The name of the game is to win elections and not be ideologically pure. If you don’t win, you don’t govern, and the last liberal candidate to win an election was over 50 years ago when Lyndon Johnson won in 1964.
In a climate where Americans want less government, not more, Hillary Clinton no longer looks as unbeatable as she did when Barack Obama was reelected in 2012.
While many experts are claiming that Hillary should make overtures toward the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, I believe she needs to steer clear of party activists and make overtures to the working class. The reason the GOP has the biggest majority since 1928 is because Americans have soundly repudiated secular liberalism and free-spending Democrats.
While partisans of the Left will try to force Hillary leftward, Hillary should look to history. The drubbing that Democrats received in 2014 should be a stern warning for her and other Democrats who decide to run in 2016; that the party needs to disentangle itself from divisive issues such as gay marriage and abortion and, instead, focus on pocketbook issues.
After the financial crisis of 2008 and eight years of Bush, Jr., Americans were willing to give progressivism a chance by electing Barack Obama. However, after bailouts, Obamacare, global warming, and prolonged wars, our country feels more like 1979 than the boom years during the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.
While pundits try to spin the narrative that conditions have improved under Obama, many Americans feel our country is headed down the wrong track and, whether it’s fair or not, they blame President Obama for their misery.
This pessimism about our future doesn’t doesnt bode well for Hillary. While many Americans are looking for a leader that has fresh ideas and bold change, Hillary represents what Americans soundly repudiated in the midterms: the status quo.
It seems like eons ago that experts were claiming Republicans were going to be extinct if they didn’t reach out to Hispanics and minorities. Although they have a long way to go, the GOP has become more diverse. Today’s Republican nominees are more reflective of America–there are women such as Carly Fiorina, Hispanics Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, and African Americans such as Dr. Ben Carson.
