Even after her big weekend debut, many Hillary operatives are still frustrated over her lack of specific policies and plans for her campaign, with one supporter saying, after a Sunday evening conference call, “I can’t believe I missed ‘Game of Thrones’ for this.”
After her announcement video debuted late, Clinton jumped on a conference call with hundreds of supporters, operatives, and state-based workers to deliver her talking points. But some of these supporters told Politico that the call was high on platitudes but practically empty of specific campaign plans.
Supporters on the call complained that Clinton didn’t have any specifics about voter outreach and even her website currently has little by way of policy ideas or issue discussion.
In fact, it seems clear that team Clinton’s early plan is to play “small ball” to avoid her weakness of appearing stiff and unsympathetic before large crowds. In keeping with that tactic, Hillary purposefully launched her campaign with a YouTube video, instead of a big rally, in an effort to “go small.”
A recent secret dinner Hillary hosted for the media was yet another example of her new tactic of saying little, even to her handpicked media friends. During last week’s dinner, Clinton’s surrogates were there, but Hillary wasn’t. And even the surrogates didn’t go too far into specifics on anything.
Another example of Hillary’s desire to avoid the press was seen at an event meant to celebrate the press. After praising the press and promising to have a “new” relationship with them at a journalism award ceremony, Clinton immediately left without taking any questions or interacting with any of them.
Thus far, all this avoidance and lack of specifics is grating on Hillary’s supporters. As Politico noted, at this stage of her campaign, Hillary’s “we care about you” tactic “has only gone so far.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.