After a debate performance in which she painted Bernie Sanders as a fringe candidate whose policies bordered on fantasy, Hillary Clinton and her allies intensified the pressure on the Vermont senator on Friday, burnishing her embrace of President Obama and seeking to solidify her support among blacks.
Following a stinging loss in New Hampshire this week, the Clinton campaign and Priorities USA, the “super PAC” that supports her, have sharpened their focus on Mr. Sanders and the South Carolina Democratic primary on Feb. 27. Separately, they have invested in new rounds of advertising intended to blunt any momentum that Mr. Sanders might have gained from his landslide in New Hampshire.
On Friday morning, Mrs. Clinton’s team unveiled a new television ad that ties her to Mr. Obama on the issue of tightening gun laws — a perceived weakness of Mr. Sanders. It features the Rev. Anthony Thompson, whose wife, Myra, was killed in the Charleston church shooting, praising Mrs. Clinton for “standing with the president” on firearms restrictions.
Despite the fact that Mrs. Clinton has led in most South Carolina polls, Priorities USA is also leaving nothing to chance there. The group announced on Friday that it is starting its largest advertising campaign to date on Mrs. Clinton’s behalf, investing $500,000 to spread the message on radio stations that the former secretary of state is the true heir to Mr. Obama’s legacy when it comes to helping blacks. “We need a president who will build on all that President Obama has done,” say the narrators of the ad, which will air in South Carolina communities with large black populations. “President Obama trusted Hillary Clinton to be America’s secretary of state. And we know Hillary Clinton has the vision and courage to help build an economy to support our communities.”Mrs. Clinton is building on the lines of attack she used in Thursday’s Democratic debate in Milwaukee. She criticized Mr. Sanders for disparaging Mr. Obama’s record and accused him of being too narrowly focused on his central mission of breaking up the banks to be sufficiently concerned about issues such as civil rights and criminal justice reform.
The new push from Priorities USA could leave Mrs. Clinton open to more criticism from the Vermont senator, who has lamented her reliance on big donors as a sign that she is not independent. At the debate, Mrs. Clinton tried to separate herself from the group while also clinging to Mr. Obama.
“You’re referring to a super PAC that we don’t coordinate with, that was set up to support President Obama, that has now decided that they want to support me,” Mrs. Clinton said in response to a question about what rich donors expect when they give money to political action committees. “They are the ones who should respond to any questions.”
A spokesman for Priorities USA pointed out that super PACs support Mr. Sanders, even though he opposes them. Priorities USA is also spending $4.5 million across the South to turn out voters before several states there hold nominating contests on March 1.
In the days leading to the South Carolina voting, Mr. Sanders could also be looking for some new answers to tough questions, as Mrs. Clinton took a more aggressive approach to discrediting his foreign policy knowledge and credentials. In one of her more stinging debate blows, Mrs. Clinton said it was not clear to her who Mr. Sanders was seeking counsel from on international affairs.
Asked to note any advisers, Michael Briggs, a spokesman for Mr. Sanders, pointed to an essay published on the Politico magazine website on Thursday by Lawrence Korb, an assistant secretary of defense during Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Although Mr. Korb has only met with Mr. Sanders once, he said he is “serious” on foreign policy.
“In my dealings with him, and in analyzing his record in Congress over the past 25 years, I have found that Sanders has taken balanced, realistic positions on many of the most critical foreign policy issues facing the country,” Mr. Korb wrote.
As the Democrats jockey for position, Republicans, who hold their next presidential debate on Saturday, also have South Carolina on their minds. With their primary election being held a week earlier, on Feb. 20, the sniping among the remaining candidates has reached a fever pitch.
On Friday, Ben Carson, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz will gather at the Faith and Family Presidential Forum at Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C. They will look to court the evangelical Christians that could be crucial to their success in the state. Donald J. Trump is not attending the event, but as he faces a tight race with Mr. Cruz in South Carolina, he made sure to weigh in from afar. In a post on Twitter, he rebutted a suggestion made by the Texas senator that Mr. Trump agrees with Mr. Obama on same-sex marriage. “How can Ted Cruz be an Evangelical Christian when he lies so much and is so dishonest?” Mr. Trump said.
No comments:
Post a Comment