x
Breaking News
More () »

Hillary Clinton expected to bring campaign to a local level

Hillary Clinton’s plans for media detente, the high stakes of Florida in the GOP race, farewell to an Iowa tradition, and a case of awkward timing for Pre...
Hillary Clinton Secretary of State portrait
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Hillary Clinton’s plans for media detente, the high stakes of Florida in the GOP race, farewell to an Iowa tradition, and a case of awkward timing for President Obama on a tough issue for Democrats — those were among the topics in our Sunday trip around the “Inside Politics” table.

1. Clinton courts local media

Her big kickoff rally over, look for Hillary Clinton to address one of the early criticisms of her 2016 campaign: distance from the news media.

The Atlantic’s Molly Ball, fresh from covering Clinton’s Roosevelt Island event, tells us to watch the local news as Clinton campaigns in the early primary and caucus states in the days and weeks ahead.

“Hillary, having reannounced her campaign, is now off to the early states: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada — and one thing that we’re going to see different from her this time, this tour, is that she’s going to start doing a lot of local press interviews,” said Ball.

“This whole time they’ve pretended that they basically don’t care about the criticism, but this is a signal they have taken that to heart and they’re trying to rebut that perception.”

2. Marco, Jeb and the Florida stakes

With two candidates from the Sunshine State in the GOP presidential chase, the always-important Florida primary is likely to be even more critical to shaping the Republican race.

Former Gov. Jeb Bush looks at his home state’s contest as a chance to brag about his two terms as Florida’s chief executive and a conservative governing record. Sen. Marco Rubio, on the other hand, looks to prove he is the new GOP force in Florida politics.

Jonathan Martin of The New York Times shared reporting on how the Bush and Rubio campaigns understand the boost a Florida win would bring, but also the huge downside that would result from losing at home.

“It’s critical because they have that primary on March 15,” said Martin. “You talk to the Bush folks, the Marco folks, and both of them say whoever comes out of that primary on top probably goes forward, the loser goes home or stays home, because both of them are in Florida.”

3. Obama, South Korea and trade

White House visits by foreign leaders are usually months in the making, the agenda carefully worked out by the staffs and the images carefully choreographed.

As such, the visit by South Korea’s president on Tuesday has been in the works for some time.

But Peter Baker of The New York Times notes the timing is tough because it comes just days after House Democrats revolted on a key trade vote.

“On Tuesday, the President hosts at the White House the president of South Korea. Now normally we wouldn’t think that was such a big deal, except that comes at the very moment he’s going to be trying to revive this trade deal we’ve been talking about,” said Baker.

“The Democrats on the Hill, who are against this, have been using South Korea as an example of why we shouldn’t get into this, because the last trade deal we did with South Korea, they say, worked out for South Korea and not for us.”

4. Iowa Straw Poll #RIP

The Iowa Republican Party bowed to reality this past week and canceled its traditional summer straw poll and fund-raiser. Well, it should be fund-raiser and straw poll.

The decision came after several of the leading 2016 GOP contenders made clear they would not spend the money it takes to compete at the Ames event.

Will a summer without a straw poll matter? Likely yes. Just ask Lamar Alexander and Tim Pawlenty, two highly credible GOP contenders from campaigns past who failed to meet expectations in Ames and saw their bids lose oxygen, even though the event has zero official role in selecting a nominee.

A favorite reaction, this from one of the many longtime GOP operatives whose memories of Ames and its straw polls are not so fond: “Ding dong, the witch is dead.”

In effect, the straw poll gave Iowa the first two chances to winnow the Republican field.

Now, this cycle anyway, Iowa Republicans get just one bite at that apple, when they gather for the first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses.

The Iowa GOP will miss the money the straw poll spending brought to its coffers. Political reporters will undoubtedly miss the circus. But the process of picking a presidential nominee likely benefits.

5. New twists in a GOP battle from a campaign past

Carl DeMaio is an openly gay Republican whose 2014 run for Congress was derailed when he was accused of sexual misconduct and then of threatening a former aide who made the allegations.

Now, the former aide admits he fabricated the story about the threats.

Jackie Kucinich of The Daily Beast shared details of her weekend conversation with DeMaio about this new twist.

“He’s very angry about this, and he’s looking at this as evidence that he’s been telling the truth this whole time and none of this happened and he blamed (opponent Scott) Peters campaign,” said Kucinich.

“Peters called me. He said they had nothing to do with it and noted that the allegations — that this guy didn’t recant his allegations, the campaign worker.”

“So this is just a nasty campaign that continues to be nasty, seven months out, and DeMaio says he’s done with politics for quite a while.”

Before You Leave, Check This Out