Clinton's narrow win sparks nervousness among supporters

[webfact]

Clinton's narrow win sparks nervousness among supporters
By JULIE PACE and LISA LERER

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (AP) — Hillary Clinton emerged from Iowa with a razor-thin victory over Bernie Sanders — and a new round of nervous second-guessing from supporters.

Topping the list of concerns is Clinton's staggering disadvantage with young voters, a crucial Democratic constituency that overwhelmingly sided with Sanders. Clinton supporters are also worried that the campaign is still struggling with a muddled message, a problem that plagued her not only in the opening months of this campaign but also in her failed 2008 White House bid.

But this time the Democratic hand-wringing is balanced by something more positive: cautious optimism that she has an organization that might overcome her weaknesses.

"Momentum was with Sanders," said Mo Elleithee, a former Clinton campaign aide. "The organization kicked in, and she got scrappy."

While Clinton's voter-targeting and get-out-the-vote efforts may have put her over the top in Iowa — barely — the campaign underperformed by its own expectations. In the hours before the caucuses began, aides privately told supporters they expected her to win by about five points.

The final tally put Clinton ahead by less than three-tenths of 1 percent.

It wasn't much, but it may have been enough to hold off potential upheavals within the campaign. For weeks, some Clinton allies and former staffers have floated the idea of demoting campaign manager Robby Mook, the architect of the ground operation in Iowa and beyond. But several Democrats close to the campaign said Tuesday that Mook's standing was solid, in part because of the Iowa outcome.

The Democrats insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss internal campaign dyanmics.

Even with a win in hand, big challenges await Clinton as the race moves to New Hampshire, where Sanders has led preference polls for months. While Clinton's campaign insists he has home field advantage given that he's from neighboring Vermont, it's Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, who have deep political roots in the state.

Clinton allies are more confident she'll thrive when the race turns to states like South Carolina and Nevada, where black and Hispanic voters are more plentiful. But they're deeply concerned about her struggles with young people, a key part of the coalition that propelled Barack Obama to the White House — and a coalition Clinton hopes to replicate in a general election.

More than 8 in 10 caucus-goers under the age of 30 came to support Sanders, as did nearly 6 in 10 of those between 30 and 44, according to a survey conducted for The Associated Press and the television networks by Edison Research.

"That's unprecedented," said Paul Begala, a longtime Clinton ally who advises a super PAC backing her candidacy. "She cannot be president without the enthusiastic support of those Sanders voters."

Clinton conceded in an interview with CNN that she is "going to have some work to do to reach out to young voters."

Allies pinned at least some of her problems with young voters on a muddled message. Sanders has resonated with his call for a "political revolution" to fix an economy he calls rigged for the wealthy.

Brad Anderson, an Iowa political consultant who supports Clinton, said Sanders' supporters had a noticeably easier time conveying their message to undecided voters.

"I think there was something .... to Sanders' message that inspires the base," Anderson said. Campaigning in New Hampshire on Tuesday, Clinton largely stuck to the message she used during the last days in Iowa, casting herself as a liberal who can accomplish change — an implicit suggestion that Sanders' proposals are unrealistic.

But her husband hinted a more aggressive approach toward Sanders may be coming.

"We should talk about what the honest differences are: first, on what they want to do and how they want to pay for it; and secondly, who's the best to do it," the former president said.

Some Democrats warned the candidate against overcorrecting.

"Swerving off her lane, changing messages or tone would be a mistake," said Dan Pfeiffer, a longtime Obama adviser. He pointed to March 15 contests in Florida, Ohio and Illinois as a test of whether Clinton "will either put this away, or sign up for a 2008-style slog."
___

AP writers Catherine Lucey, Ken Thomas and Bill Barrow contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-02-03

[Ulysses G.]

A virtual tie is not bad for a woman with 150 FBI Agents investigating her security policies when holding office.

Edited February 3, 2016 by Ulysses G.

[lannarebirth]

A virtual tie is not bad for a woman with 150 FBI Agents investigating her security policies when holding office.

Not only national security breaches are under investigation. The latest expansion of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton now encompasses whether or not any public corruption laws have been violated.

[Steely Dan]

The article does give as a large clue as to the ages of the esteemed members here who support her regardless, they ain't young.

[NeverSure]

Hillary corrupt?

[Daniel Boon]

A virtual tie is not bad for a woman with 150 FBI Agents investigating her security policies when holding office.

Imagine if they were probing her donations from corporate America who are screwing the American people

[stevenl]

The article does give as a large clue as to the ages of the esteemed members here who support her regardless, they ain't young.

I don't see many HRC supporters here, but do see Democrat supporters and people claiming HRC will win.

I don't think she has that many supporters, which is the core of her problem IMO.

[stevenl]

A virtual tie is not bad for a woman with 150 FBI Agents investigating her security policies when holding office.

Not only national security breaches are under investigation. The latest expansion of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton now encompasses whether or not any public corruption laws have been violated.

News from early-mid January 2016, with Fox News as the only source. In almost one month this has not been confirmed by any other news source, and even Fox has not expanded any further. That makes me really doubt the story.

[stevenl]

The article does give as a large clue as to the ages of the esteemed members here who support her regardless, they ain't young.

I don't see many HRC supporters here, but do see Democrat supporters and people claiming HRC will win.

I don't think she has that many supporters, which is the core of her problem IMO.

Probably better 'I don't think she has much enthusiasm among her supporters ...'.

[RKASA]

4 coin tosses required to end the counting at 4 poling places. Without those counts tied up poling places Barnie wins - Hillary wins 4 coin tosses in Iowa should be the headline, or maybe Dem's once again gamble on Hillary.

Had she lost a few coin tosses Barnie would have beat her by the same .2 percent - what would the headlines read then - Old man gets lucky?

[Pimay1]

4 coin tosses required to end the counting at 4 poling places. Without those counts tied up poling places Barnie wins - Hillary wins 4 coin tosses in Iowa should be the headline, or maybe Dem's once again gamble on Hillary.

Had she lost a few coin tosses Barnie would have beat her by the same .2 percent - what would the headlines read then - Old man gets lucky?

Anyone who believes HRC won six coin tosses in a row probably still believes the world is flat.

[Smokin Joe]

I believe Hillary is now using Nelson Mandela as her inspiration.

He wasn't elected president until after spending a long time in prison.

[Steely Dan]

The article does give as a large clue as to the ages of the esteemed members here who support her regardless, they ain't young.

I don't see many HRC supporters here, but do see Democrat supporters and people claiming HRC will win.

I don't think she has that many supporters, which is the core of her problem IMO.

Probably better 'I don't think she has much enthusiasm among her supporters ...'.

Indeed, if pressed dog poop is preferable to cat poop.

[mopar71]

A virtual tie is not bad for a woman with 150 FBI Agents investigating her security policies when holding office.

Imagine if they were probing her donations from corporate America who are screwing the American people

not to mention foreign donations.

[stevenl]

The article does give as a large clue as to the ages of the esteemed members here who support her regardless, they ain't young.

I don't see many HRC supporters here, but do see Democrat supporters and people claiming HRC will win.

I don't think she has that many supporters, which is the core of her problem IMO.

Probably better 'I don't think she has much enthusiasm among her supporters ...'.

Indeed, if pressed dog poop is preferable to cat poop.

Please refrain from using my posts for your ridiculing comments.

[hawker9000]

Stuff like voting decisions based on coin tosses has the potential to lead to a badly divided party come the General Election. One more migraine for Hillary...