Don't Expect a Glitzy Campaign Launch for Clinton

The Republicans declared for the presidency so far have come out big — Ted Cruz in front of thousands of Christian college kids in Virginia; Rand Paul in a packed Kentucky ballroom; Marco Rubio plans a glitzy Monday evening launch in front of the iconic Freedom Tower in Miami.

But Hillary Rodham Clinton is going small — real small. When the presumed Democratic front-runner announces her 2016 bid in the coming days, expect a Facebook post, a video, maybe some tweets. Then it’s off on the trail to meet one-on-one and in small groups with voters in the early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.

The approach — described by Democratic strategists and advisers familiar with her plans — is intended to address some of the key shortcomings of Clinton’s 2008 run for the White House, when she often came off as flat and overly scripted before large crowds. The go-slow, go-small strategy, these advisers say, plays to her strengths, allowing her to meet voters in intimate settings where her humor, humility and policy expertise can show through.

What her message to those voters will be is an open question. Many supporters agree she needs a ready answer for why she wants to be president, other than that she thinks she would be good at it.

“It’s important that she campaign directly with real voters and avail herself of the opportunity that New Hampshire offers to talk with individual citizens and not to stand up on some stage and talk at them,” said Terry Shumaker, a veteran of her 2008 campaign who was also co-chair of Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign.

more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/a-new-campaign-slogan-for-hillary-rodham-clinton-think-small/2015/04/08/c1b045de-dc9c-11e4-a500-1c5bb1d8ff6a_story.html?hpid=z4