Capitol Report
By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
After two years of endless speculation and conjecture on the part of political pundits, it’s now official: Hillary Rodham Clinton is running for president in 2016.
In her brief videotaped announcement she released last Sunday, she simply stated that would run in 2016 to fight for American families so that they can “get ahead and stay ahead.”
As we all know, this isn’t Mrs. Clinton’s first rodeo (or run for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue).
Back in January 2007, she entered into the crowded Democratic primary field that pitted her against the likes of a neophyte-Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama.
Although she would eventually lose the nomination, she exhibited a real penchant for connecting with women and with white working-class voters over kitchen-table issues.
And, before bowing out, Mrs. Clinton had garnered a staggering 17.5 million votes, and won primary victories in Indiana, Ohio Pennsylvania.
However, this time around, things should be quite different. Mrs. Clinton enters the campaign with no apparent formidable competition for a wide-open Democratic nomination.
She starts with a strong base of support: 59 percent of Democratic voters said there was a “good chance” they would vote for Mrs. Clinton, compared with 52 percent who said the same in 2007, according the a Pew research Center poll conducted March 25-29.
With that being said, Mrs. Clinton is anything but a sure thing for the general election; and she’s not without vulnerabilities.
She is not a natural politician in connecting with voters on the campaign trail.
Moreover, some liberals believe that Mrs. Clinton has too many ties to Wall Street, a potent charge at time when Democrats are concerned by growing income inequality.
Perhaps the stickiest area for Mrs. Clinton in putting daylight between her and Mr. Obama will be foreign policy – her portfolio as his secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.
She has taken credit for laying the diplomatic groundwork that led to the much-debated nuclear talks with Iran. She was widely criticized on the right for failed “reset” of the relationship with Russia.
And, of course, her handling of the deadly attack on United States mission in Benghazi, Libya is always hot-button issue for the GOP.
Whatever the eventual outcome of general election, one thing is certain — it will be a very costly campaign.
Supporters and outside “super PACs” have already indicated that they seek to raise as much $2.5 billion for Mrs. Clinton – roughly as much Republicans are expected to amass. In the final analysis, it’s going to be a political donnybrook – to say the least.