Reply #10: Perhaps an even deeper fear...

[Tom Rinaldo]

American politics might be approaching the point where only those who are skilled at "pseudo politics" can win National contests.

I don't think we are quite there yet, but that has been the trend. It shows up less in Democratic Primary Contests than it does in General Elections for major State and National offices, because of the often issue oriented nature of Primary voters. I often find fault with Clinton for being too carefully scripted and hard to pin down on specifics, but then that fear starts to creep in that says that type of campaign might ultimately not only be the safest road to victory, but also the surest road to victory, and possibly the only road to victory.

Again, I don't think it has to be that way and I think it is unhealthy to Democracy for it to be that way. But I also can read the handwriting on the wall that extols the benefits of a tightly on message but elusive on specifics campaign. As it is I think it is equally likely that Hillary Clinton as President would surprise progressives on the up side as it is that she would surprise us on the down side. It is also possible that she is trying to cloak some of her true colors from centrist voters, looking ahead to the General Election. But I deplore guessing when it comes to picking leaders.

I think Hillary would do well by herself in the home stretch toward the Primary voting if she could allay more of the concerns reflected in the OP column.