Subject: Following up
From: BLee <[email-masked]>
To: "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2016 23:45:07 +0000

Hi John,

Thanks so much for the call – especially fun that I was standing in the Salem headquarters!  I appreciate that you’re open to my input and am pleased to see that Hillary is already making some of these shifts to her economic frame.  It’s going to be so important that every day people can easily reiterate why others should vote for her.  As I mentioned, below are some more thoughts that Celinda Lake drafted up and that articulate much of what we discussed.  Call anytime and look forward to seeing you again on the trail!

Warmly,
Barbara

Hillary Clinton's message has a number of strengths and has developed in some very strong ways.  That said recent data and results suggest that there are some further developments that would help.

1). Hillary needs a stronger economic message for the primary and the general.  She is double digits behind some of the Republicans on jobs and on the economy and similarly behind in the primary.  The lack of a powerful enough economic message is contributing to losses of more independent voters, more blue collar voters, and unmarried women in the primary and weaknesses among independent blue collar voters even women in the general.  Voters remain depressed about the economy, their own situation, and the future for the next generation. The women's economic message of equal pay and child care is popular in polling, but it isn't big enough to turn the economy around in voters' minds. It isn't just a question of whether she should be more populist or not.  It is about a fundamental vision.  In fact such a vision was essential to the win in 1992.

Two components are missing.  First, Hillary Clinton's articulation of the economic message misses the grounding of "an origin story".  It isn't clear listening to her what her explanation is for how we got here.  Without that people are not sure where she is headed, whose side she is on, what choices she will make.  Bernie, Trump, and the Republican Party have origin stories.  It adds to the power and credibility of their message.  Second, out of the origin story, HRC needs to articulate a better sense of her overall economic vision.  What is her guiding principle?  I personally believe that the strongest umbrella for her revolves around putting families first, improving the economy for hardworking families.  It ties to her history.  It reminds people of the previous presidency.  It fits a woman.  But whatever the vision is, it needs to be sharpened and repeated.

2) The theme of the campaign remains unclear.  Voters can summarize in one sentence what Bernie and Trump are about.  They can't summarize what Hillary is about.  Some resort to first woman president, but we all agree that will not be enough to win and mobilize even women.  We have to have a theme that can be in one sentence repeated by a woman in the grocery line to her friend, or a caucus goer to her neighbor.  That one sentence of what this campaign is all about isn't clear to voters and gets muffled by all the focus on so many different issues, policies, and perspectives.

3) Voters think they know Hillary, but they don't really know her that well.  The campaign has worked hard and well to get some of her information out.  However, the communication has resulted more in people understanding her bio than her values.  There needs to continue to be an emphasis on showing the values that have underpinned a lifetime of work and commitment.  Those values will help improve her effect, and will give voters a better sense of what she will do.  They are the platform for all the messaging.  They will help cut against the sense that she is so calculating and political.  They will create shared buy in from older and younger voters.

4) Hillary is firmly established as the most qualified and knowledgeable candidate in the field.  Much of the recent advertisement emphasizes that.  The ads are quite strong and set up to draw a distinction in the primary and the general.  However, voters already know this.  Moreover in Iowa that was the third trait that voters wanted.  Voters accept that she can get the job done, but they want to know what job and on whose behalf.  And the unintended consequences of the current messaging is that they make her seem status quo.  People resoundingly want change.  She has to communicate change more and how she will use that experience in the service of actually really delivering change.  She needs to include more reform to the system and more changes in direction to win the general.  Moreover, voters right now are not interested in any candidate who is a typical politician, but it is particularly damaging to women candidates.