Thank you, Megan Murphy.
Ms. Murphy, who writes for London\’s Financial Times, has written an honest assessment of the three months since Hillary Clinton announced her candidacy for President – the kind that you are not going to find in almost any mainstream media on this side of the pond.
Here is the beginning of her commentary….along with an exhortation to use this link and read all the rest as well:
For Hillary Clinton, the past few weeks of her 2016 presidential campaign have brought back uncomfortable memories of her failed bid in 2008.
Three months in to what should be one of the best funded, best organised campaigns in history, Mrs Clinton has been unable to draw a line under a series of controversies, or to generate the kind of grassroots enthusiasm that will be crucial to maintaining momentum in the gruelling months ahead.
As she prepares to outline her economic vision for the country in a high-profile address on Monday in New York, Mrs Clinton’s team is betting that a rollout of popular, middle-class friendly policies such as paid sick leave and universal prekindergarten provision will help to reset the debate.
But her rockier-than-expected start continues to unnerve some long-time allies and Democratic donors, who view the rise of rival Bernie Sanders, the 73-year-old self-proclaimed socialist who has galvanised progressives, as a symptom, rather than a cause, of so-called “Clinton fatigue.”
Are Democrats worried about Hillary Clinton? Is Ms. Murphy correct in stating that her godawful performance so far has “brought back uncomfortable memories of her failed bid in 2008”?
They should be. Because her analysis is dead-on correct (how could I say otherwise, given that I\’ve written virtually the same analysis repeatedly over these months?).
In 1968 Eugene McCarthy upended Lyndon Johnson\’s bid for a second full term as President, by being the alternative to Mr. Johnson\’s Viet Nam war policies. To many Democrats (and, I am sure, a large number of Republicans as well), he was the guy who saw things as they were, and might extricate us from that increasingly untenable war.
In 2015, so far at least, Bernie Sanders is turning out to be HIllary Clinton\’s Eugene McCarthy: a fellow Democrat whose positions – and whose candor about those positions – stands in stark contrast to those of the putative front-runner.
McCarthy never won a primary. And never had to. The fact that he was fully competitive in New Hampshire (he lost by 7%) was enough to convince LBJ that he should drop out of the race.
It will take a lot more than that to push the 67 year old and now-desperate Hillary Clinton out of her presidential run. But Sanders, who has a realistic shot at winning both of the first two primaries, Iowa and New Hampshire, might just be a lot more than that.
And if Joe Biden gets into this race, as I am about 90% certain he will? It is an excellent bet that at least some Democrat big shots, fearful of what a disaster Hillary Clinton has been so far and mindful of the fact that it will get nothing but harder once a clear Republican front-runner emerges, will go running to him.
Hillary Clinton inevitable? Believe me, she\’s evitable. And that reality becomes clearer every day.
