What Hillary allies fear the most

NEW YORK — Donors, Democratic operatives and officials from political action committees gathered Friday in New York to lay the groundwork for Hillary Clinton’s potential White House run in 2016.

While buzz of Clinton’s would-be candidacy filled the meeting of the Ready for Hillary National Finance Committee meeting, questions and concerns about the presidential race were also on everyone’s lips.

Here are five of the issues that Clinton allies and insiders couldn’t stop talking about.

The Inevitability factor

Nothing in politics is a sure thing — even if your last name is Clinton, her backers pointed out.

“Inevitability is not something you can run on,” said Terry Shumaker, a former ambassador and longtime Clintonite who has been instrumental in building the Ready for Hillary operation in New Hampshire.

Clinton allies learned this lesson in 2008, when she seemed like a shoe-in for the Democratic nomination, only to be upstaged by Barack Obama. 

“If it taught us anything, it’s that there is no such thing as inevitability,” said Craig Smith, a senior adviser for Ready for Hillary and longtime Clinton friend. 

Others were more blunt about the challenges ahead.

“This is not going to be an easy election,” said Stephanie Schriock, executive director of Emily’s List and one of the panelists at the finance committee event. Schriock has been floated a potential campaign manager, should Clinton decide to run.

Schriock said history has proven that Americans don’t really like to go with the same party for three terms. “She’s going to have to make case,” she said. 

Jeb Bush and Rand Paul

Harold Ickes, who served as a senior adviser in Clinton’s 2008 presidential run and is now a senior adviser to Ready for Hillary, not only thinks Jeb Bush is running, but that he could make significant inroads with Hispanics. 

“Gov. Bush has what appears to be very strong credentials with Hispanics. And I’m told he’s married to a Hispanic. Told he speaks Spanish at home and actually thinks in Spanish,” Ickes said on Friday.

Other attendees at the event said they are more worried about Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

“Rand Paul is not his father. He has mainstream appeal,” Shumaker said, adding that Paul showed “perhaps that he is more politically flexible than his father when campaigned for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Another longtime Clinton ally agreed with that sentiment. “There’s certainly an intrigue with him on this end, that’s for sure.”

Obama’s third term

While Bill Clinton has arguably become the patriarch of the Democratic Party and left his White House tenure with high approval ratings, Hillary Clinton should avoid saying she would pick up where he husband left off, allies said.

And while she’s at it, should keep a distance from President Obama, too.

“In my opinion, she should not run as a third term Bill Clinton or a third term Barack Obama,” Smith said, adding that she needs to lay out a “clear vision about where she wants to take the country.”

There was a lot of talk among donors and other Clintonites on Friday about how Clinton needs to avoid tying herself to an unpopular Obama.

One donor asked panelists including James Carville and Paul Begala if Bill Clinton is an asset for his wife, according to one attendee in the room. Carville said he was, calling him the most popular person in the world right now after the Pope. 

But Carville also said Clinton needs to avoid being characterized as an Obama-third term, since a majority of Americans disapprove of his administration.

Clintonites acknowledge that it will be difficult for Hillary to distance herself from Obama because she worked for his administration. But panelists on Friday said there are ways she can frame that argument.

She could argue that Obama “came in under difficult circumstances” and helped improve the economy “but we have a lot more work to do,” said Chris Lehane, a political strategist who spoke to the donors on Friday.

The Elizabeth Warren factor

Most Clintonites expect that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wouldn’t challenge Hillary Clinton for the nomination.

Donors say she doesn’t stand a chance at beating Clinton, but still, a sense of worry persists about the wing of the party she represents.

The economic worries of the country will be front and center during the next election, and some Hillary allies fear it could be a blind spot for Clinton.

“If I have one big fear, that’s it,” said one Clinton supporter. “She needs to present a strong message on the economy and tell people why she not only supports Wall Street but every day economic issues. She needs to unite the party.”

GOP co-opting the message

There was much chatter in the room about lessons learned from the midterm elections. One of the biggest takeaways, Schriock said, is that Democrats need to keep Republicans from “playing on our issues.”

Schriock said Democrats need to “remain the party of the little guy.”

Attendees also talked about voter turnout and how many of the key demographics for Democrats were down during this cycle. While presidential elections typically draw more voters to the polls, most Clintonites say the party needed to do a better job rallying key demographics, including millennials and Hispanics.

Clinton’s immediate support of Obama’s executive action on Thursday night was a good first step, they said.

“It was a smart move,” one longtime former Clinton aide said.