Hillary Clinton faces a dilemma for 2018. How does she strike a balance between boosting Democrats where she can and not giving Republicans a way to attack Democrats she supports, given that Republicans are going to run against her even if she lives in a cave unseen by any human being? Clinton could step up to support specific candidates (in carefully chosen districts where she will be an asset rather than a ready-made attack ad), but here’s a great strategy she’s already putting into practice:
Clinton’s primary political vehicle is a nonprofit organization and affiliated super PAC called Onward Together, which she created last year and which directs resources to groups aimed at boosting Democratic candidates and turnout.
Even that enterprise is understated. Its website does not feature her picture. Instead, it lists one of her quotes — “Resist, insist, persist, enlist” — and invites visitors to get involved in upstart groups she supports, such as Indivisible and Run for Something.
Federal election filings show that Clinton’s Hillary for America political committee transferred $800,000 in May to Onward Together. A person close to the group called it an “incubator” and said it has given out more than $1 million over the past year.
Funding groups that are doing grassroots organizing gives Clinton a way to make a difference without her name being attached—and used in attack ads—to a specific candidate. It builds progressive infrastructure. It supports organizing that will strengthen the resistance beyond specific campaigns, in communities and on the ground. Whatever else Clinton does, this is a great no-ego, get-stuff-done approach. It would be good to see that “more than $1 million” grow.
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