“Donald Trump is a pretty nontraditional candidate, but in a lot of ways we’re about to see a very traditional campaign, because it works,” said one former top Obama campaign official. “We beat the drum on Romney for months on jobs and his record, calling him out-of-touch with most Americans — for months — through paid media, candidate appearances, using surrogates.”

“I don’t think it’s a mistake,” he added. “But I don’t think we’ll know if it’s a mistake for months.”…

But the opening shots of what figures to be a brutal general election campaign still have the unmistakable residue of 2012 — by design. It’s a crucial part of the effort to lay down an early definition of their rival — a goal that closely mirrors Obama’s 2012 attempt, his 2008 campaign manager David Plouffe told Clinton fundraisers at a private meeting in San Francisco two weeks ago.