Hillary

Scott Hardie | April 13, 2015
Now that it's finally official instead of just obvious, any thoughts on the inevitable candidacy of Hillary Clinton?

Steve West | April 13, 2015
She can't win even against an increasingly unlikable field of Republican opponents. The Democrats aren't that stupid, I think but this is the same party that nominated Michael Dukakis.

Samir Mehta | April 13, 2015
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Scott Hardie | April 19, 2015
The thing that I dread most about a Hillary Clinton candidacy and presidency is how much worse the rancor will get across party lines. If you thought the furor over Barack Obama's every perceived misdeed was way out of proportion, the long-standing hate for Clinton will make it ten times worse. Obama has run a mostly scandal-free presidency (albeit through prosecuting whistleblowers), whereas Clinton winds up in scandals so often that she practically invites them at this point.

I don't know that she can't win. Demographics are in her favor, and a desire to elect the first female president will help even more. But Republicans are attracting better candidates this time (I believe Jeb Bush would have run in 2012 if he thought Obama was beatable), and general Clinton fatigue will reduce turnout. She's a stronger candidate than Martin O'Malley and Joe Biden and poor hopeless Bernie Sanders, but personally, I think Jim Webb would make a better candidate than he gets credit for.

How much of the Clinton-Bush retread effect is due to brand association, and how much of it is due to their respective families having deep ties to fundraising networks and deep-pocketed donors going back decades?

Samir Mehta | April 19, 2015
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Scott Hardie | April 21, 2015
That's probably true. I was tempted to say that the Kennedy family established the notion of an American political dynasty, but that's of course ridiculous; ask John Quincy Adams if he never traded on his father's name, or the many less famous others like John Van Buren.

The brand thing works both ways. Jimmy Carter has had a very accomplished post-presidency, but nobody who remembers his calamitous first term would support him running again for the second term that he could still legally serve, nor would anyone else in the Carter family have a snowball's chance in hell of getting elected.

Samir Mehta | April 21, 2015
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Chris Lemler | April 21, 2015
Well the only problem I see with Hillary running the country. It could get alot worse cause she could be very picky about how things get done in the white house and when to attack another country we have a problem with

Scott Hardie | April 22, 2015
Chris, by picky do you mean that she would favor diplomacy over force and threats, the way that Obama has? That's probably true, given her experience and relationships as Secretary of State, but I don't know if she'll be quite as reluctant as Obama has been. Perhaps we'll see; perhaps we'll never know.

Back in 1994, I remember reading a Marvel comic book set in 2099, in which one character mentioned the long-ago administration of President Clinton, and another character asked, "Which one? Bill or Chelsea?" That's cute and all, but even back then, I remember thinking that the punchline should have mentioned Hillary instead of Chelsea.

Scott Hardie | April 25, 2015
Vox has a pretty good review of Clinton's big moments.

Scott Hardie | November 6, 2016
If Clinton wins on Tuesday, will Republicans in Congress start the formal impeachment process right away, or wait until the inauguration?

Aaron Shurtleff | November 6, 2016
LOL. Why wait?

An aside, but I think it is hilarious when people say that they can't wait for this to all be over on Wednesday. It won't end on Wednesday. I mean, Trump has already made it pretty clear trouble is coming if he doesn't win (my words, possibly not his!). And there's a pretty large following of Hillary supporters here, so let me ask: If you wake up Wednesday morning, and Trump has won the election (*shudder*), do you think people will just say, "Oh. Huh? OK."?

Samir Mehta | November 7, 2016
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