The Washington Free Beacon’s Elizabeth Harrington spoke on Fox News Tuesday about the stark contrast between the Democratic and Republican presidential fields.
Harrington noted that many of the Republican candidates were channeling populist messages to distinguish themselves from elite candidates like Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush.
"Populist rhetoric is especially prominent in this election cycle because you have everyone running against Hillary Clinton, who is seen as a frontrunner," Harrington said. "Even Hillary is running against Hillary."
Clinton’s campaign strategy is to connect with "everyday Americans" to combat her wealthy and aloof image.
The panelists also discussed the sprawling GOP field, which will be a tough proving ground for the eventual nominee.
"The field is wide open, which gives a lot of people a chance to get in and move the party in whichever direction they want to move it in," Harrington said. "When you have competition it really does help the eventual general election candidate, because they have to prove themselves and carve out support from a big section of the GOP."
The Washington Post’s Colby Itkowitz added that Clinton will have to engage the other Democratic candidates in debate, or else risk being unprepared in the general election. "She needs to make sure she is answering questions from her Democratic primary challengers — Martin O'Malley, Bernie Sanders — so that if she is the nominee, which seems inevitable, she will be ready to take on whoever emerges from the Republican field," Itkowitz said.
Harrington and Fox News host Jon Scott agreed that the GOP benefits from the diversity of its field, which presents an opportunity for the party to appeal to voters who have not traditionally voted Republican.
"When voters see the GOP debate stage they will see something they are not used to: a bunch of different faces, fresh faces, a lot of diversity that really the Democrat side doesn't have this time," Harrington said. "The Democrats are running all-white, sort of older candidates this time and that is going to be helpful for the GOP."