Quote:Age is the least of my concerns with Hillary Clinton. If she finds herself in the White House, much of the country will find itself longing for the days of the centrist-by-comparison Barack Obama.

 

This primary cycle, particularly on the Republican side, will look just like you'd expect a wide-open race to: lots of politeness and talk of policy right up until Iowa and New Hampshire are coming up on us and a few candidates realize that they're toast unless they can steal some voters. Out come the attacks, and they don't stop until the convention, at which point the winner is crowned, the losers are graceful in defeat, and everyone is (publicly, at least, friends again). I remain convinced that this is Hillary Clinton's race to lose unless a few things happen:

 

1. A moderate Democratic contender emerges and is able to unite the center and left better than Hillary, who'll unite the left and alienate the center, will. Kind of like what happened in 1992 when a guy from Arkansas emerged as the unlikely favorite. Martin O'Malley could be that guy, and I'll be watching his campaign closely. In an age of increasing polarization, he's about as close as either party has to a centrist candidate this year.

 

2. The Republican contenders avoid kicking the crap out of each other and giving the Democrats an infinite list of talking points to crush them on. Again, I think the only way this condition is met is if the field shrinks dramatically long, long before Super Tuesday. If there are still eight or nine candidates alive that late in the game while the Democrats have focused in on one person, probably Hillary, good luck recovering.

 

3. The Republicans send a moderate candidate against Hillary, whose appeal does not cross the center at all, and whose rabid dogs are way off in left field. If the Republicans play the far right in this campaign, they'll lose. If they throw someone like Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio out there, they could take it. I wouldn't call either of those two centrist, but let's be honest for a second. The people who intend to vote for Ted Cruz will vote Republican no matter which candidate the party trots out. Many of them would sooner vote for Fidel Castro than Hillary Clinton. By throwing a moderate-by-comparison candidate like Jeb out there, they'll get the Ted Cruz votes by default, but will also steal away from centrist Democrats. It's the same dynamic that the Democrats have with O'Malley, but unlike O'Malley, the moderate Republican candidates won't be steamrolled by the H-Train.

 

Something's telling me that Hillary is going to lose it between now and next summer.  Too many skeletons, too much baggage.  If those in the democrat race bother to bring actual facts against her, she's toast.  I would like to see a democrat candidate with the fortitude to do as such, but the ones in the race won't do it.  If there is one democrat challenger who might do so, I agree with you it's O'Malley, but I don't see it happening.

 

Unless... those in the republican race highlight the truth regarding Hillary in such a way that O'Malley can no longer "back her".

 

The major thing that Hillary has going for her at this point is the money rolling in.  What most Americans don't do is actually watch the speeches or listen to what each candidate has to say (left or right).  I watched part of her speech today, and I can't help but notice how "fake" it is.  She's almost "robotic" in the way that she delivers her message.  She certainly doesn't have the same talent that Obama does when it comes to delivering a speech that she's reading from a teleprompter.

 

Contrast that with Bernie Sanders.  His speeches are more "angry" and the sound of him speaking reminds me of (and I know I'll get some flak for this) Hitler.  Couple that with the fact that he is an admitted Socialist.

 

Then contrast it with the messages that most on the right are talking about.  Those of candidates like Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz are very positive, and they seem to be "more from the heart" rather than "robotic".

 

Take the time to watch them, and more importantly, listen to the message.

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