Editor's Note: Below is a brief excerpt from Hedgeye Potomac Chief Political Strategist JT Taylor's Capital Brief sent to institutional clients each morning. For more information on how you can access our institutional research please email sales@hedgeye.com.
“Divide and rule, a sound motto. Unite and lead, a better one.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
CLINTON COURTS MILLENNIALS
Now that Hillary Clinton has sidelined Bernie Sanders, she’s making a play for some of his most diehard supporters - millennials. The first of many Sanders staffers joined Clinton’s camp with the main objective of corralling and converting college students. More importantly, though, are the ongoing talks between both campaigns regarding how to best deploy Sanders as a Clinton surrogate later this year.
Millennials rallied behind Sanders because they were inspired by his vision for change and political revolution. Clinton must determine where she too can foster change and promote those policies. For Clinton, targeting young voters is a critical element in unifying the part of the party’s base that turned out in record numbers to put Obama into the White House in ’08 and then again in ’12. Keep snapping those selfies, H.
TRUMP TURNAROUND PART FOUR?
One of Donald Trump’s first campaign hires, Corey Lewandowski, has departed amidst chaos in the Trump campaign following two particularly bad weeks. Firing your campaign manager five months out from Election Day is usually not the sign of a winning campaign. Trump needs to use this moment to change course and pivot away from the missteps and the resulting criticism his campaign has endured. He’ll likely pin the blame on Lewandowski and move on – hopefully for the Republican party - with a fresh approach.
With his recent decline in national polls, and Hillary Clinton’s barrage of attack ads, change is a must – but whether it will actually occur is the real question. Trump now finds himself in an even bigger rut, lacking staff, organization and most importantly money - he has less cash-on-hand than Ted Cruz - and he dropped out of the race six weeks ago.
WARREN WARNINGS
Wall Street has a clear message for Clinton – don’t pick Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA) as your veep if you want our money. Harsh, but true. Warren’s war on Wall Street has been one of the largest political battles any sector has withstood in recent years. She was the driving force behind the CFPB and wants to break up big banks - even the mere mention of her name draws groans from the pinstriped crowd. Clinton is flirting with the left in her courtship of Bernie Sanders’ supporters – which Wall Street can stomach – but if she goes at it with Warren, she can kiss those checks goodbye.