February 28, 2014

Media Adviser to Hillary Clinton in 1999: “Be Careful to Be Real”

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/15083709@N06/2245576555/in/photolist-4qraFa-4s7bTf-4uDKbQ-4Dx3MR-4Lki1L-4U6Tyk-51xeXX-51Byof-5nQ8Di-613oYp-bEieMB-9yMrvc-fucSTv-fusc6W-fus34L-fucHE4-beZvdn-8gibYf-8gibT9-8geV2T-dA7bF1-de5hpK-8geUYr-8geUWZ-dA1GRp-7JDuot-7JDu5B-7JHpFG-7JDu8T-7JDugK-7JHpJd-7JHphS-7JHpE3-7JDtQZ-7JDu1R-7JHpX7-7JHpVb-7JHpKw-7JHpgs-7JHpvS-7JDtWM-7JDtU2-7JDuip-7JHpnm-7JDuer-7JHpjN-7JHpwG-7JHpwm-7JHpCL-7JDusz-7JDtYg">Angela Radulescu</a>/Flickr

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In 1999, as former First Lady Hillary Clinton was preparing to run for US Senator in New York, she was coached by Mandy Grunwald, a public relations consultant who also served as media adviser for Clinton’s subsequent presidential campaign, before a speech. Back then, Grunwald had some words of wisdom for Clinton, who is now considered front runner for the Democrat’s 2016 presidential nomination: “Be careful to be real.” This is one of eight pieces of advice included in a July 1999 letter released today as part of a trove of documents from the Bill Clinton Administration.

Some of these tips could still be applicable for Clinton in 2016, if she chooses to run: “Don’t assume anyone knows anything about you…New Yorkers generally know about healthcare, your work for children, and then a lot of tabloid junk.” Here are the other tips: 

 

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It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

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