Hillary Clinton Can ONLY WIN With The Obama Coalition

[Segami]

Events follow the norm until they don’t.

Democrats can continue to disregard Rand Paul at their peril, especially when he begins to sound like liberal Detroit activist Maureen Taylor. Simply put, Democrats must take heed of Paul's Time op-ed titled We Must Demilitarize the Police, in which he writes:

When you couple this militarization of law enforcement with an erosion of civil liberties and due process that allows the police to become judge and jury—national security letters, no-knock searches, broad general warrants, pre-conviction forfeiture—we begin to have a very serious problem on our hands.

Given these developments, it is almost impossible for many Americans not to feel like their government is targeting them. Given the racial disparities in our criminal justice system, it is impossible for African-Americans not to feel like their government is particularly targeting them.

This is part of the anguish we are seeing in the tragic events outside of St. Louis, Missouri. It is what the citizens of Ferguson feel when there is an unfortunate and heartbreaking shooting like the incident with Michael Brown.

Anyone who thinks that race does not still, even if inadvertently, skew the application of criminal justice in this country is just not paying close enough attention. Our prisons are full of black and brown men and women who are serving inappropriately long and harsh sentences for non-violent mistakes in their youth.

http://time.com/3111474/rand-paul-ferguson-police/

In those few paragraphs, Paul is taking a chip out of the Obama coalition with a perceived acknowledgment of a racial issue that many Democrats do nothing about. At the same time, he keeps his base by framing it as an overreaching government. He is doing this with many other issues, aiming at different sections of the Obama coalition. A few months ago I wrote two articles. The first, Is Hillary Clinton the president we need at this time?, examined some of the potential problems Clinton would face as the Democratic nominee. In that piece, I explained how she could be triangulated by a populist Republican:

If Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee, as a Democrat it would be better than any Republican getting elected. Given Hillary Clinton’s Wall Street baggage however, the triangulation used by the Clintons against the Republicans in the past may just be used against them in 2016. A populist Republican with limited Wall Street ties, with a fairly liberal social stance on marijuana, marriage equality, immigration reform, incarceration (mandatory minimums), and women’s rights is out there waiting. Anyone following the news can see that Republican in the making.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/16/1277579/-Is-Hillary-Clinton-the-president-we-need-at-this-time

Many had assumed that I was referring to Rand Paul at that time, and it's true that I had him among many in mind. A few weeks later I wrote Don’t laugh, but Rand Paul could be our next president. Many laughed and assumed anyone who believed Rand Paul could win the presidency was naïve or simply did not understand his past utterances on civil rights, his past associations, and past faux pas. That is not the case.

Anyone who reads Daily Kos and other liberal and progressive blogs cannot be fooled by Rand Paul—he's a true Republican Libertarian with a touch of "Dixiecratocracy." The problem is that most voting Americans are not the well-informed, and most members of the traditional media are lazy or programmed to misinform by the plutocracy.

Paul does not need to blow up the Obama coalition to win—he simply needs to skim the fat. His little excursions into the liberal base can do just that. And the truth is, his base is much more committed to winning and voting than our base. Just take a look at the recent FL-13 special election for evidence.

It would be irresponsible if liberals do not start taking concrete steps now to be inoculated on the populist flank. Taking the threat seriously will help not only in the presidential race, but in every district.

The biggest fear is that if there is a coronation of a select few, many potential candidates will remain undeveloped. Worse is the inability to recover from an unknown. The fact that Ronald Reagan and George Bush were elected presidents of the United States means it is not all that farfetched to wake up and discover that Rand Paul could be our next president.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/03/23/1286407/-Don-t-laugh-but-Rand-Paul-could-be-our-next-president

cont'

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/17/1321899/-Hillary-Clinton-can-only-win-with-the-Obama-coalition?showAll=yes

[MannyGoldstein]

1. Rand Paul is bat#%^* crazy

The problem is that he's absolutely right about a number of things - civil liberties, foreign killing adventures, Wall Street - that our Democratic establishment is dead wrong on.

[Segami]

2. "..Paul does not need to blow up the Obama coalition to win—he simply needs to skim the fat..."

Indeed!

[Gman]

3. Puh-effing-pleeezzz

Hillary will have 95% of the Obama bunch. That's a given.

[conservaphobe]

4. Rand Paul would be a disaster.

He is completely disingenuous and so are the people on the left who fawn over him.

Fuck them all.

[MannyGoldstein]

8. By "fawn over him", I assume you mean "happen to agree with him on certain issues"

Like shutting down Operation Spy On Everyone, engaging in more asinine wars, and enforcing the law again on financial institutions?

Or is there some other fawning over Sen. Aqua Buddha that I'm unaware of, for which some examples would be appreciated.

[Cha]

5. That seems like a no brainer to me.. always remember rand paul has some fucking baggage of his own

Cher Heavy check mark @cher Follow
RAND PAUL IS LIAR.HE SAYS HES NOT A RACIST YET UNTIL HE STARTED RUNNING 4 PRES HE DID NOT SUPPORT CIVIL RIGHTS ACT.Minorities BEWARE😡
4:12 PM - 25 Jul 2014 338 Retweets 546 favorites

http://theobamadiary.com/2014/07/26/he-is-my-brothers-keeper/

Oh, and check rand paul's writing for Plagiarism!

Mahalo Segami

[blkmusclmachine]

6. Rand Paul PUMA's: "Cuz we like a big heaping helping of Theocracy with our phony Centrism!!"

[winter is coming]

7. Rand Paul is unlikely to hold up under the extra scrutiny that a Presidential candidate receives.

I wouldn't be surprised if he flames out pretty early on, during primary season.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. I won't for Rand or Hillary.

[DJ13]

10. Hillary will have to (gasp) court the left of she wants to keep them