Posted on 07/24/2016 3:55:09 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Does Hillary Clinton understand that the biggest divide in American politics is no longer between the right and the left, but between the anti-establishment and the establishment?
I worry she doesnt at least not yet.
A Democratic operative Ive known since the Bill Clinton administration told me now that shes won the nomination, Hillary is moving to the middle. Shes going after moderate swing voters.
Presumably thats why she tapped Tim Kaine to be her vice president. Kaine is as vanilla middle as you can get.
In fairness, Hillary is only doing what she knows best. Moving to the putative center is what Bill Clinton did after the Democrats lost the House and Senate in 1994 signing legislation on welfare reform, crime, trade, and financial deregulation that enabled him to win reelection in 1996 and declare the era of big government over.
In those days a general election was like a competition between two hot-dog vendors on a boardwalk extending from right to left. Each had to move to the middle to maximize sales. (If one strayed too far left or right, the other would move beside him and take all sales on rest of the boardwalk.)
But this view is outdated. Nowadays, its the boardwalk versus the private jets on their way to the Hamptons.
The most powerful force in American politics today is anti-establishment fury at a system rigged by big corporations, Wall Street, and the super-wealthy.
This is a big reason why Donald Trump won the Republican nomination. Its also why Bernie Sanders took 22 states in the Democratic primaries, including a majority of Democratic primary voters under age 45.
There are no longer moderates. Theres no longer a center. Theres authoritarian populism (Trump) or democratic populism (which had been Bernies political revolution, and is now up for grabs).
And then theres the Republican establishment (now scattered to the winds), and the Democratic establishment.
If Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party dont recognize this realignment, theyre in for a rude shock as, Im afraid, is the nation. Because Donald Trump does recognize it. His authoritarian (I am your voice) populism is premised on it.
In five, ten years from now, Trump says, youre going to have a workers party. A party of people that havent had a real wage increase in 18 years, that are angry.
Speaking at a factory in Pennsylvania in June, he decried politicians and financiers who had betrayed Americans by taking away from the people their means of making a living and supporting their families.
Worries about free trade used to be confined to the political left. Now, according to the Pew Research Center, people who say free-trade deals are bad for America are more likely to lean Republican.
The problem isnt trade itself. Its a political-economic system that wont cushion working people against trades downsides or share trades upsides. In other words, a system thats rigged.
Most basically, the anti-establishment wants big money out of politics. This was the premise of Bernie Sanderss campaign. Its also been central to Donald (Im so rich I cant be bought off) Trumps appeal, although hes now trolling for big money.
A recent YouGov/Economist poll found that 80 percent of GOP primary voters who preferred Donald Trump as the nominee listed money in politics as an important issue, and a Bloomberg Politics poll shows a similar percentage of Republicans opposed to the Supreme Courts 2010 Citizens United v. FEC decision.
Getting big money out of politics is of growing importance to voters in both major parties. A June New York Times/CBS News poll showed that 84 percent of Democrats and 81 percent of Republicans want to fundamentally change or completely rebuild our campaign finance system.
Last January, a DeMoines Register poll of likely Iowa caucus-goers found 91 percent of Republicans and 94 percent of Democrats unsatisfied or mad as hell about money in politics.
Hillary Clinton doesnt need to move toward the middle. In fact, such a move could hurt her if its perceived to be compromising the stances she took in the primaries in order to be more acceptable to Democratic movers and shakers.
She needs to move instead toward the anti-establishment forcefully committing herself to getting big money out of politics, and making the system work for the many rather than a privileged few.
She must make clear Donald Trumps authoritarian populism is a dangerous gambit, and the best way to end crony capitalism and make America work for the many is to strengthen American democracy.
"... big corporations, Wall Street, and the super-wealthy"
Seems he forgot: the "Main Stream Media", Washington's permanent Ruling Class and Ikes second warning:
that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.
> “She needs to move instead toward the anti-establishment forcefully ***committing herself to getting big money out of politics***, and making the system work for the many rather than a privileged few.”
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!
Reich is a real comedian!
In his view Trump and the Republicans are the authoritarians not Sanders or Obama. He has got to be kidding.
Agree - the math is not on her side, but it’s worse than that - she is stuck because she needs the Sanders voters so she has to tact left. She needs to stop the bleeding wound in the middle that Trump has created. She can’t do both.
"She needs to move instead toward the anti-establishment forcefully committing herself to getting big money out of politics, and making the system work for the many rather than a privileged few."
Hillary is all about $$$ and making the system work for the privileged few, namely the Clintons themselves.
I don't know -- Most of what he writes seems a bit short-sighted to me. :=)
Without massive fraud and vote rigging Hillary is toast. People are sick to death of her and both party establishments.
Trump rides in on a white (non-establishment) America first stallion.
Trumps the outsider, and he knew to pick an insider with a history of positive accomplishments as VP to validate him as having political skills. hillary's the ultimate insider. I don't understand why she didn't choose an outsider VP to validate her with the huge majority of the US that's mad as *ell.
Reich actually makes a good point. Go figure.
Reich might as well suggest that Dracula speak out against vampires, as urge Hillary to campaign as an outsider opposed to Big Money in Politics. She is the BMiP Whore of all time, and everyone except Reich knows it. The Clinton Foundation exists to launder bribes and park a permanent staff of paid political lackeys servicing Hillary’s ambition. Her campaign model is to spend enormous sums of Big Money raised from cronies who expect payback.
This isnlt the first time Reich has voiced “solutions” so implausible you hope he is being ironic (but he’s not). In “The Work of Nations”, Reich proposes confiscating 90% of the earnings of “talented wealth creators”; the revenue would finance educating others to be talented wealth creators, also to be taxed at 90% rates. Harvard pays him to teach economics, but he doesn’t comprehend the role of “incentives”.
Sure Hillary who has scammed 2 billion into her Clinton foundation is going to run on taking money out of politics,in a sense she already has taken it out of politics and deposited it into her foundation
Robert Reichhhhh is a mess.
Without massive fraud and vote rigging Hillary is toast. People are sick to death of her and both party establishments.
I pray you are right!
Just watched Trump’s interview with F Chuck and he did very well. I think he has hit his stride and if he keeps that tone I think he will do very well. He comes across very well in one on one interviews like that and it’s free advertising. Meanwhile you know who barely ever talks to the press and rarely off the cuff - she has surrogates for that kind of stuff.
I have been disappointed with his tone at different points during the primary, but I actually liked what he said about considering a Super PAC to target Kasich and Cruz. He won the nomination and its past due for Republicrats to be put on notice that you are either on the team or you face the consequences. That is politics and the fact that he would not name the third person he was considering this for will make these traitorous bastards think twice before opening their pie holes to trash him and win points with their media friends.
Robert Reeeeiiiiiiiissssscccchhhh cannot step outside the box. These old timers, he and Clinton, still hanging onto the last century.
Reich has always been very smart and he has a pragmatic streak that is sometimes stronger than his socialist tendencies.
He is right about this and you are right about her pick. The only explanation is that she is worried about specific swing states that he might help with and her campaign is recognizing that they need to move to the middle really hard because they are losing. Her pick is viewed as a “moderate.” Trump is killing it with middle America.
I think they might be giving up on the vocal Sanders supporters thinking (much like we have with the far right and Trump) that most of the fringe will vote for her - will find out this week if they remain stuck on stupid or if Billy Jeff has dusted off his “moderate Democrat roadmap.” This won’t work either because she is not Billy Jeff - she has always been much farther left than he is. Her campaign is floundering and the DNC is weakened going into the convention.
Sure Hillary who has scammed 2 billion into her Clinton foundation is going to run on taking money out of politics,in a sense she already has taken it out of politics and deposited it into her foundation
Part of the establishment is to be above the law.
Then why are three black “victim’s” moms speaking at the DNC?
If it wasn’t for money in politics, Hillary would be working for the ACLU
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