So HRC announced her candidacy today, as expected. We’ll see how it goes. Here is the video she released as her announcement:
It’s okay. Do I buy it? Um …
On Friday, Clinton’s campaign let slip its aim to raise $2.5 billion; maybe that’s not the best way to say hello to a struggling middle class. Someone gabbed about the message of Hillary’s planned sit downs with average families, a sure fire way to make the families look and feel like props — and to make the whole, hollow exercise look and feel like a hollow exercise.
There are three problems that go far deeper than Hillary’s image or her campaign’s operations. Each is endemic to our current politics; all are so deeply connected as to be inseparable. You already know them. The first is how they raise their money. The second is how they craft their message. The third pertains to policy.
To get the money they think they need candidates who crook the knee to moneyed interests. They spend vast sums on polls, focus groups and data mining to find out what messages to send and to whom, and vaster sums to send them. The need to serve their donors keeps them from solving real problems. With so little to show for their service, they must rely even more on paid propaganda. The emptier their ads, the more of them they need.
Curry goes on to say that this works great for Republicans, most of whom want to maintain the status quo and are happy to be lied to. But here Curry really nails it about Dems —
The opposite is true for Democrats. When they truckle to the status quo, they break sacred vows. Their base feels most betrayed , but everyone notices and no one likes what they see. Convinced by their consultants that politics is all about metaphors and emotion, they treat issues as landmines and do everything possible to avoid stepping on one. They skip real debates to pursue what Obama consigliere David Axelrod calls ‘the politics of biography.’ Trading real reform for public policy vaporware, they lose all sense of purpose — and eventually stop making sense.
Yeah, pretty much.
Barring a Jeremiah Wright-level crisis, a presidential candidate gets just two or three chances to make her case to a big audience. Her announcement is often her best shot. That Hillary passed on hers is unsettling. If she thinks she doesn’t have to make her case real soon she’s wrong. If she thinks she can get by on the sort of mush Democratic consultants push on clients she’s finished. On Thursday the Q poll released three surveys. In two states, she now trails Rand Paul. In all three a plurality or majority said she is ‘not honest or trustworthy.’ You can bet the leak about her $2.5 billion campaign will push those negatives up a notch. …
… If she raises all that money it will ruin her. Fundraising nearly ruined her husband in 1996. He didn’t need all the money he raised then and God knows she doesn’t need all the money she wants to raise now. Even if raising the money doesn’t land her in hot water, if she spends it the way most Democrats do, that will ruin her.
Interesting. Thoughts?
Well, There’s a big difference between implying by way of a video what you stand for and actually stating what you will stand for. We’ll see how Hillary does.. I remember being put off by Paulie Ryan’s scrubbing pots and pans in a soup kitchen and Mitt’s frayed hem on his dungarees, so if Hillary starts sporting an Afro or a butch hairdo then I’ll have to reevaluate whether or not I’m being played.
As it stands now, any candidate on the Democrat’s side is guaranteed my vote, but in order for Hillary to lock it in she’s going to need to put out some sincerity vibes.
Well, There’s a big difference between implying by way of a video what you stand for and actually stating what you will stand for. We’ll see how Hillary does.. I remember being put off by Paulie Ryan’s scrubbing pots and pans in a soup kitchen and Mitt’s frayed hem on his dungarees, so if Hillary starts sporting an Afro or a butch hairdo then I’ll have to reevaluate whether or not I’m being played.
As it stands now, any candidate on the Democrat’s side is guaranteed my vote, but in order for Hillary to lock it in she’s going to need to put out some sincerity vibes.
Seems I got a twofer. Must be a glitch on WordPress or a hyper sensitive submit comment button. Just crazy!
I’m checking out Jill Stein for president. In a nutshell, she seems like an Elizabeth Warren type, but the difference is Stein actually, well, you know, wants to be president.
I feel a bit queasy about another Clinton run. I’m tired of Hillary, just plain tired. What bugs me about the Dems is that so many feel as I do, yet don’t seem to have the courage to seriously consider other candidates. Yes, the media has already crowned Queen Hillary, but there’s a whole world outside the media. We have options. Let’s stop being lazy and stop settling.
Bill and Hillary surround themselves with some of the worst consultant characters on the planet – I’m lookin’ atchyou, Dick Morris and Mark Penn.
Hillary needs to warm-up a bit – the MSM is chomping at the bit to make her into an old scold or nag. It’s what they do to women who run for office.
Do some shots with beer chasers at some white guy bar. At least Chris Matthews might like that!
I can’t stand even the thought of a Rand Paul Presidency, or a Jeb, Ted, etc., one, for that matter.
I’m not her biggest fan, but if she’s the Democratic candidate, then I’ll work as hard for her as I did for Obama.
A Democrat has to win.
There are a lot of old Justices on the SCOTUS!!!
And FSM help us, if it’s a Republican filling those seats111
Miami (CNN) Florida Sen. Marco Rubio says he is running for president and is “uniquely qualified” to talk about the future, a Rubio adviser tells CNN.
Well, if any of you Mahabloggers want to talk about the future, or the past, or the present— feel free to talk to me. I’m uniquely qualified to talk about any of those three states of existence. I really am…That’s just not an idle boast by some under qualified windbag sitting behind a keyboard.
“Florida Sen. Marco Rubio says he is running for president and is “uniquely qualified†to talk about the future”
Interesting Marko says he’s all about the future though his big issue is keeping in place a 50 year old embargo to Cuba, right? I’m not a big Hill fan, though 20 some months of listening to the right-wing vilify her will do more to win my vote for Hillary than anything she could do or say I fear!
“Uniquely qualified” to talk about the future? Weird. Do the Time Lords hand out certificates, or what?
I consider myself an average American with average Americans as my friends. In the circles I run in, we all know that it costs a fortune two times over to run for office–and in particular, to run for President. Thus, I have no problems with hearing that Hillary is trying to raise 2.5 million. With all the millionaires who contribute to the other side, 2.5 mil sounds like a very small number. In fact, I think Curry’s article is a tad bit condescending to us middle class who know that you have to be a millionaire to run for President and know a whole bunch more millionaires to win. Voting for a third party is giving a vote for the Republicans; so, those with problems with Hillary, I feel sorry for you that you cannot see that. While Hillary has never been a favorite of mine, I have never hated her either. I find it exciting to see a woman running for President who actually has the ability to win. Since I am an American with more past than future, I like the idea of seeing a woman become President before I die. And, I would like to know just how many male politicians are “honest and trustworthy”. I know I haven’t seen many in my lifetime.
Bonnie …That’s 2.5 billion..Not that Hillary isn’t entitled to raise that much money, but a figure that large tends to create a division in the minds of the common people. It’s much like Mitt Romney owning 5 palatial houses, one of which has an elevator for his cars. I don’t begrudge him his wealth but it does cause me to question whether somebody with that amount of money at their disposal can really relate to the day to day struggles of economic survival that the majority of Americans are faced with.
Another problem with attempting to raise 2.5 billion ( whether it’s true or not) is that when a figure that large is broadcast or “leaked” to the public it has a tendency to create a sense of despair in the minds of some voters that their vote can have any impact on the outcome of an election..like money is the true determinate factor in who gets elected. A lot of people see it as trying to buy the office rather than earning it.