On Monday (8/22/16) I had the privilege of attending a Hillary Clinton fundraiser at the home of NBA legend Magic Johnson in Los Angeles. The event was held in his backyard in a makeshift tent with a stage. Several vans brought people from a meeting/pickup point in Beverly Hills. There were supposed to be 250 people there, then it became 500, and then it seemed to blow well past that number. People were packed into that tent like any public campaign rally. People hugged the rope line like any campaign rally. Secret service and campaign staff had to remind people of certain boundaries, like any campaign rally. The difference is you had a bartender and some hors d’oerves (in the future I think more campaigns will include some basic catering at rallies). I would add that HRC’s largely millennial staff did a great job. They’re very professional people and are another example of a well-run, no drama campaign.
Now, this is a fundraiser. The people who attended were generally 35 or above (most between 35-55) and gave $2700 to the campaign or to the Hillary Victory Fund (super pac). These are not people who have money to burn per se, but they are well off enough to have the ability to prioritize something as important as this election.
Here’s the interesting thing, however. From this event, I learned a lot about what Hillary’s approach to campaign rallies will be as we enter September and October.
First, while we all waited for about 2 hours, the place got pumped up because they had two video screens that showed various annotated clips and backstage video from the Convention. It really got the room focused, jazzed and energized. The positive spirt of our convention is contagious, and now having seen some key clips for the second time, it is quite easy to see how many excerpts fit neatly into campaign ads. Those convention clips underscored the pro-Hillary advocacy of the earlier speakers (Senator Boxer, Mayor Garcetti and of course, Magic Johnson in his very engaging style).
Second, the sense of urgency and excitement about being 77 days away from winning this thing galvanized people. Hillary really emphasized this point and described it as something empowering. We have it within our grasp to make the future our own, and to tackle our issues together, while listing her major initiatives like infrastructure investment/job creation, free & debt free college, taking on ISIS and defending the country against terrorism, health care improvements, and common sense gun control. She reminded people of the spirit of the convention, gave credit to a lot of people, including Bernie Sanders.
She also talked about unifying this country. She is presenting herself as a candidate of national unity.
She then reminded everyone what they can do: phone bank, canvas, get people out to vote. She seemed to communicate that this campaign is confident that it has identified the number of voters it needs to win the election. Our task is to help her get those people out to vote. Being in California, Hillary (and other speakers like Mayor Garcetti, Senator Boxer and Magic Johnson) also pointed out that California has sent the most number of phone bankers and canvassers for the Democrats in the last 2 elections and that even blue state Dems can do positive things in battleground states to positive affect the outcome of the election for Team Blue.
Third, Hillary looks like a confident winner. She is drawing energy from the crowd and the confidence that people have in her. She reminds me a lot of how Bill was in the Fall of 1992. He had a big post-convention August (just like she) and he knew that he had shifted the electoral map in his favor (just like she). That gave him a confidence and energy that was infectious to his supporters. Similarly, she speaks energetically, effervescently, with a relaxed tone and a voice with which she can either boom, converse or whisper. She is fully prepared to go after Trump with aplomb, but she has now developed the ability to feel the energy and transmit it to people in the room.
When I was in that room, all the media b.s. and the Trump derpfest seem so insignificant. And that’s really the key. We don’t need any MSM b.s. It’s just noise. Even a lot of the polls (especially those trackers) are just noise. We just have to go out and vote, and reach the reachable and get them to vote. It’s in our hands to put an end to Trumpism and pave the way for a progressive agenda. No one in the real world cares if Colin Powell wants to weasel his way out of what he said a few months earlier regarding the use of private email, or about the latest Trump Derp fest. People care about seizing the future.
The thing is, Hillary doesn’t sell something unless she’s confident that she has done her homework and believes that she actually has something to sell. This campaign, like the Obama campaign before it, knows that the votes are already there to win this thing. We just have to go out and bank them.