My Advice to Hillary Clinton.

In My Humble Opinion
1

I know I rarely dispense political advice. But this time I feel I must, because I believe the woman in question (Mrs. Clinton) is making the wrong moves even now (if she wants to run for president, that is).

I just have two words of advice, that I would like to share with her:

1.) Do not distance yourself so much from Barack Obama. Yes, he is low in the opinion polls now. But opinion polls don’t always tell the full story. He got elected, twice no less. So clearly whatever he did or is doing, works. And also,

2.) You have to energize the base. For this you will have to take a page from radical conservatives–i.e., make it a “single issue” election. With conservative Republicans, that is usually abortion or gay marriage. Actually, for you, that can be gay marriage too. Tell your base that you are in fact nothing like your Republican opponent (who even now it is clear will be very against gay marriage). Whatever it takes to get the liberals and young people to vote.

I don’t know if Mrs. Clinton ever goes to the SDMB. But I think my advice is sound.

Of course, I am by no means a successful political consultant. I may in fact be totally wrong. Which is why I have then ask: What do the rest of you think?

:):):slight_smile:

2

She just needs to be more likeable. That’s what Obama has that she doesn’t.

I don’t think at this point she can change who she is.

3

This. Be more like Bill; tons of people (myself included) loved him even though they knew he was a smirking creep. Meanwhile, most people don’t like Hillary even though she’s capable and honorable.

4

Capable, maybe. Honorable— I’m not sure what that even means, for someone in her position. She’s a bad bullshit salesman. In a a Turnip world, I’d advise her to stop bullshitting. In the one we’re all mired in, I’ll tell her to learn to sell it better.

5

My advice:

Move to some distant place like siberia or the amazon and live in a cave for the next 20 years.
Everyone will be so glad to see you again they will forget how incredibly uncharismatic you are.

6

If I were advising her, I’d tell her to come out strong with a clear choice. Pro-gay marriage, pro legal weed, pro choice.

Her game is to keep the young voters that Obama inspired, and draw in more first time voters. Not going to do that with boring topics like budgets and foreign policy. She needs to avoid the gun issue, and dance carefully on immigration.

7

She also needs to emphasize that she is a woman. First woman president I think.
Of course she won’t do that herself, because she has to appear modest.
Her propaganda machine will do it… but must not overdo it…

And in certain issues she must act all “iron lady”. Give the impression she can be in control of a country.
I’ve seen Obama playing that “strict” act in interviews.
At some point, in the interview, he changes his attitude into “I am in control, and you need to pay me respect”.
Of course the “journalist” plays along. That’s what they pay him for…
Then Obama goes back to sweet talking.

And how she managed to keep her family together through hardship…
That will inspire many people.
Some will look up to her, others will want to “reward” her with their votes.

Some photos/videos with children, where she becomes silly, yet charming, are always a good move.
Family values…

She must not underplay her feminine side.
Many voters’ decisions are made on subconscious level.
People must feel “familiar” to her.
For example… when the British were voting for Margaret Thatcher,
they were voting for their… “oppressive mother that ran their home”.

And finally, she has to copycat some person, a woman (or who knows, even a man),
that has charmed Americans and made them dream and hope.
Obama, when he is speaking, he is 50% Martin Luther King, and 50% Malcolm X.
The things he says are more “Martin Luther King”, but the way he speaks is more “Malcolm X”.
And Bill is, of course, always acting “John Kennedy”.
I am not that familiar with American history, so I have no suggestion as to who this “model” ought to be.

In the bottom line…
she must be able to charm the people while robbing their wallets.
The previous presidents were masters at that.
After all… it’s just an act. :wink:

8

I think she just needs to relax. Every time I see her, she seems like she’s reading from a script. She’s rehearsed her speeches over and over, to the point that she needs to present herself more spontaneously. But she knows that every word she utters can work against her, so this can’t be easy.

9

Deserved or not, she has a reputation as being a bitch. This isn’t going to change.

10

It’s hard to say that likeability will be a plus in 2016. A lot of people (myself included) have felt that one of Obama’s biggest problems is he’s trying too hard to be liked. He should have realized the conservatives were never going to like him back.

Clinton, on the other hand, has the image of being somebody you don’t to mess with. After eight years of seeing their President treated like a doormat, Democrats might be thinking they want a pit bull of their own.

11

  1. Actually, I think Clinton’s keeping Obama at the appropriate distance. She has the bona fides of having served in his administration (and did a reasonable job of it), but she’s not currently bound to the administration. I expect she’ll move closer to Obama during the actual campaign; at the very least, a campaign stop from a sitting president is a great publicity.

  2. Maybe, but it’ll depend on who she’s running against.

As for my advice:

1’) Run a better campaign. Although her resume was a bit sparse as well at the time, she shouldn’t have lost to someone as inexperienced (though certainly not untalented) politically as Obama in 2008. She had name-recognition, money, and elite support; it was her primary to lose (and any reasonable Democrat would have had a good chance of winning the general election that year). She did lose it, mainly by running a campaign that miles behind Obama’s in terms of strategy, media handling, and technology.

2’) Find an issue or two to energize independents. The closest Clinton had to one in 2008 was healthcare, which wasn’t the slam-dunk she might have expected. She’s positioned as a competent, pragmatic statesman. That’s great, but it doesn’t really motivate independents. They don’t want someone who’s a party apparatchik, even a competent one; they want someone who makes noises about bipartisanship and who offers some gestures about transcending politics. Take Obama’s slogan of ‘hope’, for example. There’s no policy attached to it, but it motivated a public (including independents and the center— which are not the same thing) that was deeply unhappy with the Bush administration. I don’t think there’s going to be as much talk this cycle about wanting a ‘fresh face’ or someone who isn’t a ‘Beltway insider’, but Clinton should do something to distinguish her from a generic politician or bureaucrat. She’s gotten a lot of praise from Republicans from her time as Secretary of State (Gates, for examples, writes enthusiastically her in his memoirs); she should use that in the campaign.

12

Likeability has nothing to do with the year of the election and Obama was likeable enough to be elected and re-elected. None of it having to do with how much he was disliked by the conservatives. He got enough of the rest of the nation to like him.

Hillary does not have that problem. Nobody really likes her. Not even staunch liberals like me. That’s why she’s made the calculation to try to appeal to both sides of the isle with her hawkish stance on the middle east. And she still doesn’t come across as likeable of favourable. Just calculating.

13

I guess I didn’t even specifically mean it in the political or professional sense, but the personal; I entertain no suspicions that she’s been a serial cheater throughout most of her marriage, etc.

14

I think she should run the same kind of campaign the SDMB said Romney was doing, and for the same reasons.

Make it clear that she is just an average person, not particularly well-off, who worked hard and honestly for every penny she’s got. She has a good, solid marriage to a decent person, a reputation for being honest and above-board, lots of business acumen, and the kind of grass-roots ability to connect with moderates that a President needs.

Use her basic likeability - that’s her strong point. Couple that with her foreign policy experience, and you’ve got a winner.

Regards,
Shodan

15

Good thoughts guys. I’m sure she is watching all the SDMB posts for hints about what she should do. Keep it up.

16

She should probably be more concerned about what Australians think of her.

17

My advice: Don’t run. I know it’s hard to pass up the opportunity to be the first woman president, but the country has moved on and you’re last year’s news. Let the next generation take over. Enjoy the remaining years you have left-- being president has to be one of the most miserable jobs there is.

18

I hope not, or Shodan’s sarcasm is going to make her sad.

19

I think she should throw her support behind Elizabeth Warren and run as her VP.

20

LOL