Three Pieces of Communications Advice for Hillary Clinton

Doug Simon, President & CEO of D S Simon Media, offers three pieces of communications advice for Hillary Clinton as she battles Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination.1. She has trapped herself as a less aspirational version of Bernie Sanders in the debates. While she can still ground out a win she might have trouble energizing an important Democratic base. In her communications she needs to spend more time contrasting herself with Senators Cruz and Rubio. Two of her best moments in the February 11 debate were when she mentioned Wisconsin Governor Walker by name. She needs to do more of that with Cruz and Rubio.2. Improve crisis communications on the Wall Street speeches angle. One of the earliest steps in effective crisis communications is establishing perspective. As Mother Jones reported in a critical piece, she gave more than 90 speeches. The vast minority were to Wall Street with many of them to universities, religious organizations and non-profits popular with democratic voters. Many were also unpaid. Did you have that perspective?3. Pick Elizabeth Warren to be her running mate. It might not get Senator Warren to endorse her now but it will prevent her from endorsing Sanders. Hillary has been around so long that the historic nature of her win is missed by younger voters. They are bored with it. Selecting Warren would be historic, energize the left and younger voters and put Hillary in control of the campaign dynamic all the way to the November election.