What the September 11, 2001 attacks didn’t interrupt, they changed forever, and never for the better. One thing they interrupted was an 18 year string of Hillary Clinton being the most admired woman in the world. For one brief year, that honor went to First Lady Laura Bush.
I don’t put much stock in Gallup polls, especially in recent years where their record has been horrible. But I don’t think we have to quibble much here; Hillary Clinton is very famous and extremely popular.
When she’s not running for president, she’s even fairly popular among Republicans, despite having been accused of murder and numerous other nefarious crimes. The Republicans even seem to like her husband fairly well, now that he isn’t tormenting them in his State of the Union speeches. Bill Clinton was, after all, a Democrat that they could work with.
The truth is, it doesn’t matter what a Democrat stands for or what their record might be, if they are trying to run for president or be president, then they are the worst people ever.
But most of the country and most of the world does not feel the same way about Hillary Clinton. And that’s going to be a problem for the Republicans, and for any Democrat who is thinking about trying to deny her the nomination.
She could be her own worst enemy, but it looks to me like she is the only one formidable enough to derail her own ambitions.
Unfortunately, I think you are right. I’m shuddering right now trying to conceive how she will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory … in the nomination.
With the current visibility of KlownKarKavalcade for the R’s, Donald Duck would win against the R’s.
The trajectory of the economy may change things very greatly. There is a very real case to make that for the first time the economy is becoming a positive for Obama. A couple of examples:
If you run a linear regression of consumer sentiment and presidential approval, you find about half of a President’s approval rating is a product of consumer sentiment. Basically, for each point rise in consumer sentiment presidential approval goes up .44. We have already seen Obama recover in some approval polling. If the economy (and gas prices) recover, Obama’s approval will continue to increase. CNN recently found a majority thought economic conditions were at least good – the first time since 2007.
All of this is likely good news for Hillary. As Obama’s approval recovers, there may be less appeal to a left alternative.
BTW – national polling is completely irrelevant at this stage.
This is true, and an improving economy will burnish Obama’s record on a lot of things. I am not a Hillary fan, but it is so important that we hold the White House in 2016. Republicans have nothing to offer middle America. Nothing. Nothing but lies and obfuscations of their real agenda.
I’m not her biggest fan, but if she’s the nominee, I’ll volunteer to help her campaign.
She’s a trillion light-years ahead of any Republican I know of.
There is really nothing in the crystal ball at this point beyond faint vapors, so making predictions is really just a roll of the dice, in many ways. But there are some absolute truths that we can certainly bank on, even at this early date.
I am just not sure I am mentally preparred for another round of the insanity that we will be forced to endure. Just when I think the level of national stupidity cannot get any higher, another election season rolls around and down that crazy worm hole we go once again.
Sigh…………
Lining up Obama’s moves since the midterms and then thinking of what the new Rep Congress will actually do in the way of governing makes me more and more convinced that the Rep’s themselves will bring their own colossus inability to govern well into the light, giving Clinton ample room to bring along a new Dem House & Senate.
And that, would tie a nice fat ribbon on Obama’s legacy for the Dem Party.
Yes, like the new (R) whip cozying up to David Duke.
As far as Bill being a Democrat they could work with, I call bullshit. The obstruction strategy started under President Clinton. They just upgraded it against President Obama.
Fundamentally, if there is another dem that thinks he/she can beat her in the primary, they are welcome to it. If they win, they will have been well tested and will probably be successful in in the general. And I think most dems will be happy to jump on board.
I don’t think that will happen, but if it does, more power to ’em.
In other words, the people panicking about Hillary have an opportunity to prove they are right. Go for it.
And she’d have to go pretty far to actually derail herself.
Would be interesting to know what, if any, criteria informed that 12% of Hillary Clinton admirers.
A rather simplistic poll and not predictive of anything including Presidential re-election as the 1992 most popular, GHW Bush and Barbara, were sent packing the same year.
The thing about Hillary is that she’s a terrible frontrunner and a bad politician in general, really. It’s not a matter of if she will squander all that good will, but when. Having the Big Dog get thin-skinned every time she gets attacked doesn’t help, either.
I look at Hillary and see a candidate who could win in ’16, but not in ’20 as an incumbent — especially if the markets implode again during her watch. If they implode before then, the ’16 race suddenly becomes far different. But they will implode, and Democrats will pay the price, catastrophically, unless some external factor heads that off.
I keep saying that Hillary will, if she’s the winner in ’16, be a one-term president. Why? Will Millenials still be deep in debt because of college? Will all the gains of the “recovery” still be going to the .01%? Unless that changes, 12 years of a Democrat in the WH will be enough for people to want a change.
What I love are the “Nobody Saw That Coming” stories – I look forward to those stories in 2016 about the nominee that voters actually select in 2016. By The Ides of March we should have a good idea of what’s going on.
Hey, Oscar, I agree with you.
Hillary Clinton is famous for being famous. And if, as somebody upthread said (and I agree), Donald Duck could win against any foreseeable Republican nominee, well then I think Mr. Duck might just be the better candidate. Or Daisy Duck, for that matter.
More likely, we will get Uncle Scrooge. After all, Jamie Dimon wants him.