In last night's pre-debate huffing and puffing, every pundit agreed: Hillary Clinton needs to change the course of the Democratic contest. But no one knew how, exactly. By evening's end, it was clear that Clinton herself was divided, veering from comity to canned critiques to compassion--and doing nothing to knock Obama off his stride.
What would you do differently?
Imagine. You’re a political consultant, drafted this week by Clinton’s campaign to help pilot her comeback. Your candidate has lost the last 11 primaries by sizable margins. And the demographic groups who once flocked to your side—women, voters with incomes below $50,000, Latinos—have begun straying into your rival’s camp. The veterans in your candidates inner circle are at odds—some feel salvation lies in going negative, while others fear that a scorched-earth strategy would divide the party and do lasting damage to her legacy.
So, newcomer, what’s the game plan? How should Clinton spend the next two weeks, in the run-up to the critical votes in Texas and Ohio on March 4? How should she tweak her message, if at all? Should she shake up her staff further? Start naming picks for cabinet positions? Poach Barack Obama’s pledged delegates? Or present a moving human narrative of a life on the public stage—and lay off the negatives?
Give your best pitch in the comments section, and we'll post the smartest strategies as they come in.
Paging Mark Penn, Mandy Grunwald and Howard Wolfson. You might want to pay attention.
