No, She’s Not Hiding

Ken AshfordElection 2016Leave a Comment

So, this happened this morning:

FROM: RNC Communications Director Sean Spicer

TO: Interested Parties

RE: Hillary’s Hiding

We’ve noticed it. You’ve noticed it: Hillary Clinton is hiding.

Potential Republican presidential candidates are out in public, speaking to voters, and sharing their ideas. But Hillary Clinton is nowhere to be found.

Well, we do know she tweeted.

Hillary’s only public appearances in 2015 have been in Canada. And in the previous year, almost every public appearance she made came with huge speaking fees—a quarter million dollars or more and, of course, a private jet.

As some of you have experienced first hand, when reporters are actually permitted to cover Mrs. Clinton, they are mistreated and even followed into the bathroom.

Why would a would-be presidential candidate behave this way? Because she’s made a strategic decision that the only way to ensure she is the Democratic nominee is to make everyone think she’s inevitable. The last time she had to face voters and actually compete for the nomination, she lost to a newcomer. She doesn’t want to make the same mistake twice.

As her poll numbers show, when Hillary is campaigning, she’s much less popular. What’s the only way not to seem like she’s campaigning? Go into hiding.

And it goes on for a little more, but you get the idea.

Well, I think I’ll fire off a memo of my own.

FROM:  The Ashford Zone

TO: RNC Communications Director Sean Spicer

RE: Your memo re: Hillary’s Hiding

First of all, who sends a memo to “Interested Parties”?  That’s….. stupid.  (I apologize for not thinking of a better word than “stupid”, but it really fits the bill).

Secondly, Hillary Clinton is not hiding.  She’s appearing at a Silicon Valley conference for women in a few days.  Then in March, she has at least four appearances. First up, she’ll receive an award at the 30th anniversary gala of Emily’s List, the powerful Democratic group that works to get more pro-choice women elected to office. That’s March 3.

Next, Clinton will be inducted into the Irish America Hall of Fame at a ceremony in New York City on March 16, the day before St. Patrick’s Day. After that, Clinton heads to Atlantic City, New Jersey for a paid speech on March 19 to the American Camp Association, an industry group of summer camp professionals. Four days later, she’s back in Washington to present a journalism award named in honor of Robin Toner, the first woman to be named national political reporter for The New York Times.

I found all that out from googling.  Took me a couple minutes.  So, she’s not hiding.  What you mean is that she isn’t campaigning.  Which is true.  You know why she isn’t campaigning?  She simply hasn’t announced her candidacy.  Not yet.  Announcing comes first, then campaigning.  You see (and you know this damn well), right now, Hillary can continue to raise money.  Once she starts campaigning, that money starts to go away.  And financially sustaining a campaign that is running a non-competitive race is harder than you might think. Donors tend to think that a safe candidate doesn’t need their support.  So she’s being smart, while you are pretending to be… oh, what’s the word…. oh yeah, stupid  (again).

Finally, as to the “inevitability” of Hillary being the nominee, you DO realize that goading her on the RNC website with your silly memo actually ADDS to the notion that she is going to be the nominee? Right?  You’re actually elevating her to that level be claiming that she is “hiding”.