Parties stock bullets for general against Clinton, Rubio, Trump

Democrats and Republicans alike believe they are building up ammunition for November 2016 — seizing on unforced errors and stowing away incendiary comments made in primary contests that could play badly in a general election.

GOP operatives who want to paint likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton as an out-of-touch and dishonest Washington insider are salivating over gaffes and comments made as she tries to excite the liberal base and blunt the challenge from her left from Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). 

{mosads}Clinton’s statement that Republicans are the enemies she’s proudest of making is made for negative commercials, they say, as was her televised shrug at questions in August about her use of a private email server as secretary of state.

Democrats appear even more excited about the statements being made in the hard-fought Republican primary.

Billionaire Donald Trump has ruined the plans of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who said he was willing to “lose the primary to win the general” — meaning he would not pander to the base in the primary as Mitt Romney did when statements such as “self-deportation” for immigrants returned to haunt him in the general election.

While Bush and others such as Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio originally may have wanted to stake out more compassionate positions on immigration to appeal to the rising Hispanic electorate, Trump has swung the conversation in a different direction with his calls to deport 11 million and build a giant wall along the southern border. 

Such rhetoric thrills many hardcore Republicans voters but will alienate a large proportion of the minority voting blocs to which the eventual GOP nominee will need to appeal to win in November 2016. 

The dangers of far-right primary statements are clear, as are the increasingly hard-line stances being taken on women’s issues such as abortion, Democrats say.

Here’s a look at the ammunition both sides believe they have gained with just under a year to go before Election Day.

REPUBLICANS

GOP operatives working at the Republican opposition research shop America Rising have been at work for more than two years now, harvesting material to use against Clinton.

Led by former Mitt Romney aides Matt Rhoades and Spencer Zwick, the group employs more than 50 conservative trackers and desktop researchers, and sends young operatives with video cameras to film Clinton campaign events across the country.

While America Rising is also sending trackers to events held by Sanders, Clinton’s top rival for the Democratic nomination, the group is primarily focused on the former secretary of state.

Its favorite clips saved so far include Clinton telling an autograph seeker on the campaign trail to “go to the end of the line”; Clinton boarding private jets; joking about wiping her private email server with a cloth and about messages disappearing on Snapchat; saying she and President Clinton were “dead broke” when they left the White House; that she hasn’t driven a car since 1996; and that the enemies she is most proud of making are Republicans. 

All of these clips, says America Rising communications director Jeff Bechdel, could reinforce suggestions that Clinton is out-of-touch, untrustworthy or unethical. 

“Seven months into her campaign, Hillary Clinton has provided countless misstatements, gaffes, and embarrassing videos, any number of which can be used against her at the opportune time,” Bechdel said. 

DEMOCRATS

Clinton supporters believe the GOP primary has given the Democratic nominee ammunition regardless of who emerges as the Republican nominee.

Her allies are particularly focused on sound bites that could turn off women and Hispanics to the GOP field. Both demographics were important parts of the Obama voting blocs that Clinton and other Democrats are focused upon.

Democrats have archived footage of Bush saying he doesn’t regret using the term “anchor baby” to describe immigrants and suggesting that women’s health is over-funded; Trump saying “wages are too high”; Rubio saying he does not favor rape and incest exceptions for abortions; and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson saying that “there may be a war on what’s inside of women, but there is no war on women in this country.”

Trump’s comments last week that Clinton might be wearing a wig is another moment that Democrats believe will resonate with women voters. No matter who the GOP nominee is, Democrats hope to pain them as insensitive with women. 

“Across the board, this Republican field is wildly out of touch. But these statements are not a simple slip of the tongue — they expose a dangerously extreme worldview backed by policies that threaten opportunity for women and families,” said Marcy Stech, the communications director at Emily’s List. 

An official with Priorities USA, the pro-Clinton super-PAC, said Rubio and the rest of the Republican field will face continued scrutiny on immigration. And they’ll also have to answer to Hispanic voters, a key voting block, on their positions.