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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHillary Clinton’s Strong Start
That was partly spin, of course. There is no end in sight to the stories about the finances of the Clinton Foundation, the Clinton e-mails, or the activities of some of the Clintons associates. But as spring rolls into summer, Team Brooklyn has successfully accomplished its two initial goals: heading off the possibility of a serious challenge for the Democratic nomination and surviving a barrage of negative publicity that was inevitable at some stage, and which was, therefore, best confronted early on.
The entry into the Democratic contest by Bernie Sanders was welcome from a Clintonite perspective, because it filled a potentially dangerous vacuum. With his long record of service to progressive causes, Sanders is popular enough to garner a decent-sized following among liberal Democrats, but hes almost certainly too far to the left to represent a serious threat to Hillary. So far, at least, his presence has been more of a problem for Martin OMalley, the former governor of Maryland, who is set to officially announce his candidacy on Saturday. As I noted back in March, OMalley is a serious figure who demands some respect. As governor, he eliminated the death penalty, legalized gay marriage, and championed various good-government initiatives. But with Sanders already out there on the stump, OMalley has struggled to gain traction.
A new poll of likely Democratic voters conducted by Quinnipiac University illustrates the scale of the task that is facing Clintons challengers. The survey, which was carried out from May 19th to May 26th, showed her getting fifty-seven per cent of the vote. Sanders was in second place, with fifteen per cent. OMalley got just one per cent, and so did two other possible candidates, Jim Webb, a former U.S. senator from Virginia, and Lincoln Chafee, a former governor and U.S. senator from Rhode Island. Of course, it is early in the process, and anything could happen between now and the end of the primaries. At this stage, though, Clinton is sitting pretty.
http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/at-this-early-stage-hillary-clinton-looks-strong
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)That's a pretty bold conclusion, that's it's already been settled when, in fact, it has only barely begun.
What does "Team Brooklyn" know that the rest of the world doesn't?
PS, If true, that they planned to head off any challenges means that they don't really care about giving Americans a voice, they just want to win.
Not surprising, but very disturbing. All of that.
cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)Did someone give her the keys to "Scooby" so she could warm it up one cold morning?
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)I think anyone working for this many years with this much money would also have a "start".
....a very strong start.
It means very little when a woman, who was a first lady and then moved strategically to the state of the big banks to become their senator and then loses a primary has a good start the second time around.
She worked the deal to become SOS and worked that deal to her advantage in this run, so, again, with all that money and influence, I would expect a strong start.
Hell, she's already on her second avatar and has clearly out-tweeted the competitors...
So she has a strong start, having been running now for like 10 years, and without any opponents for this cycle until only recently.
Color me meh.
Now the work has to be done.
Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)I didn't. And, I won't vote for Hillary based on polls.
elleng
(130,141 posts)Elections are NOT ball games, we should study the candidates and base our opinions about them and our decisions about who to support on their PROGRAMS and the contents of their characters (to the extent we can discern that,) NOT on whether we think they'll win the game!
Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)Adrahil
(13,340 posts)... you vote for her once she wins the nomination.
Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)olddots
(10,237 posts)we have lived in the advertising age for a long time and will continue to be duped by popularity over prinipals and quality of returns .
hill2016
(1,772 posts)that it will only get stronger. People like to support the winning horse. No one likes to back the losing team.
azmom
(5,208 posts)Adrahil
(13,340 posts)For what it's worth, Dennis was my candidate, but i had no illusions he was gonna win.