How Can Hillary Clinton Sell Herself to Voters
PHILADELPHIA
— Few conventions were as successful as when Democrats gathered in 1992
in New York to nominate Bill Clinton for president. There was the
Hollywood-produced “Man From Hope” video. A dramatic Midtown Manhattan
stroll by Bill and Hillary Clinton
from Macy’s to Madison Square Garden. And a six-day post-convention bus
caravan that drew crowds all the way through its end in St. Louis.
As
Mrs. Clinton arrives here for her own nominating convention, she faces
many of the same problems her husband encountered in 1992: She, too, is
damaged after a bruising campaign and shadowed by a cloud of mistrust
stirred by her actions. While Mr. Clinton was a relatively new if
battered face, ready for his reintroduction in 1992, Mrs. Clinton is a
political institution. With one exception, she has spoken at every
Democratic National Convention since 1996.
“If you don’t know the Clintons by now, you are never going to know them,” said Newt Gingrich, a former House speaker.
Donald J. Trump entered the Republican National Convention
last week in Cleveland with the opportunity to recast the way Americans
viewed him, a moment he arguably failed to seize, but Mrs. Clinton’s
task in Philadelphia is decidedly harder. She has been a fixture on the
American political scene for a generation, subjected to endless attacks,
examination and analysis. She is a proxy in debates over feminism and
political power and a recurring subject of parody on “Saturday Night Live.” Views about her — particularly on issues of trust after the F.B.I. investigation
into her handling of emails as secretary of state — are seared in place
with many voters, pollsters say. After 25 years, her days of
reinventing herself are almost surely gone.
And yet these four nights in the public eye, particularly coming after Mr. Trump’s often chaotic convention
in Cleveland, offer her a chance to persuade important segments of the
electorate to take another look at her, to consider parts of her life
that have been lost in the glare of scandals and investigation, and to
judge her candidacy in contrast with the dark image Mr. Trump presented
last week of himself and the nation.
That
would start with supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, many
of whom, particularly younger ones, learned much of what they know about
Mrs. Clinton through the prism of Mr. Sanders’s attacks and have been
steadfast in their opposition to her — potentially all the more so after
her choice of Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, a moderate, as her running mate.
But
just as crucially, Mrs. Clinton might also find an audience with
independent voters struggling between two candidates they do not like,
who will have an opportunity after this week to make a direct comparison
between the visions being offered by Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump.
For
nearly a year, Mrs. Clinton has struggled to answer questions about her
use of a private email server, particularly after her conduct was
excoriated by the F.B.I.; Republicans have accused her of negligence,
criminal mishandling of classified information and even treason. Rightly
or wrongly, the most recent controversy is what has defined her most.
“She
is someone with a long record in public life, but people forget,” said
David Greenberg, a history and journalism professor at Rutgers
University. “Younger voters, who don’t have the memory — or older voters
with short memories.”
From
that perspective, there is much that Mrs. Clinton may be able to do as
she controls the convention stage for the next four nights.
A
parade of Democratic stars, including a sitting president, a former
president and Mr. Sanders, stand ready to offer a remedial course in
Hillary Clinton. “We have a cavalry who are fully armed,” said David
Plouffe, who managed Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008. “For Trump, it was
all on him.”
Mrs.
Clinton also has the advantages of following the turbulent Republican
gathering and of having a team far more experienced than Mr. Trump’s at
producing sophisticated conventions, giving her an opportunity to
contrast a presumably more united party and a more consistent message
with what was displayed in Cleveland.
Rob
Reiner, a Hollywood director and actor, who is a longtime supporter of
Mrs. Clinton, said she should use the convention to tell the story of
her life. “She has been an advocate her entire life for women, for
children, for all the causes that we care about,” he said.
“I know she has a lot of baggage and all that stuff,” he added. “But a lot of that is unfair.”
So what might Mrs. Clinton do?
Uniting the party is the easy part.
Yes, she needs to galvanize her party entering the general election —
and Mrs. Clinton may be aided greatly both by Mr. Sanders, who is set to
trumpet his endorsement of her, and by Mr. Trump, who has proved to be a
great mobilizing force for Democrats.
But
unity is not enough. Considering the passion that Mr. Trump’s
supporters have shown, Mrs. Clinton — who is not known for her ability
to light up a room — would be well advised to figure out a way to have
Democrats, to borrow a phrase, fired up and ready to go.
“The
one thing that needs to happen coming out of the Democratic convention
is for the Obama coalition being very enthused about her candidacy — not
just beating Trump,” Mr. Plouffe said. “She has to give a speech that
makes people as excited about her as they are about beating Donald
Trump.”
Senator
Chuck Schumer of New York, a Democrat who served with Mrs. Clinton in
the Senate, said the convention would offer her an opportunity to debunk
what he called the conservative caricature of her.
“The
right-wing media has tried to portray her as something she’s not,” Mr.
Schumer said. “The convention is a great way to undo some of that media
image. People will see her up close. They will see her the way she is. I
think their minds are open.”
Age is a virtue.
The demographic differences between Clinton and Sanders supporters
underline one of Mrs. Clinton’s biggest challenges: He crushed her among
younger voters, whom she will need in November. The convention will
give her a shot at winning them back.
Even
before arriving here, Mrs. Clinton had taken steps to close that gap
by, among other things, moving toward Mr. Sanders’s position in favor of
free tuition at public colleges.
There are other ways she can extend her appeal.
“Eighty
percent of her speakers should be under 40,” Mr. Gingrich said. “She
has to convince the younger generation that she is an acceptable leader
for that generation.”
Younger
voters have much to learn about Mrs. Clinton, be it her record in the
Senate or her years as first lady. (An added bonus for Mrs. Clinton:
Many of them have managed to come this far in life without knowing the
political meaning of the word “Whitewater.”)
One
thing to watch: whether Mrs. Clinton avoids decades-old references,
like her reaching back to “voodoo economics” — a 36-year-old attack line
that George Bush used on Ronald Reagan — at the event this month where Mr. Sanders endorsed her.
Do notforget Trump.
Conventions are about drawing contrasts, and Mrs. Clinton has shown no
reluctance to highlight her differences with Mr. Trump. Philadelphia
will provide an enormous stage to refine those arguments and respond
specifically to how Mr. Trump tried to sell himself to voters in
Cleveland, particularly on immigration and the threats of terrorism and
crime.
“She’s
in a position where she can be the safer choice,” said Stuart Stevens, a
Republican consultant who ran Mitt Romney’s campaign for president in
2012. “In times of instability, voters tend to look for safety.”
And
Mrs. Clinton will benefit from timing: If the back-to-back conventions
somewhat resemble a slow-motion debate between the candidates, Mr. Trump
has had his say, and Mrs. Clinton can make a closing argument that, if
done right, could stick in the minds of many voters.
“For
her, the convention speech is the opportunity to have the final two
words of the summer political season,” said Steve Schmidt, a senior
adviser to John McCain when he ran for president in 2008. “The race is
going to freeze in place a couple of weeks after those conventions.”
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