Dear Bill and Hillary Clinton:

[Vote2016]

Let's talk candidly about what you ought to consider changing as part of your post-New Hampshire shakeup.

The number one change needs to be how you interact with the voters and the media: you need to say what you mean and mean what you say.

The shake up is yet another example of this. There are widely reported quotes from campaign insiders that “the Clintons are not happy, and have been letting all of us know that ... we need a more forward-looking message, for the primary — but also for the general election too," and "there is an urgency to fix these problems right now.”

With this report in the news headlines, Hillary went into a super-softball interview from a supporter who was lobbing her easy pitches and instead of showing some humility and taking some responsibility (this would improve your image which would benefit from some more humility and responsibility taking), Hillary literally responded "I don't know what you're talking about." John Podesta doubled down on this story: "There is zero truth to what you may be reading."

Try to take this point as helpful advice which is how it is intended: No one on the face of the globe believes Hillary or Podesta when they make such statements (frankly, Hillary and Podesta are too smart and too experienced not to be planning a shake up of the horribly under-performing campaign). When Hillary goes out there and tells everyone stuff that is not even remotely plausible, it isn't fooling anyone and it isn't helping. Plus, Podesta has his own credibility problem and he is not a good messenger for the Clinton campaign. I'm not questioning whether Podesta's advice is good or not or questioning whether he should be fired, but I am suggesting that he's the campaign's third worst surrogate after Madeleine Albright and Gloria Steinem.

Which brings up the next change you should consider.

The number two change involves how you communicate with millennials. It is beyond bad.

The Clinton campaign started in a hole and so far everything the campaign has tried has just made the hole deeper. Millennials do not want to be told that their choice is the result of stupidity, immaturity, gender treason, or a desire to hook up with anyone. No more scolding, no more shaming, no more condescending, no more Albright, no more Steinem, and pull Jennifer Granholm and Claire McCaskill off the trail for a while (they are great surrogates, but they've been pushing too hard lately so give them two weeks off from the national tour and have Granholm tone down a bit and work exclusively in Michigan until after that primary). Scolding millennials is neither helpful nor even neutral -- it is actively harmful to your cause and exacerbates the problem. Moreover, campaigning directly to target the millennials only makes the campaign look insincere and suck-upy, which -- again -- does harm rather than good. Win over millennials the same way John Kasich is winning them over. Don't overtly suck up to the "youth vote" -- campaign with ideas that you are genuinely enthusiastic about and when another candidate offers a contrary plan, don't attack the opponent's plan but -- instead -- tout the advantages of your own plan. Optimistically emphasize what you have to offer rather than pessimistically attacking why your opponents' plans are too good to be true (millennials hate it when you do that).

Finally, own yourself.

Stop pretending you're Elizabeth Warren in disguise. You're not. You are a bad Warren impersonator but your the best Hillary Clinton ever (well maybe not as good as Amy Poehler but better than Kate McKinnon). Be the best Hillary and not a half-assed Warren. Lots of people may prefer Warren over Hilary Clinton, but Warren isn't running, and everyone (including us Sanders supporters) prefers real Hillary over phony Hillary. Bury phony Hillary (next to pessimistic Hillary, attack Hillary, implausible Hillary, and not-my-fault Hillary).

Dust yourself off, retool your campaign, and let's get back to the policy debate between you and Sanders because, even though you might not be my first choice in the primary, it remains important that you -- as a Democratic front-runner -- must seem capable of beating Rubio or Kasich or whoever wins the Republican nomination. Without a course correction, you run the risk of beating Sanders due to your super-delegate advantage and going into the general election without a prayer of winning, and no one (even us Sanders supporters) wants that.

Sincerely

[Attorney in Texas]

2. Agreed!