First, she can employ a “whack-a-mole” strategy.  The Clinton forces could have a team that tackles every new ugly mole as it pops up, whacking it down with talking points, surrogates and whatever other tactics they have at their disposal so it doesn’t distract the rest of the campaign.

Next, she can deploy a strategy of permanent stonewalling. But this is untenable. As the campaign moves forward, she will have to have regular encounters with the media. Clinton will need to get to a place where she can take on all questions, not be intimidated, not tell whoppers that will dig the scandal hole deeper and actually impress people with her command of her story and the facts.

Clinton’s third option is a scorched earth policy. A recent Quinnipiac poll shows that Clinton is viewed as untrustworthy by 54 percent of the population, which makes her strategy simple. She will just need to make sure her opponent — whoever it is — is viewed as untrustworthy by 60 percent of the electorate.  So the Clinton campaign has to start now by attacking the Republican brand. They will need to load the kitchen sink and get ready to launch it at their Republican opponent as soon as that person emerges.  This means the 2016 campaign will get down in the gutter faster than in most previous campaigns.