Nah, the Dems are 'done' with her. Way, way too much baggage.HooDat wrote:Here is the problem - my guess is that if she does run (and I bet, short of death or a huge scandal that Hillary does indeed run), she is going to go faaar left. Left of Ocasio-Cortez. Left of Bernie Sanders. She will run on the message of: "I compromised my principles and tried to run as a moderate. I have learned my lesson and now will be running a campaign that is "true to me and my values". I will run on my core beliefs: Universal health care; Free college; Living wage; Women's right to choose". She will press every left wing hot button she can find - and it might just get her the nomination.
If there is one thing the D party has shown it is that it tends to lack discipline. Hillary lost the nomination to Obama because the party lacked discipline, and that time it worked out. She won the nomination in 2016 because she was able to enforce discipline (narrowly nudging out Sanders), but in the end proving that "discipline" doesn't energize Dem voters sufficiently. She is savvy enough a politician to know that this time around she needs to package herself as the radical, the protester, the aggrieved. If she taps that right, along with a machine that is hidden from view....?
But, if she were to run and lose, that could be the best thing for the party in a long time. A Clinton loss would provide a very healthy "cleansing" process, providing a very clear break with the Wall Street aligned Clinton way. And win or lose vs Trump, a renewed message from the Dems would pave the way for continued Dem success below the white house.
Beyond that, every Dem should be nervous that she uses her muscle, and her money, and her political chits to once again claim what is her right!
Because every Republican will be secretly praying that she gets the nomination for 2020.
Most have come to grips with the reality that she was uniquely unsuited to be the counterpoint to Trump.
And most would be quite PO'd if she roils the waters.
Of course, I do agree that she could do a lot of damage to the Dems and, sure, the Trumpists would be delighted if she was the nominee. But that's definitely not going to happen.
That all said, run today, even Hillary would defeat Trump. That may be even more the case in another 6 months. It's going to get very ugly for the Trump Administration, the Trump family, and the Trump organization.
Dems could over play it, going too fast, but the key folks seem to be aware that they need to be methodical, and avoid excess hyperbole.
My own preference would be for either a Kasich or like figure to emerge on the GOP side and successfully defeat Trump and Trumpism in the GOP, or to do so as an "Independence Party", or for a centrist, moderate Dem to emerge and defeat Trump and for the GOP to shake off Trumpist fever that way.
From the Dem point of view, retaking the White House is the key priority. Supreme Court nominations, progressive tilting policy choices like protecting preexisting conditions, Medicare etc will be more important than the more left wing policy aspirations. But if they take the Senate (as looks likely in 2020) and the White House, do expect proposals like Medicare for all to come to the fore. Certainly a rejiggering of taxes again with higher rates on top 10%, very high on top 1%, and a couple of points on corporates.
But if Trump is the GOP candidate in 2020 and the Dems run a well left, coastal progressive instead of a moderate, note that the Dems could well win nevertheless over a damaged Trump. It's very unlikely that the current sugar high the economy is running on right now will last, as inflationary pressures caused by both overheated employment and tariff effects will be met with rising interest rates to cool it off. That typically means a dip, or a full blown recession, so the one real positive buoying GOP hopes may go up in smoke. Indeed, that's likely.
