamental problem Clinton’s campaign strategists are facing right now is the fact that...
When people get to know the real Bernie Sanders, they like him!

It is the KEY reality which has enabled his campaign to continue to grow in strength, to the
point where he has been able to:
1) overcome long odds to tie Hillary in Iowa
2) surge to a powerful win in New Hampshire
3) overcome the huge advantage she once enjoyed in Nevada
4) begin closing the huge advantage she once enjoyed in South Carolina
5) raise all the money he needs to be able to match/dominate her in ad buys
The formula for success has not really been all that complex.

From day one, most people have either had no opinion at all about the man because they know nothing about him, or they have acquired a somewhat negative image of him based on certain disparaging comments they’ve heard made about him.

But once his campaign acquired enough donations to be able to get his message heard in Iowa and New Hampshire, he was able to replace the dismissive/negative ‘rumors of Bernie Sanders’ they had been hearing with the inspiring reality of Bernie Sanders. It is from this simple prime directive that all of his success has flowed.

The Clinton campaign’s response to this success has been to try to hold on to her support by attempting to create a negative image of Bernie in the minds of Hillary-leaning Democrats....snip...

But negative campaigning is only effective if:
1) the allegations that are being made are accurate, or if
2) the innocent target of the negative attacks does not have the $$ to be able to defend herself from the accusations with ad buys.

Bernie has been able to continue to grow his campaign in spite of Hillary’s utter reliance on negative campaigning at this point because he is not actually guilty of the misrepresentations that are being made of his agenda/history/ integrity, and... he has the money to be able to replace the rumors with the reality of his true character. If you are not actually guilty of the attacks that your opponent has made about you AND you have the $$ to be able to defend yourself in the next contested states, then your opponent’s attacks are actually a blessing.

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/2/16/1485898/-The-Fundamental-Problem-For-The-Hillary-Clinton-Campaign

[XemaSab]

1. This is what made Obama look like a genius

Errry time Hillary swung at him, she wound up smacking herself instead.

O just had to stand there and look cool while she beat herself up.

[Jarqui]

2. "When people get to know the real Bernie Sanders, they like him! "

Bernie Sanders has the highest approval rating of any U.S. senator
November 24, 2015
http://theweek.com/speedreads/590697/bernie-sanders-highest-approval-rating-senator

I think right now, that's the biggest problem he's facing for these primaries - getting to all the primary states so they can get to know him.

Once they get to know him, they jump from Hillary to him.

He's already cut the gap in half with blacks in SC. If Nevada comes in, that state will still probably go to Hillary but I think he'll get it down to single digits.

[libdem4life]

3. Every time she or one of her mouthpieces attack Bernie, he gets more money and

likely voters. We're talking about the Hydra...the mythical beast with tentacled hair...and every time someone chopped off one, two sprung up in place.

Not saying Bernie is some mythical character, just that the concept has coincidentally been working for him. One can hardly imagine the frustration in HRC Camp. What to do?

Meanwhile, Bernie just miraculously keeps a killer schedule introducing himself to The People and they like what they see, hear and when they research...believe in.

People don't give up long-held views/memes easily. But "Bernie is unelectable" has gone, "Hillary is Inevitable" has gone and a number of others.

[jillan]

4. When you don't tell the truth about someone people get an image of that person in their mind &

then they meet that person and think - wow! They are nothing like what I thought they would be.

A prime example is what just happened with Capehart. By lying about Bernie's history fighting for equality people soon found out what he is all about & that the "rhetoric" he says on the campaign trail is not rhetoric at all - it is what he believes in his heart & what he has fought for his entire career - ever since this grandpa was in college.