Hillary endorses Whitney Williams

[Left Wing]

https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/1257699115145854976
This seems like an odd move. Cooney has a much better chance of winning the general and as far as I can tell he is as pro-choice as Williams. Will this have any impact or do people not care about Hillary anymore?

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

I mentioned this in the Montana legislature thread, but it's probably just repaying a favour - Williams is a former Clinton staffer,

[Mr. Smith]

RIP Williams campaign.

[Canis]

Cooney is the only candidate in the race with a chance of winning the GE bad move

[😥]

Hope Cooney will win

[Heir of Camelot]

If she somehow wins the primary this will be used as an attack ad against her.

She's never really lived in Montana and it shows. She's basically a walking caricature of a Limousine Latte Liberal.

[MT Treasurer]

This (predictable) endorsement was already posted in the MT megathread, so really not sure why it warrants a separate thread.

This seems like an odd move.

It... doesn’t? Whitney Williams literally worked in the White House as a staffer under the Clinton administration, was then-First Lady Hillary Clinton's trip director, worked on multiple Hillary Clinton campaigns (including as a Finance Co-Chair in WA in 2008), has been a very generous donor to the Clinton Foundation, and has worked with Hillary Clinton on quite a few development projects and domestic issues. Her entire political history is riddled with ties to the Clintons, and the entire Williams family (which includes former Congressman Pat Williams and former State Senate Leader Carol Williams) has always been fairly close to the Clintons.

Will this have any impact or do people not care about Hillary anymore?

Close to zero impact, and at best (if we’re being very generous to her) a marginal and negligible effect. The kind of Montana Democratic primary voter who cares about Hillary Clinton's endorsement was already going to vote for Whitney Williams anyway.

[Fuzzy Bear]

This (predictable) endorsement was already posted in the MT megathread, so really not sure why it warrants a separate thread.

This seems like an odd move.

It... doesn’t? Whitney Williams literally worked in the White House as a staffer under the Clinton administration, was then-First Lady Hillary Clinton's trip director, worked on multiple Hillary Clinton campaigns (including as a Finance Co-Chair in WA in 2008), has been a very generous donor to the Clinton Foundation, and has worked with Hillary Clinton on quite a few development projects and domestic issues. Her entire political history is riddled with ties to the Clintons, and the entire Williams family (which includes former Congressman Pat Williams and former State Senate Leader Carol Williams) has always been fairly close to the Clintons.

Will this have any impact or do people not care about Hillary anymore?

Close to zero impact, and at best (if we’re being very generous to her) a marginal and negligible effect. The kind of Montana Democratic primary voter who cares about Hillary Clinton's endorsement was already going to vote for Whitney Williams anyway.

Hillary would look like a real ingrate if she DIDN'T endorse Williams.

[tmthforu94]

The endorsement isn't odd, what is odd to me is highlighting her pro-choice stance in Montana. There is a way for Hillary to make the endorsement and rally the base for Williams without emphasizing an issue that a majority of the state feels differently on and will harm her in the general election.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

The endorsement isn't odd, what is odd to me is highlighting her pro-choice stance in Montana. There is a way for Hillary to make the endorsement and rally the base for Williams without emphasizing an issue that a majority of the state feels differently on and will harm her in the general election.

Is Montana really that socially conservative?

[tmthforu94]

The endorsement isn't odd, what is odd to me is highlighting her pro-choice stance in Montana. There is a way for Hillary to make the endorsement and rally the base for Williams without emphasizing an issue that a majority of the state feels differently on and will harm her in the general election.

Is Montana really that socially conservative?

I didn't find a poll on abortion in Montana so was just guessing on that. The state definitely has a libertarian streak, but I still don't see it being a successful issue to run on there, similar to Wendy Davis running on it in Texas in 2014.

[SnowLabrador]

Hopefully this helps Cooney in the primary. Honestly, Hillary needs to go back to the woods.

[I’m not Stu]

Cooney likely wins. Incumbent lieutenant governors have an advantage in gubernatorial primaries.

[libertpaulian]

The endorsement isn't odd, what is odd to me is highlighting her pro-choice stance in Montana. There is a way for Hillary to make the endorsement and rally the base for Williams without emphasizing an issue that a majority of the state feels differently on and will harm her in the general election.

Is Montana really that socially conservative?

I didn't find a poll on abortion in Montana so was just guessing on that. The state definitely has a libertarian streak, but I still don't see it being a successful issue to run on there, similar to Wendy Davis running on it in Texas in 2014.

I imagine that while Montanans may support abortion freedoms, they aren't rabid #ShoutYourAbortion SJW types.

[Hope For A New Era]

When is HRC going to realize that her endorsements hurt campaigns rather than helping them?

[Alben Barkley]

Hopefully this helps Cooney in the primary. Honestly, Hillary needs to go back to the woods.

Weird how nobody said this about Al Gore or John Kerry or John McCain or Mitt Romney. All of whom had active careers in public life after their failed candidacies. Yet every time Hillary says literally anything, inevitably somebody is going to say she should keep her mouth shut forever. Despite the fact that she got more votes than any candidate in history except Obama and is the first woman ever to win the popular vote for president.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Hopefully this helps Cooney in the primary. Honestly, Hillary needs to go back to the woods.

Weird how nobody said this about Al Gore or John Kerry or John McCain or Mitt Romney. All of whom had active careers in public life after their failed candidacies. Yet every time Hillary says literally anything, inevitably somebody is going to say she should keep her mouth shut forever. Despite the fact that she got more votes than any candidate in history except Obama and is the first woman ever to win the popular vote for president.

Hillary Clinton was the second most unpopular nominee of modern presidential politics.

Republicans will, eventually, learn to say the thing about former president Trump. They did something similar for Dubya.

[Heir of Camelot]

Whitney Williams has momentum. Carol's list or something just did a 700K expenditure on her behalf (which goes a long way in Montana) and she is swamping Cooney in Advertising. You can't turn on Youtube without seeing her ads for example. A lot of female voters are jumping over to her candidacy and they have outsized influence in the Primary. Cooney should have picked a female running mate. I still think he's favored but it's more like 60-40 now where it was 80-20 in his favor a few weeks ago. He also is getting some bad press for making campaign calls in his Lt. Gov. office which isn't allowed and isn't helping things. Not a great week for my boy Cooney.

It's unfortunate because if WW wins the primary she is basically Gianforte's wildest dream to run against.

[free my dawg]

can we not

[Landslide Lyndon]

Hopefully this helps Cooney in the primary. Honestly, Hillary needs to go back to the woods.

Weird how nobody said this about Al Gore or John Kerry or John McCain or Mitt Romney. All of whom had active careers in public life after their failed candidacies. Yet every time Hillary says literally anything, inevitably somebody is going to say she should keep her mouth shut forever. Despite the fact that she got more votes than any candidate in history except Obama and is the first woman ever to win the popular vote for president.

Hillary Clinton was the second most unpopular nominee of modern presidential politics.

Republicans will, eventually, learn to say the thing about former president Trump. They did something similar for Dubya.

Last time I checked Dubya's legacy was a failed war and a ruined economy. What exactly Clinton did that was as bad or worse than that?

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Hopefully this helps Cooney in the primary. Honestly, Hillary needs to go back to the woods.

Weird how nobody said this about Al Gore or John Kerry or John McCain or Mitt Romney. All of whom had active careers in public life after their failed candidacies. Yet every time Hillary says literally anything, inevitably somebody is going to say she should keep her mouth shut forever. Despite the fact that she got more votes than any candidate in history except Obama and is the first woman ever to win the popular vote for president.

Hillary Clinton was the second most unpopular nominee of modern presidential politics.

Republicans will, eventually, learn to say the thing about former president Trump. They did something similar for Dubya.

Last time I checked Dubya's legacy was a failed war and a ruined economy. What exactly Clinton did that was as bad or worse than that?

A lot was equated with Bush's legacy by cable TV to drive #bothsides narratives, but Bush did poll about 20 points worse than HRC by the end of his presidency. Regardless, both are politically toxic and they are shirked because this of that. Perhaps Trump won't be abandoned if he doesn't plumb the depths W fell to, but I think it's likely some time after the end of his presidency.

[S019]

I still hope Cooney wins, but there is a no doubt that this should be a boon to Williams. Hillary Clinton is a former Democratic nominee for President, former Secretary of State, and a former Senator from New York, while her endorsement may not be as relevant in Montana as in other places, this will still have an impact on the race, simply due to the influence that she holds in the Democratic Party.

[MT Treasurer]

I still hope Cooney wins, but there is a no doubt that this should be a boon to Williams. Hillary Clinton is a former Democratic nominee for President, former Secretary of State, and a former Senator from New York, while her endorsement may not be as relevant in Montana as in other places, this will still have an impact on the race, simply due to the influence that she holds in the Democratic Party.

Eh, all the $$$ she’s poured into this race will have more of an impact than a predictable Hillary Clinton tweet expressing support for her former employee. It’s not like Williams' ties to the Clintons hadn’t been well-known before she received her endorsement or anything.

Whitney Williams has momentum. Carol's list or something just did a 700K expenditure on her behalf (which goes a long way in Montana) and she is swamping Cooney in Advertising. You can't turn on Youtube without seeing her ads for example. A lot of female voters are jumping over to her candidacy and they have outsized influence in the Primary. Cooney should have picked a female running mate. I still think he's favored but it's more like 60-40 now where it was 80-20 in his favor a few weeks ago. He also is getting some bad press for making campaign calls in his Lt. Gov. office which isn't allowed and isn't helping things. Not a great week for my boy Cooney.

It's unfortunate because if WW wins the primary she is basically Gianforte's wildest dream to run against.

My impression has been that he didn’t take her candidacy seriously enough in the beginning even though he clearly should have, especially given his 2000 campaign flop, Kathleen Williams' success in the 2018 primary, and the ridiculous number of low information voters in this state who care more about the Williams family name and fancy ads or whatever (am I the only one who’s already had the pleasure of having to explain to people that Kathleen and Whitney aren’t related?). Cooney has been campaigning mostly like a general election candidate, but like Fox he might have gotten a little ahead of himself in the primary. She’s already outraised him, and even the MTGOP is picking up on some of her momentum—that ethics complaint they filed today couldn’t have come at a better time given that all the ballots have been mailed out already and pretty much everyone is voting right now. They’re (understandably) salivating at the prospect of running against Williams.

FTR, I’m with you on your prediction of a Cooney win and I wouldn’t be so quick to underestimate him, but there’s a good chance the D primary ends up being closer than the R primary, which I wouldn’t have anticipated two months ago. If Williams really pulls it off and we actually get a Williams vs. Gianforte race, I’ll literally be rolling on the floor laughing on election night, rejoicing at the meme generator that this campaign will inevitably turn into even though I really, really hate Williams.

[Lechasseur]

It seems to me if Williams wins the primary, this race ends up becoming Likely R no?

[MT Treasurer]

It seems to me if Williams wins the primary, this race ends up becoming Likely R no?

Whitney Williams might succeed in buying the Democratic primary, but she’s going to have one hell of a time winning a general election against someone like Gianforte with that strategy. Gianforte is also more likely to go scorced earth against her than Fox and certainly isn’t the worst campaigner either (I actually think he’s stronger than Daines, tbh).

Definitely more winnable for Republicans than the Senate race, but I’m not going to take anything for granted.