• Home
  • About me: Jim Fitzpatrick
  • Contact

JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« It’s a buyout at The Star; stay clear of the doors
Next Post »

Hillary Clinton: “Inevitable” Democratic nominee? Maybe less so than a week ago

March 12, 2015 by jimmycsays

I’m starting to think that a combination of voter expectations and newly agitated Clinton fatigue might end up denying Hillary Clinton her party’s presidential nomination next year.

I have no idea who can beat her, but it’s a long time between now and primary-election season. Other Democratic candidates are likely to include former U.S. Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia; former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley; and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Clinton, of course, is the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, but I think she has slipped badly with many voters as a result of the scandal over her decision to use only a personal email account — forgoing a State Department account — when she was secretary of state…How do we know she is turning over all government-related emails? We don’t know, and I think it’s safe to say she probably won’t turn them all over.  

I don’t see the email scandal going away quickly. For one thing, it has provided the U.S. House committee investigating the attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya, with fresh meat. Using the private email account exclusively is like handing the Republican-dominated Benghazi committee a hammer and saying, “Hit me and don’t stop hitting me.”

But there’s another factor that could easily eat away at Clinton’s status as presumptive Democratic nominee.

A recent NBC-Wall Street Journal survey of 1,000 people showed that a significantly larger percentage of respondents was much more interested in a candidate who would bring about greater policy changes than a candidate who was steeped in experience.

The pollsters read two key statements to respondents and asked them if they agreed or disagreed.

The first statement was:

“This is a time when it is important to look for a more experienced and tested person even if he or she brings fewer changes to the current policies.”

Thirty-eight percent of respondents said they agreed with that statement.

The second statement was:

“This is a time when it is important to look for a person who will bring greater changes to the current policies even if he or she is less experienced and tested.”

Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they agreed with that statement.

Hillary, of course, is the epitome of “experienced and tested,” but she seems to offer virtually no hope for “greater changes.”

Doesn’t the story with Hillary boil down to “same old same old”? How could it be anything else? I wonder how she plans to convince a majority of voters in the states whose electoral votes will determine the outcome that she is a change agent. That’s exactly how President Obama beat her last time, stealing the “agent-of-change” mantle right off her shoulders.

I bet many Republicans are feeling pretty hopeful these days. And they should be, in my opinion.

On the other hand, some Democrats — maybe a lot by now — are feeling queasy about having a candidate who appears destined to be the 2016 nominee.

One such Democrat, Deval Patrick, a former Massachusetts governor and an Obama supporter in 2008, told The New York Times that Democrats might be better off if at least one other Democratic challenger emerged.

The Times quoted Patrick as saying:

“My view of the electorate is, we react badly to inevitability, because we experience it as entitlement, and that is risky, it seems to me, here in America.”

**

…A wise uncle who died a few years ago once told me, “Expect the unexpected.”

I will.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

6 Responses

  1. on March 12, 2015 at 9:17 am Rex Williams

    Once again, Queen Hillary has investigated herself and proudly announced that she is innocent of any wrong doing. This is like the 13th Century.


    • on March 12, 2015 at 9:23 am jimmycsays

      That reminds me of a line in a recent Maureen Dowd column about the Clintons. Dowd wrote:

      “The Clintons don’t sparkle with honesty and openness. Between his lordly appetites and her queenly prerogatives, you always feel as if there’s something afoot.”


  2. on March 12, 2015 at 8:52 pm John Altevogt

    Bernie is an independent, not a Democrat. That said, the Democrats have a very shallow bench, but are fortunately blessed with an undiscerning base that primarily wants free stuff, the country be damned.


  3. on March 12, 2015 at 8:55 pm John Altevogt

    As for the emails, one suspects that they were lost in one of the fires that destroyed Al Sharpton’s tax records.


    • on March 12, 2015 at 9:22 pm jimmycsays

      Maybe MSNBC should field Al as their favorite for the Democratic nomination…Oops, there I go again sounding like a conservative blogger.


      • on March 13, 2015 at 9:48 pm John Altevogt

        That’s what you get for being open-minded.



Comments are closed.

  • Pages

    • About me: Jim Fitzpatrick
    • Contact
  • Archives

    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 511 other followers

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


%d bloggers like this: