“‘She’s the second-most-powerful Democrat in the country, with near universal adulation that appears unequalled and unprecedented,’ argues Republican strategist Juleanna Glover.

“Democratic strategist Donna Brazile flatly told ABC News this week: ‘There is no question, if Hillary Clinton gets into the race, there will be a coronation of her.’

“If a new GOP playbook indeed exists, the long-held strategy of touting candidates and party values first, and then ‘going negative’ in the homestretch, appears to have been flipped.

“Glover, who founded the Washington-based Ashcroft Group with former Attorney General John Ashcroft, said Republicans have actually been rethinking the playbook ever since the 2000 presidential election as a result of the ‘unprecedented nature’ of the recount.”