Clinton Allies Say They’re Ready for Rough Campaign After Trump Shakeup

The hiring of Breitbart’s Stephen Bannon changes little, the Democratic nominee’s supporters say.

Hillary Clinton’s team is bracing for what Donald Trump’s campaign shakeup portends: a political fight that that could drag out every Clinton family drama, tabloid scandal, and conspiracy theory of the past three decades. But the Democratic presidential nominee doesn’t plan to adjust her strategy or shift staffing in response, according to interviews Wednesday with campaign advisers, surrogates, and party strategists. While Trump’s hiring of Breitbart News executive chairman Stephen Bannon as his campaign’s CEO signals that the Republican nominee won’t moderate his attacks, Clinton aides say she has built her general-election strategy around combating such tactics. Veterans of Clinton’s 2008 run are also keenly aware of the potential repercussions brought on by campaign staffing changes.

Trump’s installation and elevation of Paul Manafort, a lobbyist who has advised past mainstream Republican presidential candidates, coupled with the June firing of campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, held out the possibility that Trump would morph into a more reined-in, conventional candidate than the one who gleefully trounced his primary opponents. But Trump refused to be managed.

By hiring Bannon and promoting pollster Kellyanne Conway to campaign manager, while Manafort retains his campaign chairman title, Trump may be formalizing the negative tack the Clinton team has been anticipating.

“After several failed attempts to pivot to a more serious and presidential mode, Donald Trump has decided to double down on his most small, nasty and divisive instincts,” Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook told reporters on a conference call scheduled to respond to the Bannon hire. “This latest shake-up turns his campaign over to someone who’s best known for running a so-called news site that peddles divisive, at times racist, anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.”

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http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-08-18/clinton-allies-say-they-re-ready-for-rough-campaign-after-trump-shakeup