Posted on 09/21/2013 8:37:19 AM PDT by Kaslin
Look at the crop of oft-cited Democratic presidential hopefuls for 2016 and you have a hard time surmising how the party’s captured the lion’s share of young voters in recent cycles.
Hillary Clinton would take office at age 69, Joe Biden at 73. Both have sought the presidency before, and should Biden again attempt the climb, it’d mean he tried in three different decades.
As for the second tier, Andrew Cuomo owes a lion’s share of his presidential caliber to his famous last name, with his father likely being the one Democrat who could’ve stopped Bill Clinton in 1992.
Martin O’Malley, meanwhile, will only be 53 come 2016, but his potential to excite young Americans rivals that of Ben Affleck as Batman.
Democrats have a dinosaur problem, and it offers opportunity for Republicans eager to reclaim The White House.
The dinosaurs were on full display last weekend at Senator Tom Harkin’s annual Steak Fry in Iowa, where Biden again stoked the 2016 fire, giving an early tease of what his third bid for the Oval Office might look like, sans the inevitable gaffes.
The general gist of the confab was that of the vice-president renewing acquaintances three decades old, touting four decades in Washington as capable of being in touch with average citizens, and boasting of solidarity with a lame-duck president facing a downward spiral in the polls.
Makes for winning young, independent, or centrist voters, right?
Meanwhile, outside efforts are well underway to reshape Hillary Clinton’s image from that of the stoic to history-making, pop culture icon, akin to the same status acquired by then-Senator Obama in 2008.
Complications? Well, the demeanor carried for her entire career, essentially.
Juxtaposed against efforts to cast Hillary 2.0 in a more populist light are new reports of cellphones stripped away from onlookers daring to take a picture of the former First Lady speaking, the pictures deleted.
Clinton’s 2008 campaign remains infamous for caucus state struggles, thanks in part to her difficulty connecting on the stump.
Hyper-controlling events over a year out from a campaign isn’t likely to ease those memories anytime soon, nor is the lavish lifestyle that comes with being America’s top diplomat likely to make connecting with Iowa farmers, or college students dealing with record loan debt, any easier.
Furthermore, the presence of trackers dogging candidates for gaffes is more prevalent than ever; if this is already occurring in a friendly crowd, who’s to say something far more polarizing won’t occur in the rigors of the campaign trail?
Six years ago, the idea of Hillary Clinton as president played out better than the reality of Hillary Clinton for President.
If there is a second time around, the trappings that come with being Hillary Clinton are set to be joined by a predecessor’s record she’s inevitably tied to, none of which make calculated rebranding for a final run any easier.
You don’t make someone most commonly compared to the librarian shushing whisperers into a candidate transcending her own politics, capturing universal appeal, in this timeframe.
Furthermore, the party hasn’t dealt with a competitive primary since 2008, equating to some egos unlikely to wait and voters eager for a leftward pivot, meaning records will face scrutiny long before the General Election.
In sum, Democrats are left with a top tier of political relics, thanks to the Obama administration, their own careers, and the personalities tied to each.
But the GOP has a top tier composed almost exclusively of Democrats, so where does that leave us all?
In sum, Democrats are relics.
But they are younger (except for McLame), so that’s good. ;-)
Hillary will soundly defeat any democrat lite put forth by the republican party.
The two top people in my GOP are Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin.
.... The rest of the world is moving to cast of the shackles of the philosophy of socialism and seek freedom ...... meanwhile .... the Democrats have found the tired old worn out dying philosophy and are now trying to sell it here in America as the amazing next best thing. And America now appears to be the snake oil salesman’s dream.
Unless you're part of the RINO caucus, in which case the top two people in the GOP are Chris Christie.
Research by Jennifer Duffy of the Cook Political Report shows that Barack Obama succeeded in turning red suburban counties blue, thereby wining election despite having won fewer counties than previous Democrat winners. He did this largely by winning the women’s vote, convincing them that they could trust government to take care of them better than they could trust their husbands, their employers, their church, or anyone else out there.
This will be Hillary’s message: You women need not fear divorce, loss of job, untimely pregnancy, social stigma related to lifestyle choice, or threats to your safety. My government will care for you, shelter you, and provide you with the security that you want.
She will win the suburban women’s vote and the election.
THE ONLY REASON FOR ME TO BE AMONGST RINOS WOULD BE SABOTAGE! ;-)
BENGHAZI will keep her from ever getting close. She will lose to some other commie rat.
I don’t think that the Democrats care about Benghazi and once she has the nomination, the issues surrounding government as provider and protector will trump foreign policy by a country mile.
Today’s college students were not alive when Biden was caught plagiarizing in his presidential run. He’s an all new guy, with new hair, new teeth.
hillary clinton will not be president of the US. If I am proved wrong so be it but I do not believe that another rat will be elected as president in the next national election.
If the GOPe nominates a moderate squishy Republican, Hillary could very well win.
Dude, the American public has the attention span of a flea, Benghazi will be long forgotten if it's not already. Hell, look at the idiots who make up our country, I would bet right now 65%+ of the American public don't even know what Benghazi even is.
Hillary is going to win because she is a women and Liberal and Independent Women are going to vote for her in droves.
Is this the same Democratic [sic] party that ridiculed Ronald Reagan for being so old?
We cannot let that happen again and that is all that there is to it. If they do... the GOP is dead and the new party that Levin and Palin will help to found will have to work its way to power. I am not certain that the US would survive clinton after obama... not without breaking apart the Union.
Then quit... I will fight.
LLS
Thanks Kaslin.
Hillary Clinton’s security grabs man’s phone to erase photo at Miami speech
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