Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign sent supporters an interesting e-mail yesterday.
With longtime Clinton adviser Mark Penn out, new strategist Geoff Garin is soliciting advice from voters. It's certainly a different strategy from how Penn did business.
Here's Garin's note:
You've probably heard about some of the big changes going on in Hillary's campaign lately. My name is Geoff Garin, and along with Howard Wolfson, I'm now leading the campaign's strategy team. My job is to plot the path to the nomination and lay out the strategy that will get us there.There are two reasons why I said yes immediately when Hillary asked me to do this job. First, I believe that the Hillary Clinton I know will be a great president who will do great things for our country. Second, I am confident she can win.
Let me lay out for you the situation as I see it right now. The Pennsylvania primary is approaching -- just eight days to go -- and a win there will do two things: give us momentum that will carry us through the races that follow, and show that Hillary is still the best choice to beat John McCain in the big, competitive states that will decide the race in November.
The Obama campaign is outspending us three to one in Pennsylvania. But I'm confident we can win in Pennsylvania, and I know Hillary is too. She is campaigning hard and really connecting with the voters there. The voters in Pennsylvania know that she is the candidate who understands their lives and respects their values, and that every day she will be a president who stands up for them instead of looking down on them.
If I had to point to two of our best weapons in this campaign, one would be the incredible strength of our candidate, and the other would be the phenomenal role people like you have played in sustaining this campaign, even through some pretty tough times. Everyone from Hillary on down has made sure I know about the vital role her online supporters have played in this race.
I made a personal commitment to Hillary that her campaign would be as good and as strong and as smart as she is. And I want to ask you a favor to help me keep that commitment. In the days and weeks (and hopefully months) ahead, I want to know what you think -- about the state of the race, our campaign strategy, or your ideas for doing things differently. You've made an investment in this campaign, and I want your input as we plan the days, weeks, and months to come.
I can't promise that I can reply personally to every single message -- but I can promise to read them all.
Click here to send me your comments, thoughts, and ideas about our campaign.
I'm really looking forward to reading what you have to say, and to working with you to help Hillary win!
Thanks,
Geoff Garin
— Christina Bellantoni, national political reporter, The Washington Times
Comments (8)
Mark Penn is still there. He's just been demoted to a less prominent title. Interesting that with Garin at the helm, Hill is becoming more and more negative and focused on personal attack rather than issues.
Posted by Sally | April 16, 2008 2:15 AM
Tell Senator Clinton to stop saying what we want to hear and begin saying what she is going to do and how she is going to do it.
Posted by Larry Stone | April 16, 2008 6:12 AM
Tell Hillary if she really wants to do right by the country to get out of the race. She says she can withstand the Republican attack. Well we cant. We do not want to spend the next four years listening to the Republicans trash her, causing us to be in a state of gridlock. The next four years are so important to this country to turn around all that Bush has done. Please drop out so we have a shot at turning the country around for the better.
Posted by Kathleen | April 16, 2008 10:38 AM
This is not the first time that this sort of public request has been made. The Clinton Camp made a similar request when they were losing badly in Virginia/DC. This is a Mark Penn tactic, the Washington Times should do better research before claiming that this is a new tactic. He is very much calling the shots in the Clinton Camp - another sad attempt at lying.
In the end, I agree with the folks that have posted before me, Hillary should drop out of the race and start to work on rebuilding confidence...now its like the proverbial boy who cried wolf more than 3 times.....nothing she says will be considered legitimate by the vast majority of Americans. Eventually, whether she likes it or not, she will be forced at some point to give up or be pushed out, she is not the person best suited to lead this Country. The sooner she gets out, the sooner she can begin to fix all that she destroyed and slowly begin to rebuild confidence....I fear that if she doesn't get out, her unfavourable ratings will likely rival president Bush's, except she managed to get them in 15-16 months, while Bush had 7.5 years. Now that is really sad.
Posted by Doesit | April 16, 2008 11:51 AM
Hillary needs to figure out which political party she works for. I have yet to hear her rally her people to vote Democrat no matter who wins the nomination. Not one word. I thought the whole idea was to beat McCain, not hand him on a silver platter 28% of the Democratic vote.
Posted by MsSwin | April 16, 2008 10:58 PM
Have any one of Hillary,s cronies or Hillary herself ever walked thru a tent city ,trailer park, ghetto area or spent time serving at a soup kitchen? I don't think so.Those areas don't exist for people who ride limos to work each day.
For the limo riders, Hillary will be a good president,as for the really poor people she will not help to change their lives one iota.
Posted by DM.CA. | April 17, 2008 5:17 PM
Have any one of Hillary,s cronies or Hillary herself ever walked thru a tent city ,trailer park, ghetto area or spent time serving at a soup kitchen? I don't think so.Those areas don't exist for people who ride limos to work each day.
For the limo riders, Hillary will be a good president,as for the really poor people she will not help to change their lives one iota.
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she already has and will do so again.
her first job was knocking door to door helping put handicapped children into the educaitonal system...........
Posted by dare to be fair | April 20, 2008 1:18 PM
I want to know, exactly, how Hillary plans to pass her Universal Healthcare plan through congress this time.
She had 8 years, when her husband was President and the Democrats were in control of Congress.
If she could not pass it then, what does she believe has changed that will allow her to convince everyday Republicans to support a Federal Mandate that forces every American to pay for a companies product.
Republicans are generally against Washington setting mandates and generally prefer local state or private ownership on issues like this.
One of the things I find ‘interesting’ about Obama’s plan is that it seems to address the concerns that Republicans have with a Mandate while still working towards the goal of Affordable Healthcare for everyone.
I would be lying if I had said I was not 99% sure I am going to vote for Obama in Oregon, but I still want to hear her response on this if she somehow pulls out a primary victory.
Posted by Michael Cowan | April 20, 2008 3:52 PM