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 The bad news is that there are few serious contenders to challenge
her for the Democratic nomination.
Because of her global profile and the lack of other prominent
Democrats in the field, Clinton enters the race in a position that
is perhaps unmatched in modern U.S. presidential politics. While her
grip on her party’s nomination seems commanding, it also makes her a
singular target for a bevy of Republican candidates who now share a
common enemy.
“All of them will be trying to prove they’re the most anti-Hillary,
the toughest against her,” said Democratic strategist Joe Trippi,
who was behind former Vermont Governor Howard Dean’s insurgent bid
against favorite John Kerry in 2004. “They’ll all be taking shots.”
One central challenge for Clinton’s nascent presidential campaign
therefore will lie in sustaining momentum and generating positive
buzz while under constant siege from Republican candidates, their
more unruly political action committees, progressives who feel she
is not liberal enough, and the media.
 Republican contenders Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, and
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky wasted no time on Sunday criticizing
Clinton.
Following the video announcement of her candidacy, Bush tweeted: “We
must do better than Hillary.” On the left, Bill de Blasio, the
progressive mayor of New York, was noncommittal on endorsing her
candidacy, saying on NBC’s Meet the Press that he wants to hear
Clinton’s vision for the country.
The risk is that Clinton’s campaign will be so busy responding to
attacks on every front that it could have difficulty spawning
positive coverage.
“Absolutely she’s going to be on defense, and our goal is going to
keep her on defense,” said Jeff Bechdel, a spokesman for the
anti-Clinton PAC America Rising, which is devoted to carpet-bombing
the public and press with criticism of the candidate.
IT'S THE POLICY, STUPID
One way to beat back the tide of negativity, some strategists told
Reuters, will be for Clinton to use her gravitas as a former
secretary of state to announce policy initiatives on a grand scale.
They argued that her background would give her proposals a weight
that candidates like Republican senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio
can’t match.
"One of the best tools they’ve got is her ability to project policy
at an almost-presidential level," Trippi said of Clinton, who has
been on the global stage for decades.
Clinton cast herself on Sunday as a champion of everyday Americans
still struggling to recover from the 2008 recession, although she
did not offer any specific policy prescriptions.
Tad Devine, who advised Kerry’s 2004 bid as well as Al Gore in 2000,
said there were opportunities for Clinton to make an impact and
generate buzz in areas such as climate change and campaign-finance
reform, as well as in the economic arena.
“The best way to create positive news is to introduce new policy,”
Devine said. “Winning campaigns are about the future. The best way
to get to the future is to talk about policy proposals that can be
introduced and implemented if she is president.”
Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta, said in a Tweet that
Clinton's top policy priorities would be "helping working families
succeed" and tackling climate change.
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"CANDIDATE OF IDEAS"
Ari Fleischer, a former White House press secretary under George W.
Bush, echoed Devine, saying that Clinton needs to focus less on her
qualifications and more on new initiatives.
“The resume is money in the bank. She can’t add to it,” Fleischer
said. “The upside for her is to be the candidate of ideas and
specifics.”
Bush might provide the best comparison to Clinton’s position. He
built a juggernaut in 1999 that quickly leveled almost the entire
Republican field, leaving more time for big-ticket policy events.
Fleischer said the campaign took advantage: A speech in Iowa
unveiling his tax-cut plan became front-page news, as did his
proposal to reform Social Security.
Clinton has an experienced hand to guide her. Clinton’s new
communications director, Jennifer Palmieri, served in a similar role
in the White House under President Barack Obama, where she
specialized in trying to drive media coverage through policy
roll-outs.
But as with most things surrounding Clinton’s candidacy, it’s never
that simple.
All signs point to this iteration of her campaign wanting initially
to keep events on a small, relatable scale. Her new campaign website
shows Clinton sitting at a small table, sharing coffee with two
senior citizens.
A presidential-style address on, say, income inequality with a large
crowd as a backdrop would fly in the face of that strategy. That
tension may be one her campaign will have to resolve as it moves
forward.
There is evidence that Clinton’s standing with voters may already be
suffering from Republican attacks and media scrutiny. In mid-January
of this year, a Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll had Clinton as the first
choice of 50 percent of Democrats. As of last week, that number had
dropped to 38 percent.
A few Democrats - former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, former
Senator Jim Webb of Virginia, and former Rhode Island Governor
Lincoln Chaffee - have suggested they will take Clinton on in the
Democratic primary, but none of them have the name recognition, the
financial resources, or the campaign apparatus to mount a serious
challenge to her — at least for now.
(Editing by Ross Colvin and Eric Walsh)
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