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 After her embarrassing 22-point loss to Sanders in New Hampshire’s
presidential nominating contest, Clinton headed back on Wednesday to
New York, where her campaign is based, to confer with top advisers
and prepare for the face-off with Sanders, set for 9 p.m. EST in
Milwaukee.
Her campaign has denied reports that Clinton is considering a
shakeup of her staff, but aides acknowledged that adding new staff
was a possibility.
Several among Clinton’s wide circle of donors told Reuters they
believed her surprisingly large loss in New Hampshire would
ultimately bring out the fighter in her.
This would help to battle-test her, both for the contests ahead in
her party’s nomination process and to take on a Republican candidate
in the Nov. 8 general election, they added.
Some donors said a growing sense of nervousness was setting in,
however, especially after Sanders’ campaign reported raising more
than $6 million in the 24 hours after his win.
 The word "disappointed" came up several times during a conference
call the campaign held on Wednesday with donors and fundraisers,
said one Clinton supporter who was on the call.
Many donors said they thought one immediate task for the former
secretary of state’s campaign would be to improve upon her
messaging.
Sanders, a democratic socialist U.S. senator from Vermont, has built
his campaign around a promise to rein in big firms and Wall Street,
while Clinton has emphasized her detailed policy proposals on issues
from healthcare to financial reform.
Several supporters said a simpler message might bring Clinton more
success in galvanizing voters.
Some donors said they would like to see Clinton retool the way she
communicates her thinking to voters.
"Boil it down, be clear, be succinct, and make absolutely sure
everybody knows you have a plan," said Shekar Narasimhan, a Clinton
donor and managing partner at Beekman Advisors.
Sanders has called for leveling the economic playing field by
breaking up the big banks, creating a single-payer Medicare-for-all
healthcare plan and offering government-paid public college tuition.
Clinton, the prohibitive front-runner in the race for months, barely
beat Sanders last week in Iowa and lost decisively in New Hampshire,
both states with nearly all-white populations, in the first two
nominating contests.
The race now moves to Nevada, South Carolina and other more diverse
states with more black and Hispanic voters, who, polls show, have
been more favorable to Clinton so far.
The shift raises the stakes for Thursday’s debate. When the two took
the stage last week for their first one-on-one encounter of the
campaign, they clashed sharply over their progressive credentials.
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Some of Clinton's top donors said they thought she has performed
well under pressure, as during her 11 hours of testimony to a
congressional panel investigating the 2012 attacks in Benghazi,
Libya, and in the grueling 2008 nominating battle she lost to Barack
Obama.
"The idea that there’s some kind of panic is completely overblown,"
said major Democratic fundraiser and Clinton supporter Karin
Birkelund.
"It’s really, really early -- way too early -- in the process, and
these states don’t matter that much."
But there was a familiar feel to Clinton's flameout in New
Hampshire, said critics of her campaign, as well as some major Obama
donors who have yet to commit to her.
"It’s the same movie, all over again," said lead Obama fundraiser
Kirk Dornbush, a San Francisco biotechnology executive who has not
yet committed to a candidate.
"It’s 2008, running with the inevitability cloak and having that
fail miserably."
About half of 17 Clinton donors contacted by Reuters on Wednesday
said they felt she needed to project more of her personality in
intimate settings, showing the "warm, genuine affable, and funny"
person they know.
Most donors expressed confidence that Clinton's campaign would be on
more solid ground by the Super Tuesday voting on March 1, when
Democrats cast ballots in 11 states.
"I would have been prepared for her to lose the first two states
because they were so favorable to Bernie Sanders," said Carrin
Patman, a partner at Houston law firm Bracewell who has raised
$250,000 for Clinton.
"For me, it doesn’t make me feel she needs to retool. Super Tuesday
is just around the corner."
(Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen; Writing by John Whitesides;
Editing by Caren Bohan and Clarence Fernandez)
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