General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I do not want Hillary Clinton to be the Democratic nominee. [View all]merrily
(45,251 posts)strategists like Shields and Shrum, the folks at MSNBC.
A far better question from people who are sincerely seeking truth in this matter might well be, who in a position to have inside Democratic Party info has been saying there should be vigorous primary challenges to Hillary? Or actively encouraging other candidates to run?
Remember, in 2008, all we heard about a primary that Hillary chose to extend well beyond the point at which she had any mathematical chance of winning whatever, was not that it wasted time, money and energy that Senator Obama could have spent battling McCain. It was the the primary had been so wonderful for voters, Obama and the Party. Now, all we hear is that a primary challenge is the worst possible thing for a Presidential candidate. Double think?
Given that so many professional politicians do aspire to be President someday, it is extraordinary that, as early as 2012--before Obama was even re-elected, I was hearing on TV almost daily that the 2016 nomination was Hillary's, if she wanted it; and, if she chose to run, no Democrat would even bother to oppose her in a primary.
When has that EVER been said about a Presidential primary in which no incumbent is running?
What do people like Shrum and Matthews have to offer anyone if it is not their credibility on political matters? Why would they risk their bread and butter on such an unprecedented kind of statement?
Why are the same people who were saying how the 2008 primary was the best possible thing for the party and its Presidential candidate now saying a Presidential primary would be the worst possible thing for the party and Hillary?
And who the hell ever said publicly that primaries were not about party voters, only about "the Party" (whatever the hell that is, apart from voters) and its anointee?
Why are so many supposedly typical Democatic posters here saying it?
Come on, isbm, you're so much smarter than your framing of that question.