In our latest Washington Post column, Paul Goldman and I take a look at the numbers that should be worrying the Clinton campaign (trustworthiness and such). If those numbers persist through the fall, Team Clinton has a real problem on its hands. How might she correct things? By calling upon the general election playbook used so effectively by that old family retainer, Terry McAuliffe:
Enter Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s 2013 campaign playbook. Team McAuliffe waged a brutally effective no-holds-barred attack campaign against opponent Ken Cuccinelli, then the attorney general, backed up by the state’s leading newspapers. McAuliffe’s strategy destroyed Cuccinelli’s image with key swing voters.
According to Quinnipiac, these swing voters rate Clinton as unfavorably now as they did Cuccinelli then. Is this permanent? This much we do know: Her current campaign chief, Robby Mook, ran McAuliffe’s gubernatorial bid. Eschewing the positive about McAuliffe to focus on relentlessly negative character attacks on Cuccinelli made perfect strategic sense. It hurt McAuliffe’s image too, but proved a price worth paying. The badly outspent Cuccinelli still only narrowly lost.
“Events are in the saddle and they ride mankind,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. If her image problems remain into the winter, don’t be surprised to see the price of Terry’s McAuliffe’s 2013 playbook rising.
Though McAuliffe was well-known in 2013, he wasn’t loved (even by some Democrats). He was well-funded. Well connected. Inevitable. Beating Cuccinelli demanded using an approach that was light on the policy prescriptions and heavy on the negatives. It was a big gamble that only just succeeded.
Campaigns can still reboot. Outside events could still influence the content and tenor of the race. The McAuliffe option may not — yet — be required. If it is, brace yourself. Both sides will come out swinging hard, and aiming low.
And look! It’s already getting started, with a Virginia flavor. Have a great day, Dan Gecker.
