Posted on 06/28/2015 10:37:50 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Bill Curry, a former counselor to Bill Clinton, predicts that,Hillary Clinton is going to lose: She doesn’t even see the frustrated progressive wave that will nominate Bernie Sanders. He initially looked at how Clinton avoided answering questions about her position on TPP, but then looked at her overall campaign. Besides economics, Curry discussed another major weakness for Clinton: “She’s weakest on the sleeper issue of 2016: public corruption and the general debasement of politics and government.”
I don’t think she can enlist Wall Street oligarchs and recruit an army of dewy-eyed volunteers. Above all, I don’t think she can spout populist rhetoric without any policy specifics to back it up. Clinton insiders also ingratiate themselves to reporters by dishing about her need to seem more authentic. Someone should tell them it’s hard to seem real when you won’t tell people what you really think.
A bigger problem for Clinton may be that we know what she thinks. Her platform is like Obama’s trade deal; she won’t say what’s in it, but we can easily guess. It isn’t populism and it isn’t reform. The TPP? She never met a trade deal she didn’t like. The minimum wage? She and Obama let McDonald’s get the drop on them. The surveillance state? Her handling of her emails told us all we need to know of her views on transparency. More war in Iraq? For 12 years as a senator and secretary of state she was John McCain’s best friend. If she gets to be commander in chief, get ready to rumble.
She’s weakest on the sleeper issue of 2016: public corruption and the general debasement of politics and government. Voter disgust is so deep even consultants who make their real livings off corporate clients tell their political clients to talk about it. In her speech Clinton vowed to “wage and win four fights for you.” The first three were jobs, families and national security. The fourth was “reforming our government and revitalizing our democracy.” She vowed to overturn Citizens United and fight GOP efforts to disenfranchise the young, the poor and people of color, but then drifted off onto technology and cutting waste. Unlike nearly every Republican announcing for president, she never mentioned ethics or corruption.
Democratic elites don’t want to hear it but Hillary Clinton’s in trouble. It isn’t in all the data yet though you can find it if you look. In a straw poll taken in early June at a Wisconsin Democratic convention she edged out Bernie Sanders by just 8 points, 49% to 41%. In a poll of N.H. primary voters this week she beat Sanders by 41% to 31%. An Ohio poll had her in a dead heat with the likes of Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. If Sanders can poll 40% in a Wisconsin straw poll in June he can do it an Iowa caucus in January. Imagine a Hillary Clinton who just lost Iowa and New Hampshire to Bernie Sanders. It’s still hard to picture but it gets easier every day.
You don’t win your next race running someone else’s last one. Trying to do so, Clinton repeats her big mistake of 2008: not sensing the times. There are smaller changes she can make right now: hire better speech writers, including at least one with a sense of humor; put her family foundation under independent management; tell her husband to stop giving speeches or else start talking for free. But her whole campaign model is wrong. ‘Clinton Democrats’ hate to admit there are issues you can’t finesse or that they must ever choose between the middle class and the donor class. Clinton better figure it out now. When the data’s all in it will be too late.
Clinton resists change. Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders is the only candidate in either party who seems to feel the tectonic plates of our politics shifting, perhaps because he’s expected the change for so long. His is still an improbable candidacy, but less improbable than it was a month or even a week ago. If he clears out the second tier, his battle with Hillary could become epic, forcing not just her but the Democratic Party to choose between the middle class and the donor class; between corporate and democratic rule; the battle over trade carried over into a presidential election.
While Clinton is weak on both economics and government transparency, she has additional weaknesses when facing Democratic voters. This includes how she helped George Bush lie the country into the Iraq war with false claims that Saddam had connections to al Qaeda, her continued push for increased military intervention as Secretary of State, and her conservative positions on civil liberties, the environment, and social issues. I hope Curry is right that Clinton can be beaten in Iowa and New Hampshire despite her tremendous lead in the polls.
What difference would it make?
I would never believe a Clinton advisor on anything before, why start now?
It would be wonderful if she would be taken out a 2nd time! But not so wonderful if the final outcome was the same as 2008.
At this point a used car salesman is 50 times mire believable than her. Of course he would but I think the nexy election goes to a real heretosexual conservative male with a respect for God and the Constitution. People are way past fed up with the Manchurian Candidate in office.
We need a conservative who is not afraid to call out Hillary shady behavior. She needs to answer under oath for Bengazi, for the fake family foundations, and for past indiscretions. Either Hillary or Bill should clarify what really happened to all millions America donated to Haiti after that earthquake, and how many millions did her brother Hugh skim off from that tragedy.
Jeb is going to be too diplomatic and polite, unless he surprises me, and opens up an industrial sized can of Whoop-Ass on Hillary. This is no time to be a ‘gentleman’!!
Ted Cruz, Scott Walker maybe Rubio could bring it all to her front porch.
Please God, let the 2016 General Election be Bernie Sanders versus Ted Cruz. PLEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSEEEEEE.
lol
Gotta give Bernie this much. He ain’t pretending he is not a socialist.
Jeb is going to try to run against somebody he gave an award to.
This is like Romney arguing against Obamacare during the campaign.
I’ve seen people three days dead who looked better than that.
It was a completely unnecessary award; he gave her a Liberty Award for Public Service. This almost a year to the day AFTER the Bengazi incident. Disgusting and distressing. Jeb can earn points by disavowing his ties to Hillary, at least in a political sense. He can say that his view ‘has since evolved’.
Is he trying to CURRY favor with someone important?
She looks like she’s 80 something .
Nice cross-hatch.
Yep, if old Bernie did become POTUS it would let everyone know that the time had come to Retire to Costa Rica, or Texas.
From Drudge
I have visuals of Sanders beating Hillary!...with a cane.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.