The Hillary Clinton 2014 Campaign Tour: Helping Democratic Women, One Swing State at a Time
By David Hawkings Posted at 5 a.m. Oct. 7
The Clintons stump with retiring Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin at the 37th Harkin Steak Fry in Iowa. (Steve Pope/Getty Images News File Photo)
They are matches made in Democratic political consultant heaven: More than a dozen statewide candidates whose fortunes could turn on turnout by women, each paired with the woman getting ready to run again toward what shes dubbed that highest, hardest glass ceiling in American politics.
In the final four weeks before an election, theres really only one surefire way to generate positive-earned media, the euphemism for getting the campaigns message on the local news for free and without much filter. Thats to import someone like-minded from the political A-list to talk up the candidate at a rally or photogenic factory tour. And about the best way into the pockets of the local donors who havent maxed out yet is to persuade that same big surrogate to stick around for a fundraiser after the TV crews have left the scene.
In the pantheon of Democratic celebrities, of course, Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton stand apart, and the former president generated ample attention Monday when he started two days of barnstorming in his native Arkansas with a rally for Sen. Mark Pryor, whos now a slight underdog for a third term, and gubernatorial candidate Mike Ross, the former congressman.
But while Bill Clinton is out to remind the folks back home of their past fondness for white-guy Democratic moderates, its Hillary Clinton who is all-but-officially out to capture the partys future which is whats making her the biggest get of all this fall.
All of a sudden, she is hardly being stingy with her time. After steering almost entirely clear of the public campaign trail in the six years since her first run for president, the former secretary of State has now mapped an October that includes stumping or fundraising in a dozen states. Half have been intensely contested in recent national elections and several are also pivotal players in the Democratic nominating process. Shes going to put herself out there to try to influence the outcome of at least seven Senate elections, five races for governors mansionsand even a handful of House contests.
Eight of the 14 candidates Clinton has agreed to help are women. But in almost every case where shes going in for a male candidate, a decent chance at victory will require significant turnout by female voters on Nov. 4.
The current itinerary (first detailed last week by Politico) might get adjusted a bit in the days ahead. But the signal it is sending seems clear. When Clinton took the hay-baled stage in Iowa three weeks ago, her first trip there since 2008, it was more than a highly choreographed political aberration. It was the start of this falls dress rehearsal for 2016, with several objectives. Those include testing and refining her newly-populist rhetoric, underscoring the rise of women as a political force and doing favors she hopes will be returned in the next year or two.
The tour (which will also include several opportunities for hawking her Hard Choices memoir) opened last week in the critical swing-state of Florida. Clinton spent the day in Miami selling books and then brought in $1 million for Charlie Crist, the ex-Republican ex-governor whos now in a tossup quest to win his old job back as a Democrat.
Excerpt from:
The Hillary Clinton 2014 Campaign Tour: Helping Democratic Women, One Swing State at a Time