Hillary Clinton isn't a "woman of the people" and her campaign is making a mistake trying to portray her that way, says 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
Instead, Clinton should focus on a "Rose Garden-type strategy," Romney said Tuesday on Fox News Channel's
"Hannity."
The Rose Garden campaign strategy was first popularized by President Gerald Ford in 1976, who campaigned from the White House and signed laws in the Rose Garden to give a presidential appearance.
Clinton has attempted to hold one-on-one meetings with "regular Americans," but has come off as stiff and protected and has been criticized for insulating herself from tough press questions.
"Out there with a Scooby van, it just doesn't look right," Romney said. "And she doesn't connect in that way that I think her people would like her to connect."
He said Clinton faces "real problems" from allegations the Clinton Foundation took money from foreign countries possibly hoping to curry favor with her if she becomes president.
"I think it's a real issue when you have a secretary of state who has a back door way for various people and for governments to make contributions to things she's interested in, whether that's her husband's interests or whether it's her foundation," Romney said.
The trust gap between the former secretary of state and the public is widening, he said, over her use of a private email server she used while at the State Department and subsequently erased.
"The idea that she would erase the messages on her server only suggests there are things there she didn't want people to see," Romney said.
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