Fading Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, facing a near-certain loss to Bernie Sanders in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, spent the last day before the crucial voting contest imploring Granite State residents to consider her and staving off rumors of an impending campaign shake-up
“I need you tomorrow,” Clinton, who according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of recent polls is trailing Sanders by 13 percentage points, said at a campaign event in Manchester Monday.
The former secretary of state, who just months ago was seen as the far-and-away front-runner in the race for the Democratic nomination, has suddenly found herself in a tight race. She barely eked by Sanders in last week’s Iowa caucuses, winning the pivotal contest by 0.25%, and is virtually certain to lose New Hampshire.
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And amid her decline, reports have popped up of an imminent campaign shakeup.
“The Clintons are not happy, and have been letting all of us know that,” a Democratic official told Politico Monday. “The idea is that (the campaign) needs a more forward-looking message, for the primary — but also for the general election too.”
But Clinton vehemently denied the report.
“I have no idea what they’re talking about or who they are talking to,” Clinton told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. “We’re going to take stock but it’s going to be the campaign that I’ve got. I’m very confident in the people that I have. I’m very committed to them; they’re committed to doing the best we can.”
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Clinton could still perform more strongly than anticipated in New Hampshire due to the structure of the state’s primaries, which, unlike in many other states, allow independents to participate in either the Democratic or Republican contests.
The Iowa caucuses, by contrast, only allowed registered Democrats and Republicans to participate.
The flexibility of New Hampshire’s contest turns out left-of-center and centrist voters, who are more likely to support Clinton than they are Sanders.
She still has her strong supporters — Gov. Cuomo will host a big-money fund-raiser for her in the Big Apple next week.
Dubbed “a conversation with Hillary Rodham Clinton,” attendees at the event next Tuesday are asked to donate $2,700 or raise up to $50,000.
