2016 may be the last time I get to vote for

[JDPriestly]

28. upaloopa, you make a good point.

It took years of failure by the progressive movement to finally get a couple of presidents who, for a short time, realized progressive policies. And then, the presidents who made put those policies into action were not the most progressive. They were simply converted to and emboldened to progressive action by the pressure of the many, many Americans who demanded it.

But, the assumption that at this point, a year before the primaries, we should all support the candidacy of Hillary, perhaps one of our most right-wing potential candidates, is based on what I believe to be a false assumption: that Hillary is the only potential candidate we have who can win in the general election.

That I would call, the fallacy of the inevitable Hillary.

First, although she is doing well in the polls, we have not assurance, no proof, not even much evidence that Hillary will survive the primary, much less win in the general election.

I was a child when Adlai Stevenson ran and ran again for president. He did not have the personality, the charisma to win. In his first race, Nixon lost. When he ran in 1968, Nixon played every dirty trick in the book to win against a candidate who would have made a far better president than Nixon did.

We should not, at this point, assume that Hillary will be our candidate or that she will win.

We should be encouraging other candidates to stand up and run in the primaries. Primaries are not just popularity contests. They train and test the candidates. They help them hone their messages. They put candidates in the limelight and submit their personalities, their character, their ideas and their purposes to criticism and public appraisal.

The assumption that Hillary will be our candidate may prove true. It may not. It is far too early to tell.

Hillary has a huge campaign fund. That is an advantage if you look at it from a superficial point of view.

But a huge campaign fund has to have come from somewhere. And that can be a trap for well funded candidates. Hillary is no exception. Her biggest donors include people who work for large financial institutions and major law firms as well as big corporations. Those donors will be scrutinized and examined inside and out. Their relationships with the Clintons will be analyzed and publicized. And what is discovered may be very unpleasant for Hillary Clinton.

Don't count your chickens before they hatch. We do not know who our candidate will be. It is too soon to start marching the brass Hillary band. She has a long trek to march before she is nominated, much less elected.

Remember. Every one of her major donations and some of the minor ones will be examined, turned inside and out, reviewed and could come back to create problems for her.

So relax. Anything can happen between now and November 2016.