Clinton gearing up for a tough battle in general election
WASHINGTON — Waves of campaign staffers are being dispatched to battleground states. Advisers are starting to consider locations for a splashy convention rally in Philadelphia. An army of lawyers is scrutinizing more than two dozen possible vice presidential picks.
Though she has yet to clinch the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton and her team are taking early steps into a general election campaign. Aides are working under the assumption that Republican front- runner Donald Trump will be her opponent.
Six months before the presidential el ection, they’re looking beyond primary rival Bernie Sanders and preparing their candidate and party for what may be a hard-fought — and personally ugly — fall campaign.
‘Game face on’
Starting this week, Clinton campaign employees are heading to battleground states across the country, among them Ohio, Florida and Colorado. Democrats are also eyeing the possibility of making a run at traditionally Republican-leaning states such as Georgia, North Carolina and Arizona, calculating that Trump’s penchant for controversy could put mi- nority and female voters in play.
“Everybody’s got their game face on,” said Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, who was going to South Dakota on the weekend to campaign for Clinton.
Aides from the primary are getting general election marching orders. Simone Ward, political director of the campaign committee for Senate Democratic races, will run Clinton’s Florida operation. Emmy Ruiz, who led a crucial Nevada primary win for Clinton, will handle Colorado. Mike Vlacich led New Hampshire operations in the primary and will do the same in the fall.
Convention plans
“The sooner you can get up and running, the better,” said Dan Pfeiffer, who advised President Barack Obama. “On the Republican side, Trump has not built anything resembling the sort of field operation it takes to win.”
Plans are also beginning to take shape for a convention that will feature Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton and the vice presidential nominee. It’s not clear, however, what role Sanders will have.
Clinton’s campaign has started the internal search for a running mate, though people familiar with the process say that effort is in an early stage.