Hillary Clinton's operation is publicly savaging these 3 Republican candidates
"Here's your to-do list to be prepared," wrote Christina Reynolds, Clinton's director of rapid response. "Stock up on soft projectiles to hurl at your television to give your jeering some attitude (marshmallows get the job done)."
Then the Democratic front-runner's campaign zeroed in on just three Republican candidates: former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida).
"Make sure your phone has a full charge," Reynolds added, "so you can tweet about the dangerous policies that candidates like Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Scott Walker are proposing."
It's noteworthy that Clinton's list did not include the most dominating current force on the Republican side of the contest: Donald Trump.
The real-estate magnate is leading almost every single GOP primary poll, and his controversial rhetoric about illegal immigration and other issues would seemingly make him a natural Democratic target. But Clinton does not seem overly eager to attack Trump, who some polls show she would easily beat in the general election if the vote were held today. Matchups with Bush, Rubio, and Walker are much cloudier as Clinton's numbers have slipped.
There is a notable exception, however: Clinton is more than willing to link the other Republicans to Trump's candidacy. Her rapid-response campaign, "The Briefing," did exactly that during the debate:
Clinton, arguably, has not targeted any of her potential Republican foes as much as Bush.
Last Tuesday, Clinton unleashed a direct attack on Bush via Twitter after the former governor stumbled while discussing the women's health and family-planning organization Planned Parenthood. Bush initially said he wasn't "sure we need a half-billion dollars for women's health issues." He walked back that statement, clarifying he only was referring to the embattled nonprofit, not all women's-health organizations.
"Republicans like Scott Walker and Jeb Bush are calling to defund Planned Parenthood, the country's leading provider of reproductive healthcare," Clinton said in the video. "If this feels like a full-on assault on women's health, that's because it is."
Clinton further bashed Bush last week while giving a speech in Florida before an audience of African-American leaders that Bush was also about to address. With a not-so-subtle reference to Bush's PAC, "Right to Rise," Clinton started declaring that Bush's policy record would halt Americans from rising.
"I don't think you can credibly say that everyone has a 'right to rise' and then say you're for phasing out Medicare or for repealing Obamacare. People can't rise if they can't afford health care," she said, according to Reuters.
