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ByBillBarrow The Associated Press ATLANTA Donald Trump says he plans to win the White House largely on the strength of his personality, brushing off the need for a heavy investment in what he calls the "overrated" use of data to shape cam- paign strategy and get out the vote. Should he hold to that ap- proach, which he outlined last week in an interview with The Associated Press, Trump will flout all conven- tions of what it takes to win a modern presidential cam- paign. By doing so, critics in both parties argue, he'd give up what could be a strate- gic advantage over Hillary Clinton, his expected Dem- ocratic opponent. "It's a big risk," said Chris Wilson, who ran an expan- sivedataoperationforTexas Sen. Ted Cruz, Trump's stiffest competition in the Republican primaries. Jer- emy Bird, who worked for President Barack Obama's data-rich campaign, said: "Flying blind is nuts." A few days after the AP interview, Trump aide Rick Wiley said the campaign would indeed give priority to data and digital opera- tions, looking first to tap the resources of the Repub- lican National Committee and the heavy investment it has made in data over sev- eral years. The use of data has evolved over the past sev- eral presidential campaigns into a shorthand for us- ing information — start- ing with simple lists of po- tential voters, then mated with extensive details about their habits and beliefs — to guide a campaign toward its ultimate goal: the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House. Campaigns use the in- formation in all sorts of ways, from deciding where to send a candidate to mak- ing sure supporters cast a ballot. In his AP interview, Trump discounted the value of data: The "candi- date is by far the most im- portant thing," he said. He said he plans a "limited" use of data in his general elec- tion campaign and sug- gested Obama's victories — universally viewed by political professionals as groundbreaking in the way data steered the campaign to voters — are misunder- stood. "Obama got the votes much more so than his data processing machine, and I think the same is true with me," Trump said, explain- ing that he will continue to focus on his signature ral- lies, free television expo- sure and his personal so- cial media accounts to win voters over. Buzz Jacobs, who was on the losing end of Obama's success in 2008 as an aide to GOP nominee John Mc- Cain, said Trump oversim- plifies the president's victo- ries. "We lost in large part because Obama's ability to use data was so much bet- ter than ours," Jacobs said. According to South Caro- lina's Republican chairman, Matt Moore: "Elections to a great degree are won on ... that last 1 or 2 percent that shows up or stays home. That group on either edge turns out because of data and digital. That's a known fact." Republicans and Demo- crats with experience run- ning campaigns question why Trump would give up a chance to reinforce with data his ubiquitous pres- ence on television and inar- guable success with large- scale rallies — a platform of personality that Clinton has yet to match. Bird, whose consulting firm now works for the Clin- ton campaign, said Trump is giving himself a false choice. "At a big picture level, sure, Barack Obama got the votes — his bio, his policies, his ability to communicate," Bird said. "But we wanted to do everything we could to get him and get his mes- sage to the right people." PRESIDENTIAL RACE Trump'squestioningofthevalueofdataworriesGOP MARYALTAFFER—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at Trump Tower in New York. By Lisa Lerer and Catherine Lucey The Associated Press HOPKINSVILLE, KY. The notion of a 2-for-1 Clinton presidency is back. Recalling sunnier days of growth, low unemploy- ment and budget surpluses under her husband, Hillary Clinton is telling Americans that Bill Clinton will take the lead on the economy if she wins the White House. What his work would be remains unclear: not a cab- inet post, she indicated. But in some way, he'd be "in charge of revitalizing the economy." Bill Clinton reigned over a strong economy, espe- cially in the final years of his presidency, yet his eco- nomic legacy is mixed. The late 1990s were the last period to see sustained income gains for the typi- cal American household. Middle-income wages have stagnated since then. But his refusal to step up regulation of exotic finan- cial instruments known as derivatives was blamed in large measure for the col- lapse of the financial sector years later. The tech bubble of his time burst. And his agenda was driven by sup- port for free trade deals, including one that gave China better access to the U.S. market, that are held responsible by elements of both parties for driving jobs out of the country. Still, in those pre-9/11 days, it's a stretch of peace and prosperity like Ameri- cans haven't seen since and with her latest remarks, in Kentucky, Hillary Clinton is more firmly laying out how important he would be to her agenda. The situation is highly unusual: Not only would Clinton be the first presi- dent to have a "First Dude," she'd also be the first to have a former president in the East Wing. Now, facing a two-front fight against Bernie Sand- ers and Donald Trump, she's stressing that Bill Clinton would be an asset in her administration, par- ticularly with the kind of Southern white voters who once backed him but now are drawn to Trump. "Tell me anybody else who's been here as much or knows us as well," said Dem- ocratic Sen. Joe Manchin, of Bill Clinton, during a cam- paigneventinWestVirginia. Hillary Clinton lost that pri- mary — a state her husband won by double digits — ear- lier this month to Sanders. TheGOPfront-runnerand histeamaremakingadiffer- entpoliticalbet.TheyseeBill Clinton'shistoryofscandalas ripe for exploitation. Still, in recent weeks, Clinton has begun sketch- ing out a bit more of a role for her husband. She told West Virginians that he'd focus on helping econom- ically distressed commu- nities, like those in coal county, reinvent themselves in a changing economy. "You'll get sick of seeing him," she said earlier this month. "This gets him re- ally, really excited." Spokesman Nick Mer- rill said Monday that Clin- ton would be getting ahead of herself to talk about "any sort of formalized role for anyone. But, he added, Bill Clinton "has a lot to offer and it would be foolish not tousethatinsomecapacity." More any other political couple in recent American history,theClintonshavelong viewed themselves as a joint package. Shortly after enter- ing the White House, Clinton appointed his wife to head the administration's effort to pass a major health care bill. The failed measure became known as "Hillarycare." But as the party has shifted to the left during the Obama administration, Hillary Clinton repeatedly found herself forced to re- pudiate key pieces of her husband's legacy during her primary campaign. She's distanced herself from the North American Free Trade Agreement, the fed- eral law that defined mar- riage as between one man and one woman, and the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that banned gays and lesbi- ans from military service. Hillary Clinton has also faced criticism for backing the 1994 crime bill, which led to tougher sentencing for drug offenses. Her campaign is calculat- ing that in the general elec- tion, Bill Clinton's strong economic record outweighs the criticism. 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