With 17 candidates common ground can be difficult to find, but all the Republican presidential candidates in both debates are unified on one thing: bashing Hillary Clinton. But her team will be waiting in the wings to fire back.
Clinton knows that much of the Republican debate will center around her progressive policies, scandals and unorthodox campaign methods, such as limiting press access.
Two days prior to the debate, her team sent out an email to supporters encouraging them to “Stock up on soft projectiles to hurl at your television to give your jeering some attitude” and “tweet about the dangerous policies that candidates like Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Scott Walker are proposing.” They also warned that the Republicans would be throwing “a lot of lies” at Hillary during the debates, so it’s especially important to pay attention.
Thus far, Clinton has assumed the role of the presumptive Democratic nominee, and has been focusing much of her primary efforts on combating the GOP in the general election. Her closest opponent, Bernie Sanders, is only close behind her in the polls in New Hampshire.
Hillary for America chief strategist Joel Beneson released a statement condemning the GOP field, stating that the “GOP candidates embody the party’s tarnished brand” and that no matter how each of the ten Republicans attempt to differentiate themselves, they are all out of touch with the majority of the American electorate.
“They are out of step with the kind of country Americans want for themselves and their children,” Beneson said. “They’d like to have us believe that they are different from Trump. But in reality, they are all cut from the same cloth, aligning themselves with views and policies that are out of date and out of touch, showing us first hand why the Republican brand is in such bad shape.
During the debate Clinton’s rapid responses team says they’ll be firing out emails responding to the various Republican attacks against the former secretary of state. So far, the GOP has heavily criticized each of her campaign platforms, calling her a candidate of the past due to her age and many years in public life.
The morning of the GOP debate, the Clinton campaign made fun of the Republicans antiquated “throwback” methods and ideas with a video called “#GOPTBT,” riffing off the popular social media hashtag throwback thursday. The video opens with a slew of vintage photos of GOP candidates in suede suits sporting 1970’s hairstyles before attacking their policies.
“Republican candidates for president may have lost the old school sideburns, but they’re still rocking their out-of-date and out-of-touch policies about women’s health, trickle-down economics, marriage equality, climate change, and more,” the accompanying email statement said, adding that we need the “good sense to move on.”
