Flashback to 1999: Gore campaign also tried to make statement over campaign HQ choice

Tennessee state line

The Hill is reporting that the Hillary Clinton apparatus is considering Brooklyn as the sites its campaign HQ.

But using Brooklyn for its headquarters could be a useful symbol for a campaign that hopes to win over young people and has already been attacked by Republicans as "old news."

The borough is New York City's most populous, and has had a renaissance over the last decade as many of its neighborhoods have been transformed. It is also one of the most ethnically diverse areas of the United States — another aspect Clinton’s team will want to highlight as it seeks to attract minority voters.

Hillary's 2008 campaign was based in the Washington DC suburbs.

Even though Clinton hasn't declared that she is running for president, this type of thinking betrays that she is already struggling with her campaign message--assuming she has one, that is.

Just as Al Gore did in 1999. From CNN that year:

Nashville is the new home of the Gore 2000 presidential campaign's nerve center. Gore's headquarters is located in a former physical therapy facility in the commercial portion of the city. The setup provides quite a contrast from the almost three-times as expensive old headquarters, which were situated just blocks from the White House.

"The vice president wanted the campaign to go directly to the American people, and by moving south and moving west, we are able to be more in the center of this country," said Gore campaign manager Donna Brazile.

"We can talk to the entire country, and not just the Beltway chatters," Brazile said.

Tennessee turned out to be a failed symbol for the Gore effort--the Tennesseean wasn't able to win his home state in 2000. Had he done so, Gore would have won the presidency.