Hillary, Hillary ...


                                                     Democrats need more than one candidate for '16

The Democrats must realize something that is vital for the 2016 presidential election: They need more than one candidate for president.

Ironically, Hillary Clinton herself has given Democrats a reason to rethink their one-candidate strategy. Clinton criticized Obama's foreign policy today, which means that she is now charting a path that is closer to John McCain than to Barack Obama.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/hillary-clinton-steps-away-from-obama-on-foreign-policy-20140317

Many Democrats have been clamoring for Sen. Elizabeth Warren to enter the race, and one reason that they favor Warren is how close Clinton is to Wall Street. Warren is a Harvard professor who has Wall Street running scared. If Hillary runs against Mitt Romney in 2016 -- or any other right-wing candidate -- will there really be any difference in terms of financial policy?

Remember one thing: Hillary was way ahead of everyone else for the 2008 election -- like she is today -- until Sen. Barack Obama called her out for her vote that gave George W. Bush the authority to wage the Iraq War. She tepidly defended that vote in the 2008 race, and that was what led to her demise. 

Unfortunately for Obama, he read "Team of Rivals" too much and brought Clinton into his cabinet, along with VP Joe Biden. Hillary will be criticized by the left on many issues, which is why the Dems need some candidates to step up and challenge Clinton. 

I think that challenging Clinton will force her to focus on the issues that have always dragged her down. This can include domestic and foreign policy. So, who could challenge her, and on what issues would she be vulnerable?

Josh Kraushaar of National Journal focuses on five of his selections: 

1. Sen Claire McCaskill (Mo.)
2. Sen. Tim Kaine
3. Russ Feingold
4. Gov. Deval Patrick
5. Gov. Jay Nixon (Mo.)

Okay, I know nothing about Jay Nixon, but with a surname like that …

I would include five of my own that include only one that he does:

1. Sen. Elizabeth Warren
2. Gov. Martin O'Malley
3. Sen. Amy Klobuchar
4. Sen. Bernie Sanders
5. Sen. Russ Feingold

I list these because each of them would force Clinton to hone in on her issues. Warren has said that she will not run if Clinton does, but she could be the most devastating to her since she would carry the Dem-left and even some women who are not crazy about Hillary. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders is an independent, but he can run as a Democrat. He has said that he is considering a run, and that would be difficult for Hillary since he is also very strong on the left, while Clinton is a centrist. 

Yes, Hillary is a centrist, not a liberal as the right continually charges.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar is also a rising star in the Democratic party, hailing from Minnesota. Gov. Martin O'Malley is from Maryland and has some potential, and he is currently distancing himself from the White House on immigration. 

Russ Feingold was a great senator, and he would be good too since he is a strong liberal. 

I am going to be focusing on the issues over the next month to try and see who could actually make a run at Hillary.

One last point: Joe Biden will be 73 if he runs for president, and Hillary Clinton will be 68 when running, 69 when elected. Clinton is obviously the most qualified, but age does matter. (I am also in that age group with Hillary and still teaching, doing better today that when I was in my 20s. However, I do not have the energy that I had in my younger years.)





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering the toughest loss I ever experienced in approximately a quarter-century of coaching football. George Pasierb was a great coaching adversary.

Image
R.I.P. George Pasierb, 1946-2020 Shade-Central City High School football coach Photo: Tribune-Democrat No high school football fan could ask for anything better than this. On a beautiful sunny, warm afternoon on Saturday, October 30, 1982, in Nanty Glory, Pa., the battle featured a clash of two undefeated titans of the Appalachian Conference.  One was the preseason unanimous favorite to win the title, the other a veritable surprise that season, one that had built an 8-0 record entering that game.  This battle lived up to the pre-game hype, ending in a one-point decision that was not certain until the final play of the game.  I thought of this because the coach of the powerful Shade-Central City High School Panthers, George Pasierb, passed away earlier this week. He coached the Panthers for 20 years, but his best team was arguably that 1982 team that battled the Blacklick Valley Vikings on that Saturday afternoon before more than 3,000 ebullient fans.  And, the one-po...
Read more

Why did Tennessee-Chattanooga hire trainer Tim Bream despite his role in the alcohol-induced death of Tim Piazza at a Penn State frat?

Image
… was a live-in advisor at the fraternity On paper, Tim Bream has an impressive resume. Actually, very impressive — up to a point. That seems to be when Bream’s life appears to careen out of control. Bream, who resigned as Penn State trainer in Feb.,  was a graduate of Penn State with a bachelor’s degree in physical education, specializing in athletic training. He then attended West Virginia as a grad assistant trainer, where he received a master’s degree in Physical Education with an emphasis on Sports Science. All of this information is from his bio on the Penn State athletic site. He then worked his way up the ladder impressively, working at Syracuse, Vanderbilt, and finally at the University of Richmond, where he was the Director of Sports Medicine and Head Athletic Trainer. Then he received his big break, being name as Assistant Athletic Trainer for the Chicago Bears in 1993, and four years later, Head Athletic Trainer. He was with the Bears for 19 years when inexplicably,...
Read more

Why did Mike Tomlin start hiring black coaches after 15 years?

Image
Brian Flores … hiring Flores probably rankled Goodell To place this into context, understand that the only reason that the Steelers hired Mike Tomlin 15 years ago is because he was black.  Why? He had never even been a coordinator anywhere, never in the NFL. The only reason that he was interviewed was because of the “Rooney Rule.” That rule is one named after the late Dan Rooney who led the effort to force every NFL team to interview at least one black coach when it had head coaching openings.  The Steelers had focused their coaching search after Bill Cowher left on Ron Rivera, then a defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears. Their interview with Tomlin was a peremptory one, something to satisfy the smell test.  After all, why interview a guy who was just a defensive coach? Coordinators are the people who are hired for the big gig.  Tomlin, though, is a great talker, and he wooed Dan Rooney so much that he was hired for the position.  Which begs the q...
Read more