The Republican National Committee on Tuesday launched an offensive against presumed 2016 Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in a bid to highlight her absence on the political stage,
Politico reported.
The "Hillary's Hiding" campaign will include billboards in early primary states, opinion pieces in newspapers, and videos featuring President Barack Obama and other high level administration officials with the aim of branding a campaign by the former secretary of state as "#Obama's 3rd term."
"What's the only way not to seem like she's campaigning?" said RNC communications director Sean Spicer in a memo about the campaign. "Go into hiding."
According to Politico, the memo notes that Clinton has not had a press conference in over 200 days and has not visited Iowa or New Hampshire since November's midterm elections. It also says Clinton has declined to comment on the record for press stories at least 28 times since May.
Spicer adds in his memo that her silence is part of a "strategic decision that the only way to ensure she is the Democratic nominee is to make everyone think she's inevitable."
"Is it that, OR, that she isn't a declared candidate. You pick. If she runs she will take nothing for granted, and she will fight for every vote. Anyone who thinks otherwise should think again," Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill told Politico.
The memo also mentions attempts by liberals to draft Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren into the 2016 field despite her ongoing insistence that she will not run.
The RNC's campaign is also expected to highlight the weaknesses of Clinton's 2008 bid for the nomination, noting past infighting within her campaign. In a research guide attached to the briefing, the RNC specifically notes the resignation Monday of Clinton supporter
David Brock from the board of the pro-Clinton super PAC Priorities USA as a sign of things to come.
Politico said, however, that the campaign is just one of a series of efforts to paint Clinton negatively, and noted that while it is officially distinct from the "Hiding Hillary" Facebook page set up by America Rising on Friday, "the similarity indicates Republicans' universal wish to combat Clinton's candidacy early on."