We've already heard from a former Hillary campaign manager who grimaced at her one-time boss' condescending, insulting 'deplorables redux blame storm (which cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars, by the way). Various members of her party have also politely and less politely stepped forward to urge her to -- shall we say -- keep her thoughts to herself and consider receding into private life. Here's Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown practically begging his party, its 2016 standard-bearer, and basically everyone else to stop looking backward -- which is ironic, given the phrasing of Clinton's remarks in India:
Brown, incidentally, isn't often talked about as a vulnerable 2018 incumbent, perhaps because his top challenger had to exit the race due to family health issues. But Ohio is a swing state that Trump won quite comfortably in 2016, and Brown comes from the left wing of his party; I wonder how Brown might parry attacks like this one, which is running against Claire McCaskill in Missouri. Some really hard-hitting stuff from Josh Hawley's campaign:
Josh Hawley's campaign uses Hillary's overseas rant about Trump voters against Claire McCaskill. Potent ad in #MOSen:https://t.co/9jrGH22gCJ
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) March 19, 2018
"In [fill in the blank Democrat's] America, Hillary is president, and here's what she thinks of you," might be a damn effective line of attack in some red states. It's especially tough for McCaskill to wriggle away from, considering both her decision to be the first member of Congress to endorse Hillary Clinton's presidential run and her recent chiding of "cynical" Trump voters in a state the president carried by nearly 20 points. Tying McCaskill to Hillary and Hawley to Trump is an approach some conservative groups are happily adopting thus far:
I'll leave you with a CNN panel dumping all over Hillary's comments:
One more thought: If Team Hawley sees the above ad move the needle in Missouri, other targeted GOP campaigns should cut effectively the exact same ad -- especially areas that fall within "all that red in the middle" of the country, as Mrs. Clinton put it. The data and results keep piling up that Republicans have an enthusiasm and intensity problem heading into the fall.
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