SHE NOTICED – AT 10:44 A.M. ET: It is clear that Hillary Clinton is getting worried over agitation in the left wing of her party. And what does Hillary do when faced with agitation? Exactly what any red-blooded political hack would do – she adjusts her views. From WaPo:
Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic front-runner for president, is working hard to shore up support among liberals in hopes of tamping down a serious challenge from the left in the battle for the 2016 nomination.
Clinton has aligned herself firmly with President Obama since the November midterms on a range of liberal-friendly issues, including immigration, climate change and opening diplomatic relations with Cuba. In an impassioned human rights speech this month, she also condemned the CIA’s use of harsh interrogation tactics and decried cases of apparent police brutality against minorities.
The recent statements suggest a concerted effort by Clinton to appeal to the Democratic Party’s most activist, liberal voters, who have often eyed her with suspicion and who would be crucial to her securing the party’s nomination.
But the positions also tie her ever more tightly to a president who remains broadly unpopular, providing new lines of attack for the many Republicans jostling to oppose her if she runs.
One Democratic strategist said the moves are “more prophylactic than anything. If she didn’t say anything, the media and the liberal groups that care about this stuff” would criticize her or nurse a grudge. Like others, he spoke on the condition of anonymity because Clinton has not yet said she is a candidate.
COMMENT: The far left doesn't want Clinton. It wants Elizabeth Warren, even if she did make up the bit about being Native American. I mean, she's entitled to her own "narrative," isn't she?
The normal political process for Dems is to run to the left for the nomination, then pivot to the center. But I wonder, with the 24-hour news cycle getting more powerful each year, whether that will still be possible. Hillary isn't exactly renowned for integrity. If she's caught in contradictions, they could sink her. That's assuming the Republicans put up a presidential candidate with a pulse.
December 26, 2014 |