Hillary Clinton’s camp believes the campaign can make up what may be lacking in voter enthusiasm by focusing on voter intent instead.
Likely Democratic voters may prefer her over Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, but those folks showing up at the polls for Clinton on election day appear to be a struggle for her.
Unlike the Barack Obama campaign, whose “Hope and Change” signs spread through liberal enclaves of the U.S., Clinton signage has not found its way around metropolitan and suburban lawns and car bumper stickers to the point of instant familiarity.
The Clinton campaign does not argue against the idea that there is little enthusiasm surrounding the former secretary of state’s campaign; however, the campaign is already trying to figure out how to motivate their voter base.
“We have to go out and work really hard in the states. But, interestingly, what we measured inside the campaign is voter intent. We have the ability based on voter file that we maintain and that is passed from one election to the next to go back and look historically in how people vote,” Clinton campaign press secretary Brian Fallon told The Daily Caller Monday night.
He explained, “Go back and survey those same people who did vote or didn’t vote in those last election cycles and measure their intent this cycle. What we’re finding is voter intent can cross the key voter demographics that we need to mobilize any election is actually at a similar level to where it was in 2012 and even in 2008—even if enthusiasm levels are not the same.”
Despite Clinton’s strong pitches to African-Americans, enthusiasm from black voters in Florida is low, CBS News reported.
“We have a situation where we have our inner cities, African-Americans, Hispanics, are living in hell, because it’s so dangerous,” Trump said Monday night at the first debate. “You walk down the street, you get shot. In Chicago, they’ve had thousands of shootings, thousands, since January 1st. Thousands of shootings. And I say, where is this? Is this a war-torn country? What are we doing? And we have to stop the violence, we have to bring back law and order, in a place like Chicago, where thousands of people have been killed. Thousands, over the last number of years.”
Clinton shot back, “Well, I’ve heard Donald say this at his rallies, and it’s really unfortunate that he paints such a dire negative picture of black communities in our country.”
She added, “The vibrancy of the black church, the black businesses that employ so many people, the opportunities that so many families are working to provide for their kids. There’s a lot that we should be proud of and we should be supporting and lifting up.”
But how will Clinton pitch to voters who are unsatisfied with the economy or national security that has been under the Obama administration’s watch for the past eight years, if she is not running against his policies?
Fallon says voters believe that progress has been made since Obama came to office.
“I certainly think voters are not expressing a desire to go back and undo the progress we’ve made under President Obama and the economy which I think its pretty clear is what Donald Trump is offering,” Fallon said.
“So even as we may do certain things differently and give emphasis to different priorities on the economy, in general, we want to preserve the progress we’ve made and build on it. I think that message is finding a lot more resonance than Trump’s approach that the president has it all wrong.”