One thing we don’t know about Hillary

[Beet]

Did she learn any lessons from 2008?

http://www.salon.com/2013/04/03/hillary_2016_and_the_mark_penn_test/

The chatter from Terry McAuliffe's campaign, and just him surrounding himself Jonathan Mantz and Robby Mook, is a reminder of how tribalist politics really are. Surely, Hillary can't think that bringing back Mark Penn would be a good idea. His name is poison in Democratic circles, particularly among the activist Democrats that have an outsized say in intraparty struggles. And the strategy he crafted was the epitome of everything that went wrong for her in 2008.

[Earthling]

If she is smart she will talk to Obama first about the campaign. He knows how to win, how to set up a very strong campaign team and how to campaign during tough times. He could really help her get her act together in 2016 and to make the same mistakes.

And Obama could send his team her way.

[Akno21]

On the other hand ... Hillary came as close as any loser in the modern era to winning a major party nomination with Mark Penn, and there's no candidate remotely as strong as Barack Obama this time around. I agree that Penn's terrible, but this seems like the stuff that matters on the margins rather than in tens of percents.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

She should just get the whole Obama team.

[Beet]

On the other hand ... Hillary came as close as any loser in the modern era to winning a major party nomination with Mark Penn, and there's no candidate remotely as strong as Barack Obama this time around. I agree that Penn's terrible, but this seems like the stuff that matters on the margins rather than in tens of percents.

Penn is actually good from a tactical standpoint ("3 AM"), but when it comes to strategy, he's not there at all. He thought that Obama had no chance of winning the general election and advocated running hard to the Right in the primary. There's also the fact that he's got such a horrendous reputation among Democratic activists that simply having his name attached to the campaign would be a negative. So unless he's so brilliant that his value outweighs that on top of his hefty fees, then he's not worth it.

[Likely Voter]

Its not just activists. The money people may also balk at dropping big cash to pay the same old guard their big consulting fees, especially Penn. My bet is that she has a mix of old school Clinton hands with some of the best of the Obama team, and no Penn.

Of course Hillary has one of the best political consultants in the universe working for her for free

[greenforest32]

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... I'd vote for that.

[Marokai Backbeat]

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... I'd vote for that.

[Stranger in a strange land]

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... I'd vote for that.

That might have worked in the 90s, but I'd love to see them try that in 2016 and get massacred with the female vote.

[Cory]

Didn't Hillary actually sit down with Penn after the campaign and admit that it was mostly Solis Doyle's fault? I think the Penn strategy might have worked had they actually carried out some of the recommendations. Go negative on Obama early.

[Ogre Mage]

Didn't Hillary actually sit down with Penn after the campaign and admit that it was mostly Solis Doyle's fault? I think the Penn strategy might have worked had they actually carried out some of the recommendations. Go negative on Obama early.

Rumor has it that Hillary did admit a large amount of blame lay at Solis Doyle's feet, but she noted that everyone in her campaign wanted Penn fired and asked him sarcastically why that was.  She also ripped into him over the revelation he met with a Colombian official to discuss a trade agreement which she opposed.

Still, it's possible that Penn may work in a Hillary campaign again.  I would only consider it a red flag if he is very high up on the food chain.

[Cory]

Yeah, it's just that the Hillary campaign had no moxy going into Iowa and didn't really rally until after Super Tuesday. That and they utterly let themselves get played by the Obama team when they (Obama) kind of played the race card against the Clintons in SC. We like to point out that 13% of white voters in WV admitted voting for Clinton because of race, but we forget the numbers are probably similar in regard to blacks voting for Obama in the 2008 primary.

[HoosierPoliticalJunkie]

Yeah, it's just that the Hillary campaign had no moxy going into Iowa and didn't really rally until after Super Tuesday. That and they utterly let themselves get played by the Obama team when they (Obama) kind of played the race card against the Clintons in SC. We like to point out that 13% of white voters in WV admitted voting for Clinton because of race, but we forget the numbers are probably similar in regard to blacks voting for Obama in the 2008 primary.

I agree completely.  Obama dominated heavily black parts of the South like MS and SC. 

[Bluegrassball]

Hillary has shown a remarkable ability to ingratiate herself to former enemies, particularly the Obama crowd during the general election and her time at State.

I think her best option would to essentially adopt these people to run her '16 campaign. The Obama machine is alive and well and will be more than ready to replicate their enormous success in 2016. I'm sure the big wigs like Axelrod and Plouffe will have moved on to bigger and better things, but there has to be binders full of important staffers and strategists that are fired up and ready to go into another White House fight.

In terms of Campaign Manager: I think if you are going to go with the Obama model, you would need a nerdy math genius type in the mold of Plouffe to run this type of 21st century campaign. But just for fun, I hear James Carville is looking for a job?

[badgate]

I would be elated if Clinton hired Gibbs. He is the only Obamian that sticks out in my mind, though.

[CountryClassSF]

Is Hillary liberal enough for today's Democrat Party?

[Blue3]

Is Hillary liberal enough for today's Democrat Party?

What's she too conservative/moderate on? Seriously.

Though it's not like Obama and the Democrats are that liberal either.

There were only 2 differences between her and Obama, policy-wise, during the primaries. Obama wanted to negotiate directly with foreign leaders who don't like us, and Obama didn't support an individual mandate for healthcare reform. And President Obama ended up making Hillary his Secretary of State, and adopting the individual mandate.