You know, just your average grandma: former first lady of Arkansas, first lady of the United States, eight-year resident of the White House, U.S. senator from New York and U.S. secretary of state.
That grandma.
The 2016 Clinton strategy -- to run (or try to run) as a cheerfully down-to-earth listener and problem-solver -- is the result of the thinking of her new team. There are some decades-long veterans in it (Bill Clinton chief among them), but there is also a new crew, and its thinking is somewhat less innately combative.
To be sure, the battery-acid spinmeister Philippe Reines is still around, but Dark Knight Polltaker Mark "Microtrends" Penn is gone, as is chew-your-head-off New York flack Howard Wolfson. David Brock is on board, but at somewhat of a distance. Lawyers David Kendall and Cheryl Mills will be around, but if Clinton is lucky, they won’t be needed for any frontline duty between now and November 2016.
Instead there is tough-but-well-liked John Podesta in charge, a kinder-gentler Obama poll taker named Joel Benenson and comms director Jennifer Palmieri, another stalwart-but-genial character who has honed her craft under the tutelage of both Podesta and the current president.
Most important, there is Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky, the 6-month-old daughter of Chelsea Clinton and Edward Mezvinsky. Expect to see Charlotte and Chelsea -- and Hillary -- everywhere. Expect to hear about them endlessly.
Nothing wrong with that. Trail to the Chief is all in favor of babies! Kissing them has been a political tradition forever -- probably since Andrew Jackson in Tennessee, if not Pericles in Athens -- and the only thing better than kissing a random baby on the campaign trail is to have one handy in the fam.
Photos: Getty, Associated Press, CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this piece mistakenly identified Robby Mook as "Team Obama." The post has been updated to reflect his wide swath of experience working for the Democratic party.