Posted on 01/14/2015 9:26:00 AM PST by SeekAndFind
There is a reason why it is so difficult for two-term presidents to be succeeded by a member of their party. It has only happened once in the post-war era, and that was largely because George H. W. Bush was seen as the inheritor of a legacy of sustained economic growth and the beating back of Soviet communism.
Democrats have reason to believe that the presidential electorate heavily favors Democratic candidates, but Hillary Clinton’s quest to succeed Barack Obama in the Oval Office is unlikely to be as easy as Bush’s. Despite a belated spate of renewed economic growth, Clinton is vying to replace a president who presided over six years of recession. She will also have to convince the American public that she can prosecute the war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria more comprehensively than her predecessor. In short, Clinton will have to draw a number of contrasts between herself and her former boss.
In that effort, Clinton is off to a rocky start. With the announcement that former Clinton White House chief of staff and Obama administration advisor John Podesta is formally joining the Clinton campaign-in-waiting, it is clear that Democrats want the transition from Obama’s White House to Hillary’s White House to be a smooth one.
“In the White House, Mr. Podesta has been among President Barack Obama’s small circle of top advisers, keeping a hand in both foreign and domestic policy and counseling the president on topics including Ebola and immigration,” The Wall Street Journal reported. “He negotiated an agreement with the Chinese government on Mr. Obama’s behalf aimed at reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.”
Podesta is not the only political figure closely associated with Obama to join Clinton’s team. The president’s 2012 campaign manager, Jim Messina, is now the co-chairman of the super PAC, Priorities USA Action. That PAC has also transitioned from serving the interests of the Obama White House to laying the groundwork for a Clinton campaign.
“Clinton fundraisers tied to Priorities have been making overtures to some of Mr. Obama’s most loyal fundraisers, seeking to reconstitute the Obama political coalition as the Clinton campaign apparatus,” The Journal reported in October. “That’s not always going well.”
One Obama fundraiser recounted a call from a Priorities emissary urging him to align himself with the former secretary of state should she run. The fundraiser said he isn’t sold on Mrs. Clinton’s candidacy and told the Priorities official as much.
Obama’s longtime pollster Joel Benenson, too, announced last week that he will be working with Clinton’s campaign team.
Even the commentary class recognizes that Clinton is going to find it difficult to make the case that her presidency would be a dramatic divergence from Obama’s if she is surrounded by the president’s team members.
With Benenson-Margolis-Podesta, clear that Hillary 2016 won't be to run away from Obama — in fact, might be more connected than ever
— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) January 14, 2015
The reality is that Clinton does not have much of a choice but to embrace the Obama team. The only Democrats to have occupied the White House in two generations have been either Obamas or Clintons, and their staffs overlap significantly. What’s more, Clinton’s time as Obama’s ranking Cabinet member will make it nearly impossible to effectively distance herself from the president.
She is probably better off embracing Obama legacy rather than clumsily attempting to distance herself from the president. At the very least, it would be a less contrived approach to campaigning for the presidency.
Hillary would run on the basic idea that the only thing wrong with Obama’s agenda is that it wasn’t implemented viciously enough.
Recycled Obama staffers.
Oh, I surely hope she does run as the Third Term of Obama! I hope ANY Democrat nominee runs on his record!
But, regardless of who their nominee is (be it Lewinski’s ex-boyfried’s wife, or Chief Fauxcahontas) , I hope and pray that the Republicans proclaim OFTEN AND LOUDLY that this would be the Third Term of Obama!
There are plenty of people who are tired of the Democrats and will NOT vote for anyone NEAR Obama!
For example, my in-laws, all Democrats and Teamster union members for LIFE, have vowed to never vote Democrat again! We used to not be able to talk politics around my in-laws, because they were adamant that Republicans were killing America and their jobs. After Obama, they KNOW who is killing the American middle class!!
so Hillary versus Romney is the Hobbesean choice?
She’ll be a different Clinton.
Bill: “I did not have sex with that woman.”
Hillary: “I did have sex with that woman.”
Clinton, the Do-Over.
RE: Hillary: “I did have sex with that woman.”
Anybody you have in mind?
I have some Demoncrat friends who are sick of Obama and definitely will NOT vote for another D in 2016. Oh yeah, they hate Hillary too.
Well, it’s either her muzzie aide or Sheila Jackson-Lee. Take your pick.
Obama will wear a dress and call himself Hillary ,he’s not leaving
Just the fact that this WORTHLESS SCUM (HRC) is considered for POTUS means this republic is DOA.
Skin color won in 08 and 12.
Lady parts will win in 16.
IF this isn’t an idiocracy I don’t know what is.
This man advised on Ebola and immigration and is still a hot property?
Madness.
Will she fully embrace Obamacare and promise to extend the amnesty?
I have some family by marriage (east coast) that can hardly wait for Hilliary :(
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