Subject: ​Correct The Record Tuesday October 28, 2014 Afternoon Roundup
From: Burns Strider <[email-masked]>
To: CTRFriendsFamily <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 14:40:33 -0400
List-Id: <CTRFriendsFamily.americanbridge.org>

*​**Correct The Record Tuesday October 28, 2014 Afternoon Roundup:*

*Tweets:*

*Correct The Record* @CorrectRecord: .@HillaryClinton
<https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton> fought alongside America’s mayors &
governors to protect AmeriCorps from budget cuts #HRC365
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/HRC365?src=hash>
http://correctrecord.org/hillary-clintons-strong-support-of-americorps/ …
<http://t.co/cgGuqTZ0e4> [10/27/14, 6:31 p.m. EDT
<https://twitter.com/CorrectRecord/status/526863723894288384>]

*Correct The Record* @CorrectRecord: .@HillaryClinton
<https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton> approaches climate change "with the
knowledge that it feeds into other serious global issues."
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20141027/DEFFEAT05/310270016/Commentary-Climate-Change-Increases-Instability-All
…
<http://t.co/9AN3G6mBvW> [10/27/14, 4:11 p.m. EDT
<https://twitter.com/CorrectRecord/status/526828474426597376>]

*Correct The Record* @CorrectRecord: HRC: climate change is “the most
consequential, urgent, sweeping collection of challenges” facing us today.
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20141027/DEFFEAT05/310270016/Commentary-Climate-Change-Increases-Instability-All
…
<http://t.co/9AN3G6mBvW> [10/27/14, 3:48 p.m. EDT
<https://twitter.com/CorrectRecord/status/526822668796850176>]

*Correct The Record* @CorrectRecord: Adm. Stuart Platt, via @Defense_news
<https://twitter.com/defense_news>: HRC understands climate change is
"about America’s basic national security."
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20141027/DEFFEAT05/310270016/Commentary-Climate-Change-Increases-Instability-All
…
<http://t.co/9S9XeJztcx> [10/27/14, 3:38 p.m. EDT
<https://twitter.com/CorrectRecord/status/526820315830423552>]

*Headlines:*

*NBC News: “Hillary Clinton is Talking More About Women. Here's Why It
Matters.”
<http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-talking-more-about-women-heres-why-it-matters-n234861>*

“The groundswell of attention on gender and the rise of new female voices
could have a major impact on the 2016 campaign. If she runs, Clinton (or
another female Democrat like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren) will in
effect have a defense team outside of her official campaign apparatus, one
that will be more concerned that she is treated, in their minds, fairly by
the male-dominated political establishment than if she wins in Iowa.”

*ABC News: “The Adventures of Bill and Hill: Where the Clintons Hit The
Trail in 2014”
<http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/2014-midterm-elections-bill-hillary-clintons-great-adventures/story?id=26509131>*

“As President Obama’s poll numbers plummet, with an approval rating that
remains in the low 40’s, Bill and Hillary Clinton have become the most
sought after Democratic surrogates of the midterm cycle for candidates
trying to woo voters – and raise money."

*Associated Press, via Daily Journal: “Hillary Clinton coming to New
Orleans to rally for Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu on Saturday”
<http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/ebd94b58eb1a4424bf7e89c467533964/LA--Senate-Louisiana-Hillary-Clinton/>*

“Hillary Rodham Clinton is heading to New Orleans this weekend to stir up
voter support for Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu.”

*MSNBC: “Why it pays to be friends with Bill and Hillary Clinton”
<http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/bill-clinton-hillary-clinton-friends-benefits>*

“The Clintons are, without rival, the hottest surrogates in the Democratic
Party – but not every candidate can get them.”

*The Atlantic: “Can Twitter Solve Hillary Clinton's Relatability Problem?”
<http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/10/has-twitter-solved-hillary-clintons-relatability-problem/381225/>*

“Hillary Clinton may still not have her husband's charisma on the stump,
but @HillaryClinton has created its own brand of badass cool on social
media.”

*New York Times: “Martin O’Malley, a Hillary Clinton Loyalist, Is Now a
Potential 2016 Alternative”
<http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/10/28/us/a-clinton-loyalist-now-a-potential-alternative.html?referrer=&_r=0>*

“Now, as the midterms come to a close, Mr. O’Malley will have to make clear
whether he is willing to challenge Mrs. Clinton, the giant who blocks any
viable path to the nomination.”

*CNBC: “Wall St. eyes Hillary Clinton's anti-bank message”
<http://www.cnbc.com/id/102128057>*

“The real concern, according to these bankers, will come if Clinton starts
espousing new policies, such as bank breakups, much higher bank taxes, pay
restrictions or other measures.”

*Mediaite column: Eddie Scarry: “Democrat’s 2016 1st Commandment: Thou
Shalt Not Step to Hillary”
<http://www.mediaite.com/online/democrats-2016-1st-commandment-thou-shalt-not-step-to-hillary/>*

“Most striking in the New York Times‘ new lengthy and fairly glossy profile
on the otherwise sleepy Democratic Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, is how
much fear former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has set in the hearts
of her party colleagues.”

*MSNBC: “Alison Lundergan Grimes: I don’t have to buy enthusiasm”
<http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/alison-lundergan-grimes-i-dont-have-buy-enthusiasm>*

“Two of the brightest stars in the Democratic firmament, Hillary Clinton
and Elizabeth Warren, are headed to Kentucky this week to campaign for
Grimes in the home stretch.”

*Articles:*

*NBC News: “Hillary Clinton is Talking More About Women. Here's Why It
Matters.”
<http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-talking-more-about-women-heres-why-it-matters-n234861>*

By Perry Bacon Jr.

October 28, 2014, 10:59 a.m. EDT

In 2008, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign famously asked Democratic
voters who they trusted to answer the White House phone amid a crisis at 3
a.m. -- her bid to highlight experience over an untested challenger.

As she campaigns around the country for Democratic candidates this year,
Clinton is increasingly highlighting issues like child care, abortion
rights and the role of women in society, potentially previewing a different
kind of presidential run than in 2008.

“Why are we one of only a few countries left in the world that don’t
provide paid family leave?” she said at rally earlier this month in
Pennsylvania. “Why is it women that still get paid less than men for doing
the same work?” she asked at event in Michigan a few days later. Then,
campaigning in Colorado last week for Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Udall,
who has been criticized for speaking about abortion rights too much in his
campaign, Clinton gave a strong, unprompted defense of Udall, saying
“when’s he’s fighting for women’s rights, he is fighting on the frontier of
freedom.”

Clinton’s shift, say both scholars and political operatives, is part of a
larger movement in politics, as the importance of the female vote and
women’s issues have vaulted to the top of American’s political conversation
over the last few years. And that heightened attention on gender, these
experts say, will likely make it easier than in 2008 for Clinton or another
female candidate to campaign on issues like child care and to combat
criticism they face that might be rooted in sexism.

“It’s a very different cultural environment. You have a rise in the
prominence of figures like [New York Senator Kirstin] Gillibrand, a growth
in feminist media, you have more people who are writing as feminists. This
is a far friendlier environment to be talking about women-friendly social
policy,” said Rebecca Traister, a liberal writer who wrote a 2011 book
called “Big Girls Don’t Cry” that examined some of the challenges female
politicians, including Clinton, have faced.

Not only has the number of female senators increased from 16 to 20 since
2008, but politicians such as Gillibrand have emerged as leaders in
Washington, speaking frequently and frankly about gender and the challenges
women face in American society. Issues of balancing work and family, which
Clinton wrote about during the 1990’s, were not a major feature of her last
presidential campaign. Now, they're so prominent that male politicians in
both parties are talking about them.

A group of unabashedly feminist and mostly liberal media figures like
Traister are using both traditional publications and social media, which
was in its infancy in 2008, to attack media coverage they view as sexist, a
development that could help Clinton.

Demographics are shifting as well, as women are voting at higher
percentages than men and unmarried women have become an increasingly key
electoral bloc. With those unmarried women in mind, the Democratic Party,
in 2012 and 2014, has put women’s pay and abortion rights at the forefront
of its policy agenda.

Neera Tanden, who was a top adviser to Clinton in 2008 and now is president
of the Center for American Progress, a D.C. think tank that works closely
with the Obama administration, said, “Essentially, there was no movement
for women before…..now there's much more in the culture making it a plus,
rather than a minus.”

This shift should not be overstated. In a country where women are about 51
percent of the population, they make up only 20 percent of senators and 0
percent of the hosts of the major network Sunday morning talk shows and
evening newscasts. Polling done in 2012 by Gallup showed about 5 percent of
Americans would be uncomfortable with a female president, though that
number has steadily declined since the 1970’s, when about a quarter of
Americans expressed doubts about voting for a woman.

“We’re not there yet. We are still seeing stories about Hillary Clinton,
can she be a grandmother and a president, the sort of craziness around her
brain damage [Clinton had a concussion in 2012] and the glasses she was
wearing. We are not at a point where we have total gender equality,” said
Elizabeth Plank, a Clinton supporter who works as a senior editor at Mic, a
politics and policy website aimed at people under 35.

She added, “We never talk about John McCain’s cleavage, or what he does
with his hair, or his wrinkles.”

Much of this activism around women’s issues is driven by Democrats, and
some conservative women view it simply as a way to boost liberal
candidates, including Clinton. Obama won in 2012 in part because of a big
advantage among female voters (they favored him by 11 points), and
Democrats are struggling in this fall’s elections in part because that gap
has narrowed. To win in 2016, Clinton will need a sizable advantage among
women.

The policy objectives proposed by many feminist activists, such as
requiring employers to give parents paid leave after their children are
born, are opposed by many Republicans.

“I think this notion of women as a group of victims has become in vogue on
the left and in Democratic circles. I’m not sure most women feel that way,”
said Katie Packer Gage, a Republican strategist who was deputy campaign
manager for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign.

But Republican candidates are increasingly speaking frankly about gender as
well. In a congressional race in northern Virginia, the campaign of
Republican hopeful Barbara Comstock, a longtime political operative and
congressional staffer, has blasted her Democratic opponent John Foust as
being “sexist” for suggesting Comstock had never held a “real job.”

“One of things we are doing is we call it out when someone is boorish,”
said Kellyanne Conway, a GOP strategist who has worked with top party
officials on closing the gender gap.

The groundswell of attention on gender and the rise of new female voices
could have a major impact on the 2016 campaign. If she runs, Clinton (or
another female Democrat like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren) will in
effect have a defense team outside of her official campaign apparatus, one
that will be more concerned that she is treated, in their minds, fairly by
the male-dominated political establishment than if she wins in Iowa. (These
activists say they would like to stop sexism no matter who the candidate,
bemoaning how Sarah Palin was treated in 2008 as well.)

Plank referred to a group that organizes on Twitter using the hashtag
“NotBuyingIt” that finds examples of sexism and highlights it, looking to
force corporations and the press to change their behavior. She noted she
belongs to a list serve of influential women who communicate about
challenges of gender and look for ways to influence public debate.

Officials at Emily’s List, the liberal group that promotes female
candidates, say there are now a number of influential writers and
commentators they can turn to highlight coverage they view as sexist, such
as stories earlier this year about Texas gubernatorial candidate Wendy
Davis that raised questions about her parenting.

“There is a generation of women, not necessarily that are even going to
vote for her [Clinton], who might be more diligent in paying attention to
that treatment, and that gender does matter,” said Kelly Dittmar, a scholar
at the non-partisan Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers
University, which gives trainings to female candidates of both parties.

Feminist activists point to a number of successes in changing the public
narrative on gender issues, from the sharp criticism Republicans in
Congress faced in 2012 when a hearing on contraception was dominated by men
to the attention they drew earlier this year to the firing of Jill
Abramson, who had been the first female editor of the New York Times.

“We’ve moved into this social media age, and women are more social than
men,” said Plank. “Women are driving conversation online and that is having
a huge impact at the level of politics. Politicians are being held
accountable. If Todd Akin made his comments now, it would have been even
worse for him than a couple of years ago. Before news drove social media.
Now social media drives news.”

Male politicians are responding to this changed dynamic as well. Looking to
boost his popularity among female voters for his reelection campaign, New
York Gov. Andrew Cuomo help create a Women’s Equality Party in the state,
and he will appear on the ballot this fall as the candidate of that party,
in addition to being the candidate for the Democratic, Working Families and
Independence parties.

At his “Summit on Working Families” in June, President Obama said “there’s
no such thing as a women’s issue,” arguing inadequate or overly expensive
day care, the lack of paid family leave and the gender pay gap were
problems for all of America. Wary of Democrats casting them as opposed to
contraceptive use, a number of congressional Republican candidates, such as
North Carolina Senate hopeful Thom Tillis, have called for the sale of
birth control pills over the counter, without a prescription.

“I don’t think the environment necessarily is enabling this as much as the
demographics are forcing it. There’s a confluence of a demographic shift
with a political shift. Every election more and more women are entering the
electorate as active voters. Given that trend, people want to appeal to
them,” said Phil Singer, who was a communications strategist for Clinton’s
2008 campaign and now advises Cuomo.

Clinton herself may be the biggest beneficiary of this new politics around
gender. The author of the 1996 book “It Takes a Village,” which spoke of
the importance entire communities play in children’s well-being, was in
many ways well ahead of the political curve. Her former campaign advisers
now view the approach in 2008 as a mistake, both suppressing some of
Clinton’s true passions around issues of gender and equality and
downplaying the significance of her candidacy as the first potential female
president.

Now, Clinton is not only speaking about these issues on the campaign trail,
but highlighting them in other forums as well. She spoke at event last
month at Tanden’s group that was dubbed “Why Women’s Economic Security
Matters for All” last month and will appear at a meeting in Washington on
Thursday for the International Council for Women’s Business Leadership.

The emphasis on these issues is “a much more natural fit way for her to
campaign than she did in 2008,” said Dittmar.

*ABC News: “The Adventures of Bill and Hill: Where the Clintons Hit The
Trail in 2014”
<http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/2014-midterm-elections-bill-hillary-clintons-great-adventures/story?id=26509131>*

By Liz Kreutz and Kirsten Appleton

October 28, 2014, 1:04 p.m. EDT

In life, everyone needs a wingman. And for Democrats courting voters this
year, that person is Bill or Hillary Clinton. In some lucky cases both.

Each with their own packed itinerary, the Clintons have crisscrossed the
nation this midterm cycle, headlining events on behalf of Democratic
candidates at a pace that has only become more feverish in the homerun
stretch leading up to the election. Tomorrow, when Hillary Clinton swings
through Iowa, Bill Clinton will hit California after events today in
Colorado, and Nevada. This coming weekend, when she is in Kentucky,
Louisiana and then New Hampshire, he'll make last effort stops in Georgia
and Iowa.

By Election Day, the Clintons are expected to have campaigned for a total
of more than 30 different candidates across roughly 25 states. Since
September, they’ll have logged more than 50,000 miles, equivalent to
roughly two trips around the globe.

Even the former president has poked fun at how often he’s been trotted out
to offer support. He told a crowd at a recent New Hampshire fundraiser, “I
feel like an old racehorse in a stable and people take me out and take me
on the track and slap me on the rear to see if I can run around one more
time.”

Here’s an interactive map showing where they campaigned this year:

[MAP]

*Clintons as Democratic Wingmen*

As President Obama’s poll numbers plummet, with an approval rating that
remains in the low 40’s, Bill and Hillary Clinton have become the most
sought after Democratic surrogates of the midterm cycle for candidates
trying to woo voters – and raise money.

On one lucrative day in California last week, Hillary Clinton headlined a
DCCC event in San Francisco, which according to the group raised $1.4
million, and later that night a DSCC event in Hollywood that reportedly
raised a “record” $2.1 million. (A spokesperson for the group told ABC News
the DSCC does not disclose their financial figures, however acknowledged
that the Clintons have been “enormously helpful” in their election efforts.)

*Hillary 2016?*

This schedule has its advantages for the Clintons, too. While out on the
trail Hillary Clinton’s been honing a message during her stump speech that
could very likely develop into her platform for 2016 should she announce a
presidential run.

This message, focused on domestic issues such as working families, equality
for women, and investment in the future, uses her granddaughter Charlotte
as an emblematic talking point. “You should not have to be the grandchild
of a president to get a good education, get good healthcare, have good job
opportunities, have a family that can protect, nurture and prepare you for
life,” she said during rousing remarks at a campaign rally for Pennsylvania
governor candidate, Tom Wolf, earlier this month.

Of course, every appearance she makes on the trail is also one more
opportunity to make a flub. (Just yesterday, for instance, she had to
backpedal on a line she made last week about jobs that drew backlash from
the GOP and even raised eyebrows by some of Wall Street’s most prominent
Democratic supporters.) But that appears to be a risk she's willing to take.

As of now, Hillary Clinton has yet to announce her own plans for the
future, and out on the trail Clinton will say she has only one mission in
mind: 2014.

*Associated Press, via Daily Journal: “Hillary Clinton coming to New
Orleans to rally for Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu on Saturday”
<http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/ebd94b58eb1a4424bf7e89c467533964/LA--Senate-Louisiana-Hillary-Clinton/>*

[No Writer Mentioned]

October 28, 2014, 10:36 a.m. EDT

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — Hillary Rodham Clinton is heading to New Orleans
this weekend to stir up voter support for Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary
Landrieu.

Landrieu's campaign announced Tuesday that the former secretary of state
and likely 2016 Democratic presidential candidate will be the headliner at
a women's rally for Landrieu on Saturday.

Former President Bill Clinton was in Baton Rouge last week at an event
urging people to back Landrieu in her bid for election to a fourth term.
The Clintons have been popular faces on the campaign trail for Democratic
candidates in several Southern states, in advance of the Nov. 4 election.

Landrieu is targeted nationally by Republicans in their efforts to regain
control of the Senate. Her main GOP opponents are U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy
and tea party favorite Rob Maness.

*MSNBC: Why it pays to be friends with Bill and Hillary Clinton
<http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/bill-clinton-hillary-clinton-friends-benefits>*

By Alex Seitz-Wald

October 28, 2014 7:16 a.m. EDT

It pays to be friends with Bill and Hillary.

The Clintons are, without rival, the hottest surrogates in the Democratic
Party – but not every candidate can get them. The former first couple can
swoop into town and raise millions of dollars or assemble thousands of
fired-up Democrats. Their endorsement is one of the few that actually sways
voters, according to polls. “There is not one single competitive district
in the country where both don’t do well,” the chairman of the Democratic
Congressional Campaign Committee, Rep. Steve Israel, told the AP.

But there’s a problem: There are only two Clintons, and only so much time
before Election Day. With control of the Senate in the balance, and a
chance to pick up key states in gubernatorial races, that doesn’t leave
much time to campaign for the 200 House Democratic candidates on the ballot
this year, let alone races further down the ballot.

And yet, on Monday, Hillary Clinton headed to Somers, New York, to rally
for Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who is facing a tough reelection battle
against the Republican he beat in 2012 to take the seat, former Rep. Nan
Hayworth. Maloney represents the congressional district adjacent to
Clinton’s, and is one of only eight openly gay members of Congress, but he
has another advantage in attracting the Clintons that other candidates
don’t.

“I was part of what they called Hillaryland,” he said Monday while
introducing Clinton. Indeed, the Clintons and Maloney go way way back. He
started his political career as a junior staffer for Bill Clinton’s first
presidential campaign, and eventually worked his way up to senior positions
in the White House. He invited them to his wedding this summer.

When Maloney ran for Congress in 2012, Bill came to give him a boost. When
Maloney faced a Democratic primary earlier this year, Bill came back to
help. And now, as he faces a tough general election battle, Hillary Clinton
came to rally the troops.

It’s typical treatment from the Clintons, whose loyalty and personal
attention to friends and former staffers is legendary. Favors are
remembered, friendships are rewarded – and grudges are held.

Also on Monday, the former president endorsed a candidate for attorney
general – of a city. Karl Racine, who is running for attorney general in
the District of Columbia, worked as a lawyer in Clinton’s White House. “His
work as my Associate White House Counsel prepared him well for this
office,” Clinton said in a statement.

It’s hardly the first time the former president has reached way down the
ballot to bolster for a candidate.

Earlier this year, Clinton campaigned for a candidate in a Democratic
primary for state treasurer in Rhode Island. The candidate, Seth Magaziner,
is the son of longtime Clinton advisor Ira Magaziner (he won the primary
and is expected to win the general on Tuesday).

Meanwhile, the first politician Hillary Clinton campaigned for in 2014 was
Pennsylvania congressional candidate Marjorie Margolies, Chelsea Clinton’s
mother-in-law. The only Democrats she boosted the year before were Bill de
Blasio, her former Senate campaign manager, and Virginia Gov. Terry
McAuliffe, the chairman of her 2008 presidential campaign. Both are
longtime Clinton aides and allies.

In 2009, Bill Clinton recorded a robo-call for a 23-year-old Virginia House
of Delegates candidate named Adam Parkhomenko. Parkhomenko lost, but went
on to found Ready for Hillary, the quasi-official Clinton super PAC gearing
up for a 2016 bid.

He’ll do mayoral races, too. In 2011, he stumped for his former aide Rahm
Emanuel, who won his bid to be Chicago’s chief executive. The former
president also turned out for Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter. Nutter was
in no danger of losing a second term, but he did give Hillary Clinton a key
endorsement in 2008.

This year, both Clintons have kept busy campaign schedules, but have been
particularly invested in Kentucky Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes,
the daughter of longtime Clinton friend and ally, Jerry Lundergan.

And almost all of the Democrats running for major office in Arkansas have
some direct connection to the former governor. Sen. Mark Pryor is the son
of Clinton’s political mentor, former senator David Pryor. James Lee Witt,
Clinton’s old friend and FEMA director, is running for Congress.

But just as favors are remembered, transgressions are as well.

During the last election cycle, Bill Clinton made what some dubbed a
“loyalty tour,” campaigning for House candidates who endorsed his wife in
2008  – and punishing those who snubbed her by backing Barack Obama.

In one memorable moment, Bill Clinton went practically to the hometown of a
former Democratic congressman who rebuffed Hillary in order to campaign for
a rival in the Democratic primary for attorney general of Pennsylvania.

According to the book “HRC,” by journalists Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes,
the Clintons kept a “hit list” of fellow partisans who had wronged them. “I
am never going to forget the people who supported Hillary,” Bill told a
group of Democrats after his wife’s presidential campaign failed – while
staring into the eyes of a then-congressman who did not support her.

*The Atlantic: “Can Twitter Solve Hillary Clinton's Relatability Problem?”
<http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/10/has-twitter-solved-hillary-clintons-relatability-problem/381225/>*

By David Ludwig

October 28, 2014, 10:00 a.m. EDT

[Subtitle:] The former secretary of state has sometime struggled to connect
with voters on the stump. Maybe 140 characters suit her better.

Since she entered the national spotlight more than 20 years ago, Hillary
Clinton has struggled to connect with voters the way great politicians
often do—look no further than her husband for a prime example of the
dynamic, American pol. Well, Hillary has finally found a way off showing
her softer side: Twitter.

In April 2012, a black-and-white picture of then-Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton sitting in a military plane, wearing sunglasses, and holding her
BlackBerry went viral thanks to a Tumblr account called “Texts from
Hillary.” The account, which was shared over 82,000 times on Facebook in
one week, features the now-famous picture of the former first lady
exchanging snarky text messages with celebrities ranging from Barack Obama
to Meryl Streep.

"Brunch?" asks Meryl Streep. "Obviously," a stone-faced Hillary replies.

The main joke of Texts from Hillary is that the hard-edged, no-nonsense,
steely-faced Clinton is the only adult in a world of celebrity toddlers.
While we're laughing at the idea that Hillary Clinton actually texts with
celebs, we're also laughing at the general incompetence of the people she's
texting with. In this sense, Texts From Hillary managed to take had been
one of Clinton's greatest weaknesses—her wooden, stern persona—and turn it
into something positive and endearing: her no-nonsense competence and
authority.

"She's going to love the new Justin Bieber video!" says a casually dressed
Joe Biden, flanked by a smiling Barack Obama. "Back to work boys," Hillary
replies.

The Texts From Hillary meme inspired national coverage, including a column
by Maureen Dowd in The New York Times and articles in multiple other
publications, from The Washington Post to BuzzFeed to CNN. Hillary even
invited the Tumblr's creators, Adam Smith and Stacy Lambe—both
communications professionals in Washington, D.C.—to the State Department,
where she put on her signature sunglasses and snapped a picture with the
pair. The Internet was laughing, and Hillary Clinton was finally in on the
joke.

Shortly after Texts From Hillary blew up, Talking Points Memo's Benjy
Sarlin wrote about the impact it had on reinventing Clinton's wooden public
persona:

When she was running for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary
Clinton was parodied as drab and calculated, especially compared with young
and vigorous Barack Obama and winking and fresh-faced Sarah Palin. Now,
she's fueling Internet jokes based on her own brand of badass cool.

Creating, or cultivating as Clinton has done, a brand of "badass cool" is
not a small achievement for someone who has struggled to connect in more
traditional forms of political communication over the past 20 plus years.
During Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign in 1992, focus-group
testing prompted pollsters to suggest that the public needed to meet “the
real Hillary." When she was running for the U.S. Senate in New York State
10 years later, longtime media adviser Mandy Grunwald once again urged
Clinton “to be real.” And in 2008, Clinton often looked stiff next to the
charismatic, young Barack Obama.

While four years away from rough-and-tumble domestic politics helped boost
Clinton's popularity—she left the State Department in 2012 with a whopping
69 percent approval rating—her relatability problems still haven't gone
away.

Look no further than her recent and seemingly never-ending book tour, where
Clinton was again derided for what were seen as out of touch comments that
she and her husband were “dead broke” after leaving the White House. While
the couple did owe upwards of $10 million in legal fees, they also walked
out of Washington into millions of dollars in book advances and paid
speeches.

Despite her struggles to relate in interviews and during months of book
tours, Hillary Clinton has been able to project a relatable persona on
social media. In June 2013—with help from State Department social-media
adviser Katie Dowd and Obama digital strategist Katie Stanton—Hillary
joined Twitter, where she co-opted the tongue-in-cheek tone of Texts from
Hillary. Clinton’s first tweet even credited the meme’s two creators as an
inspiration:

*Sec. Hillary Rodham Clinton* @HillaryClinton: Thanks for the inspiration
@ASmith83 & @Sllambe - I'll take it from here... #tweetsfromhillary
[6/10/13, 12:44 p.m. EDT
<https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/344132945122054144>]

What's more, Clinton's Twitter account employs the black-and-white
“texting” picture from Smith and Lambe's Tumblr—the photograph was taken by
Time magazine photographer Diana Walker on a trip from Malta to Tripoli in
2011.

Since then, Clinton—or whoever on her media team is tweeting for her—has
used Twitter to give her 2.27 million followers a glimpse into her personal
life.

In June, 2013 daughter Chelsea snapped a photo of the pair while they were
backstage at an event for the family's Clinton Global Initiative in Chicago:

*Chelsea Clinton* @ChelseaClinton: My first #selfie w my mom
@HillaryClinton back stage at #CGIAmerica. #ProudDaughter [6/14/13, 2:17
p.m. EDT <https://twitter.com/ChelseaClinton/status/345605996615442432>]

Hillary responded, "Having so much fun with Chelsea, taking selfies back
stage." Taking selfies with your mom? That's something even regular people
can do.

When Prince George was born later that month—an event that captivated U.S.
popular culture—Clinton poked fun at her 1996 book It Takes a Village:

*Sec. Hillary Rodham Clinton* @HillaryClinton: Congratulations from across
the pond to the Duke and Duchess! Wishing you the best of luck and a bit of
advice: It Takes a (Royal) Village! [6/23/13, 9:01 a.m. EDT
<https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/359659535008415745>]

In June, Katy Perry offered to write Hillary a theme song at a book event.
Clinton responded with a not so subtle reference to her book, Hard Choices:

*Katy Perry* @katyperry: I told hillaryclinton that I would write her a
"theme" song if she needs it... 🇺🇸👩🇺🇸👩🇺🇸
http://instagram.com/p/pe0gUfP-Xa/ [6/20/14, 5:50 p.m. EDT
<https://twitter.com/katyperry/status/480105360452104193>]

*Sec. Hillary Rodham Clinton* @HillaryClinton: .@katyperry
<https://twitter.com/katyperry> Well that’s not a Hard Choice. You already
did! Keep letting us hear you Roar. [6/22/14, 5:19 p.m. EDT
<https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/480822509822959616>]

Taking selfies, talking about pop culture, and tweeting at young
celebrities? While the 67-year Clinton isn't in the running to become the
next Perez Hilton, there's something hilariously endearing about the fact
that she's trying so hard.

So, why does Hillary come across as more relatable on Twitter than she does
in interviews and on the campaign trail?

"I think her team has done a great job of giving @hillaryclinton a
distinctive, down-to-earth voice," said Laura Olin, who ran social-media
strategy for Obama's 2012 campaign, including the @BarackObama Twitter
account. "It really does feel like they took a page from Texts from Hillary
and embraced the opportunity to let her personality and sense of humor
shine through."

By poking fun at herself and the daily circus around her, Clinton looks
like she's in on the joke. Although some politicians, like Democratic
Representative John Dingell, display a level of humor on Twitter, the
average elected official (or former top diplomat) often tweets with the
straightforwardness of a boring, carefully drawn line. @HillaryClinton's
line is decidedly more entertaining.

Compare her Twitter bio (“Wife, mom, lawyer, women & kids advocate, FLOAR,
FLOTUS, US Senator, SecState, author, dog owner, hair icon, pantsuit
aficionado, glass ceiling cracker, TBD…”) with Mitt Romney’s (“former
Governor of Massachusetts”) or potential 2016 presidential candidate Martin
O'Malley's ("Official Twitter account of Governor O'Malley. A way to
connect, share thoughts and make our state government work for the people
of Maryland") or family values apologist Rick Santorum's ("Husband to
@KarenSantorum, dad of 7, fighting for hard-working Americans... ").

Jena McGregor wrote about Clinton's Twitter debut in The Washington Post
with the headline, “Hillary Clinton Joins Twitter, Sounds Human"—offering
the clear implication that the former first lady can come across as, well,
less than human. McGregor writes that Clinton's humanity, which has often
eluded her in public, shines through in 140 characters.

Clinton (or at least her advisers) get that Twitter is a place to expose
the person behind the professional veneer—at least a little bit .... Since
her Twitter bio made waves in the news Clinton has continued this playful,
human tone.

Can a relatable Twitter persona shine through in other, non-virtual forms?
While her book tour shows that Twitter can't protect Clinton from
old-fashioned gaffes, Olin noted that @HillaryClinton could positively
affect the Hillary brand.

"Given how much attention the media seems to pay to Twitter and report out
from it, that authentic voice could reflect how people beyond the Twitter
audience thinks of her," she said. "Haters are gonna hate no matter what
she does—so why not ignore them entirely, have some fun with her presence
online, and probably reach a lot more non-haters in the process?" Olin
added.

Clinton may not be ignoring her "haters," but she's taken the opportunity
to poke fun at them like in this tweeted jab at Fox News during last year's
Super Bowl:

*Sec. Hillary Rodham Clinton* @HillaryClinton: It’s so much more fun to
watch FOX when it’s someone else being blitzed & sacked! #SuperBowl
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/SuperBowl?src=hash> [2/2/14, 8:44 p.m. EDT
<https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/430154695860953088>]

The tweet went viral, reaching 56,085 retweets and making news across the
web.

Eight months later, Clinton's Twitter flame shows no sign of flickering.
Earlier this year, @HillaryClinton was one of only four political accounts
to garner a coveted spot on Time's annual list of the best Twitter feeds of
the year. What's most significant isn't Hillary's selection but the reason
for her selection, which Time cited as a mastery of the"power selfie" and a
knack for making "tweeted zingers" go viral. Put another way, Clinton, who
has struggled to connect with average Americans over decades in public
life, is winning the social media popularity contest.

On April Fools Day, Bill Clinton parodied the Texts from Hillary meme by
tweeting out the now infamous Diana Walker photograph with the former
president photoshopped into the picture. @HillaryClinton retweeted:

*Sec. Hillary Rodham Clinton* @HillaryClinton: Well, that explains what
happened to my iPad! RT @BillClinton <https://twitter.com/billclinton>: I'm
following my leader! [4/1/14, 1:23 p.m. EDT
<https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/451047120267919360>]

It's safe to say that both Clintons, whose public statements (and tweeted
zingers) are carefully wrought, know that they've got a good thing going.
Should she run for president in 2016—and everything says she will—being
able to connect with voters on a large scale will likely be crucial for her
campaign. Hillary Clinton may still not have her husband's charisma on the
stump, but @HillaryClinton has created its own brand of badass cool on
social media.

*New York Times: “Martin O’Malley, a Hillary Clinton Loyalist, Is Now a
Potential 2016 Alternative”
<http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/10/28/us/a-clinton-loyalist-now-a-potential-alternative.html?referrer=&_r=0>*

By Jason Horowitz

October 27, 2014

BALTIMORE — Last month, as the national media followed Hillary Rodham
Clinton to Iowa, a possible challenger for the Democratic presidential
nomination, Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland, strummed a green guitar under
a white backstage tent at Baltimore’s Patterson Park. “If you lose a verse
and get brain tired, just nod to me,” Mr. O’Malley told his longtime fellow
members in the rock band O’Malley’s March as they warmed up for a concert
celebrating the 200th anniversary of “The Star Spangled Banner.”

A War of 1812 fanatic who had posed the day before in a re-enactor’s
uniform atop a white horse, Mr. O’Malley now wore black shoes, jeans and a
muscle shirt, took a swig from a tall can of Yuengling, and played a few
songs on his banjo (“my retirement instrument”). The band took a break, and
Mr. O’Malley signed a re-enactor’s wooden rifle, cracked open a can of
Guinness and asked the co-writer of the evening’s main act, “1814! The Rock
Opera,” what he did for a day job.

“I’m an editor at AARP Magazine,” David Dudley responded.

“Growing membership,” Mr. O’Malley noted.

“When you hit 50...,” Mr. Dudley began.

“I’m 51,” the governor interrupted.

“You’re in our zone!” Mr. Dudley responded, to Mr. O’Malley’s apparent
chagrin.

AARP membership is something of a danger zone for an aspiring presidential
candidate who talks about “big generational shifts afoot” and his
connection to voters under 40. But as Mr. O’Malley campaigns for Democrats
in the midterm elections and positions himself as the party’s fresh
alternative to the 67-year-old Mrs. Clinton, his middle age matters much
less than his failure thus far to offer something new. Unlike Elizabeth
Warren, he does not stand for the economic populism that rouses the party’s
base. He lacks a ceiling-cracking selling point to boost his biographical
appeal and is best known in political circles as a competent,
statistics-quoting wonk who tends to underwhelm on the stump.

Now, as the midterms come to a close, Mr. O’Malley will have to make clear
whether he is willing to challenge Mrs. Clinton, the giant who blocks any
viable path to the nomination. So far, he is reluctant to so much as nudge
the woman he supported “all the way through” the 2008 Democratic primaries,
publicly eschewing any criticism of her positions and privately pitching
himself to donors as a Clintonian contingency plan. Instead, Mr. O’Malley
contrasts himself with a safer target: the embattled president of the
United States.

In an interview in his 23rd-floor office overlooking Baltimore, when asked
about Mrs. Clinton’s remarks that tens of thousands of minors who crossed
the southern border illegally “should be sent home,” Mr. O’Malley said, “I
wasn’t really focused on her or what she was saying.” He instead criticized
Mr. Obama for sending minors to “summary return to the death squads from
which they fled.”

When asked how his brand of leadership differed from Mrs. Clinton’s, he
said, “My mind is not even in the compare-contrast mode,” but suggested
that Mr. Obama had failed to build the Democratic Party. “For my part, I
found you have to make your party strong,” he said, taking issue with those
“who would like to believe that we are in a post-partisan era.”

And he echoed Mrs. Clinton’s critique of the president in suggesting that
Mr. Obama had allowed the problem of the Islamic State to fester. “It is at
great risk to our national interest and national security to ever become
disengaged from the broader world,” he said, adding, “Very often messes get
worse the longer they go unattended.”

All of which leads one to ask why Mr. O’Malley is, as he puts it,
“seriously considering” a run. Is he trying to raise his profile, be Mrs.
Clinton’s running mate, her housing secretary?

“They would say that about anyone who was contemplating doing this as a
relative unknown,” Mr. O’Malley said. “But history is full of relative
unknowns who go and do the hard work, put together a more compelling
framework for our country’s future, and go out and campaign.”

The campaigning part, at least, Mr. O’Malley has down. The governor gets
the midterms attendance ribbon, having campaigned for more than 150
Democratic candidates and visited Iowa four times since June. His political
action committee has paid for staff on the ground, including in Manning,
S.C., where on a recent afternoon he campaigned for the Democratic
candidate for governor, Vincent Sheheen. As Mr. O’Malley slipped into a
room in the back of the Trinity A.M.E. Church, crammed with about 100
mostly African-American voters, his communications director, Lis Smith,
located a local reporter in the room.

“Let me know if you want to chat,” she told him.

Mr. O’Malley stood behind a small lectern at the center of the room and
declared, “Greetings from Maryland,” which was met with near silence, and
“in particular Baltimore,” which was met with applause. He knew his
audience. “That city that the young Frederick Douglass loved, that city
that Thurgood Marshall loved,” he continued.

Mr. O’Malley has an unorthodox style on the stump: He often pans the crowd
with a fixed and blank gaze. His dramatic language and gestures can seem
inauthentic, almost hammy. (This was most widely noted in his 2012
Democratic National Convention speech, in which he used kindergarten
teacher intonations to lead the crowd in repeated calls and responses of
“moving American forward — not back.”) On a more personal level, he can be
engaging when he relaxes, but at times he maintains unblinking eye contact
while speaking in whispered sentences with telepathic intensity.

But the crowd in Manning warmed to his message, and as he worked the room,
Mr. Sheheen stood on the steps outside the church, explaining why his
campaign had “invited” Mr. O’Malley to South Carolina.

An aide to Mr. Sheheen, Antjuan Seawright, interrupted.

“Offered,” he said. “He offered to come.”

“Yeah,” Mr. Sheheen said, “and he offered.”

Mr. O’Malley’s entire life seems to be a prelude to a presidential campaign.

Born into a Democratic family, he took time off from Catholic University to
work on the 1984 presidential campaign of Gary Hart, who overcame 1 percent
polling numbers to nearly defeat Walter Mondale for the Democratic
nomination.

“He should run, not only for his own sake but I think for the party’s
sake,” Mr. Hart said of Mr. O’Malley, a friend, in a telephone interview.
“I don’t believe in coronations. I guess Walter Mondale was the Hillary
Clinton of that time.”

Mr. O’Malley moved from a Washington suburb to Baltimore, married into a
political family, and became a City Council member and eventually mayor of
a city with a population more than 60 percent African-American, victories
that he attributed to his being “not in the least bit uncomfortable, as
some who have not had the benefit of those experiences might be,” in
appealing to black voters. He lowered the crime rate and overcame an
unflattering portrayal on the acclaimed television series “The Wire” —
“Yuck, yuck, har, har, it’s only fiction,” Mr. O’Malley said acridly — to
be elected governor and rack up progressive victories like the extension of
in-state college tuition rates to undocumented immigrants.

All of which led him down narrow country roads flanked by churches and
fields of bowed sunflowers to a school in Hopkins, S.C.

There he schmoozed with local officials, obeying an organizer’s command to
“walk out and touch ’em!” and gave another version of his speech, this time
pointing out that Harriet Tubman had lived in Maryland.

Lionel Gaines, a Washington-based operative for Mr. O’Malley’s PAC, was
asked about the governor’s progress in early primary states. “People are
aware” of Mr. O’Malley, Mr. Gaines said, and added of Mrs. Clinton, “I talk
to people and they say Hillary might be raising a lot of money, but I see
O’Malley and ...” He suddenly stopped talking. Ms. Smith, the
communications director, had jabbed him in the side when he mentioned Mrs.
Clinton.

Mr. O’Malley ended his sweep through South Carolina with a visit to the
state’s gay pride festival in Columbia, where the M.C. applauded his
signing of same-sex marriage legislation and said, “Don’t forget that name:
Martin O’Malley.”

Mr. O’Malley then mingled as the drag queen Patti O’Furniture sang on
stage. James Quinn, who wore rainbow stripes on his cheeks and a “Ready for
Hillary” sticker on his chest, shook his hand, and said later: “I want
Hillary, but he should run. He’d give her a good run for her money.”

So far, top Democratic donors are unsure whether Mr. O’Malley will play as
well nationally as he does in Baltimore.

Under the backstage tent in Baltimore, he opened another Guinness, and his
musical director called down from atop the park hill. “Hey, Martin, they’re
going to introduce us.”

“Yep,” Mr. O’Malley replied, and trudged up the hill.

On stage, Mr. O’Malley asked for more volume on his mike, charmed the crowd
with small talk and then blew the lid off the place with the band’s “Afro
Celtic Spirit.” People petting a poodle with its fur dyed red, white and
blue sang O’Malley’s March lyrics by heart. The governor climbed onto the
speakers to imitate Bruce Springsteen, sparked an uproarious dance party on
the lawn and closed by leading the crowd in a soulful, spoken-word
rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner.” It was moving and different and
allusive of a charisma that Mr. O’Malley’s backers hope he translates to
the presidential campaign trail.

“You caught a good gig,” he said on the way back to the tent. “That was
magical. That won’t happen again for another 200 years.”

*CNBC: “Wall St. eyes Hillary Clinton's anti-bank message”
<http://www.cnbc.com/id/102128057>*

By Ben White

October 28, 2014

Hillary Clinton has tacked hard left in recent appearances on the stump in
midterm campaigns in Minnesota and Massachusetts, slamming banks for
behavior during the financial crisis, criticizing CEO pay and even
(mistakenly, it turns out) saying companies are not the generator of jobs
in the American economy.

Clinton walked back that goof on Monday, saying she meant to criticize tax
breaks for corporations and remained committed to the idea that businesses
do, in fact, create jobs.

"I shorthanded this point the other day so let me be absolutely clear,"
Clinton said. "Our economy grows when businesses and entrepreneurs create
good-paying jobs here in America and workers and families are empowered to
build from the bottom up. Not when we hand out tax breaks for corporations
that outsource jobs or stash their profits overseas."

So far there is little panic on Wall Street over Clinton's lurch to the
left. In interviews on Monday, several bankers said they understood that
Clinton needs to appease the Elizabeth Warren wing of the party with more
fiery, progressive rhetoric even if it rings hollow given Clinton and her
husband's close relationships with bankers and the huge sums the former
first lady, New York senator and secretary of state earned speaking to
Goldman Sachs and other financial groups.

The real concern, according to these bankers, will come if Clinton starts
espousing new policies, such as bank breakups, much higher bank taxes, pay
restrictions or other measures.

One top executive at a large Wall Street bank told me: "I'd be shocked if
she didn't try to channel Warren occasionally. And I'd also be shocked if
she chose to make it personal at any point or if she proposed any
significant new policies."

This banker said once a campaign starts, Clinton could in fact propose some
tougher policies on Wall Street without fully alienating the financial
services industry that is a big source of campaign cash.

"She could do a bank tax as part of corporate tax reform proposals and
banks could still wind up paying a lower rate than they do now," this
person said. "So some new policy could be fine. But it really depends what
it is."

Robert Wolf, an investment banker at 32 Advisors and close friend and
fundraiser for President Barack Obama, said Wall Streeters understand the
audiences Clinton is now addressing (deep blue states) and the politics of
the Democratic Party right now.

"It doesn't seem to me that Wall Street is too focused on the comments that
possible Democratic or Republican general election candidates are making at
these local, midterm election events in places like Minnesota, Iowa or
Massachusetts," he said.

"Thus, I certainly do not think anyone is extrapolating Secretary Clinton's
or anyone else's remarks as her or his national agenda. We all know that
the hotly debated topics of today will unlikely be the key ones a year from
now."

Clinton's recent moves do not suggest any big policy shift. Warren recently
softened her disavowals of a presidential run, increasing pressure on the
former first lady to appeal to the Massachusetts senator's vocal
constituency, which is desperate for further crackdowns on banks and more
progressive tax policy.

What the moves do show is that Clinton is not great on the stump and is
pretty bad at going left. These problems helped sink Clinton's campaign in
2008 when Obama caught fire with progressives with his soaring rhetoric and
his consistent opposition to the Iraq War.

A 2016 campaign will be quite different, of course. There is no Barack
Obama on the horizon. Even Warren, if she runs, would be very unlikely to
defeat Clinton in the primaries, though she might get close or even win an
early state or two.

But Clinton's deficiencies as a politician could prove far more damaging in
a general election campaign, especially if Republicans nominate a candidate
with broad national appeal who can compete in swing states like Ohio and
Florida.

Right now it looks like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, should he get in,
would be the most likely candidate to take advantage of a weak Clinton
campaign. But even one of the other Republicans considering a run such as
Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., or Marco Rubio, R-Fla., could wind up displaying
superior political skills and denying Clinton the White House.

The main takeaway here is not that Clinton is going to run as a
pitchfork-wielding, fire-breathing scourge of the banks. That's not going
to happen. It's that she has to step up her campaign game in a major way to
make it to the Oval Office.

*Mediaite column: Eddie Scarry: “Democrat’s 2016 1st Commandment: Thou
Shalt Not Step to Hillary”
<http://www.mediaite.com/online/democrats-2016-1st-commandment-thou-shalt-not-step-to-hillary/>*

By Eddie Scarry

October 28, 2014, 10:25 a.m. EDT

Most striking in the New York Times‘ new lengthy and fairly glossy profile
on the otherwise sleepy Democratic Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, is how
much fear former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has set in the hearts
of her party colleagues.

In the article, O’Malley, who is considering a run for president, is asked
to react to recent comments by Clinton related to immigration.

“I wasn’t really focused on her or what she was saying,” he said, then
turning to criticize the apparently less fearsome President Obama.

“My mind is not even in the compare-contrast mode,” O’Malley says when
asked to differentiate his personal leadership style to Clinton’s. He then
compares and contrasts himself to Obama, who O’Malley says hasn’t done
enough to build their party.

And then there’s this alarming bit, straight out of a Harry Potter book:

“Lionel Gaines, a Washington-based operative for Mr. O’Malley’s PAC, was
asked about the governor’s progress in early primary states. ‘People are
aware’ of Mr. O’Malley, Mr. Gaines said, and added of Mrs. Clinton, ‘I talk
to people and they say Hillary might be raising a lot of money, but I see
O’Malley and …’ He suddenly stopped talking. Ms. [Lis] Smith, the
communications director, had jabbed him in the side when he mentioned Mrs.
Clinton.”

What, does she show up in a mirror if you say it three times?

*MSNBC: “Alison Lundergan Grimes: I don’t have to buy enthusiasm”
<http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/alison-lundergan-grimes-i-dont-have-buy-enthusiasm>*

By Irin Carmon

October 28, 2014, 11:54 a.m. EDT

CALHOUN, Ky. – Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes looked out at the
butter-colored senior center, packed and vibrating. “As I walked in,” she
said coolly, “I thought, ‘man, this would cost the Koch brothers a fortune.”

Word had leaked that the campaign of Grimes’ opponent, GOP Minority Leader
Senator Mitch McConnell, was offering to pay the expenses of volunteers to
contribute to “an enthusiastic atmosphere.” To her own hundred-strong crowd
in a coal-country town with a population of 763 – cars lined up on the
grassy shoulders outside, seniors rising readily to their feet to cheer –
Grimes spelled it out: “I don’t have to pay you to be here.”

Grimes has never lacked for confidence, and you need it to try to take down
a wily Senate veteran. But it helps that the news has been unusually good
for the long-shot candidate lately. Kentucky’s two largest newspapers have
endorsed her. (The Courier-Journal praised her “intelligence, energy and
clear potential”; The Lexington Herald-Leader mostly offered a stinging
assessment of McConnell.) Polls have shown the race to be deadlocked, which
is hardly good news for the man who has been in the Senate for 30 years.
And two of the brightest stars in the Democratic firmament, Hillary Clinton
and Elizabeth Warren, are headed to Kentucky this week to campaign for
Grimes in the home stretch.

There was no denying the “enthusiastic atmosphere” in Calhoun, in a crowd
heavy with lonely Democratic activists who had long wished to kick
McConnell out. When Grimes said the Koch brothers were practically
McConnell’s family, some shouted, “That’s right!” When Grimes shouted, “He
can buy the airwaves, but can he buy you?” the crowd was ready with their
deep-throated “no.”

Grimes needs their enthusiasm, and their turnout muscle, if she is to upend
the conventional wisdom that McConnell will hold on, and with him
Republican control of the Senate. She has clearly understood McConnell’s
unpopularity to be the core logic of her campaign, even as Kentuckyians
might worry about giving up his long-fought-for status in the Senate.
“Seniority might be worth something,” Grimes told the crowd, “if it weren’t
up for sale to the highest bidder.”

Jamie Whitten, a retired registered nurse, couldn’t remember the last time
Mitch McConnell had campaigned in these parts – she vaguely remembered him
attending a banquet in the region. “Living in Western Kentucky, you feel
left out,” she said. As for Grimes, Whitten said, “I wanted to jump up and
down and turn cartwheels.”

Marty Owen, a compliance officer with Kentucky Fair Contracting, a labor
union, has been volunteering with the campaign since day one. “She’s
running a close campaign against Bill Clinton on speeches,” he declared.
“She can fire up a crowd.” Owen’s father-in-law was once the campaign
manager for Wendell Ford, Kentucky’s last Democratic senator, who served
for 24 years. Grimes had inspired the eighty-four-year-old to canvass
nearby Beech Grove with a golf cart. “He keeps asking me for signs,”
marveled Owen.

“I think he’s going to be surprised, Mitch McConnell,” said Owen. “I think
he’s already surprised.”

Cozy Chappell, a magistrate judge in Muhlenberg County and a local contact
for the campaign, was more measured. “For the first time in my memory we
have a credible candidate, a very viable candidate,” she said. “I see a lot
of enthusiasm for Alison as a candidate. I don’t know if that will generate
into people going to the polls. I think people are tired, they’re
depressed, they think nothing’s going to change. They’re beaten down. They
just don’t believe in the system anymore.

“But if they don’t vote, nothing is going to change,” she added. “And if
they’re unhappy now, they’ll remain unhappy.”