Progress Pond

Hillary’s Real Challenge

I agree with Seth Masket that Hillary Clinton doesn’t have to worry overly-much that the public will reject her simply because they are tired of seeing her face. As we saw near the end of her stint as Secretary of State, the risk for Hillary has always been that she would burn out, not fade away. She will be quite elderly for a candidate seeking a first-term as president, so this is not a small consideration.

The more common objection to her candidacy that I hear from Democrats is that they are tired of having to select between Clintons and Bushes, as if this country is run by dynastic families rather than ordinary citizens. That is a type of weariness with Hillary, but it isn’t overexposure, exactly.

Probably the greater risk, at least in the primaries, is an ideological one. The Democratic Party is moving in a progressive and leftward direction, and Clinton needs to navigate the change somehow without seeming to be a chameleon or a hypocrite, or somehow discrediting the presidency of her husband. That can be a little road bump or a giant hurdle, depending on the strength and political positioning of her opponents.

If her campaign seems stale and anachronistic, it’s possible that is just won’t have the appeal it needs to carry her to the nomination.

She needs a lot of new blood on her team.

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