Mediaboss Marketing

Published January 18, 2015

Hillary Clinton appears to have scared away much of the competition should she seek the Democratic nomination for president in 2016. But her early and practically all-encompassing effort also presents the potential liability that she will sail through the primary season largely untested for the bare-knuckled general election.

And it could deny Democrats the chance to define themselves to Americans, strategists say.

It's not good for a party because the Democratic Party needs a real debate about what it's for, who it's for, what it's about and where we'll take the country, says Dennis Kucinich, a former Democratic congressman, presidential candidate and a Fox News contributor.

The 67-year-old Clinton plans to make an official announcement in early 2015, leaving some doubt about whether she will indeed run. But her frontrunner status is unquestionable.

She has roughly 62 percent of the likely vote and leads all potential Democratic challengers by a numbing 49.5 percentage points.

And those numbers combined with an ambitious public-speaking schedule and the fundraising and cheerleading group Ready for Hillary are making it difficult for potential primary challengers to raise money.

In addition, Clintons most formidable, likely primary challenger now, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, insists shes not running, leaving the Democratic field so wide open that 73-year-old Bernie Sanders, an independent and junior senator from Vermont, is now fourth behind Clinton, Warren and Vice President Biden, according an averaging of polls by RealClearPolitics.com

I think you miss the chance to vet ideals, says Richard Fowler, a Democrat and host of the progressive-leaning Richard Fowler Talk Show. I think that's what elections are about.Elections are about ideals and how ideals would then turn into policy that will then turn into how we govern.

Clinton, a former first lady, secretary of State and New York senator, hasnt been in a campaign-style debate since 2008, when she lost the Democratic presidential primary to President Obama, then a freshman Illinois senator.

Continue reading here:
BATTLE UNTESTED? Easy ride in '16 primary may leave Clinton vulnerable

Under scrutiny: Senator Elizabeth Warren's politics will put the economic legacy of former US president Bill Clinton and, by extension, Hillary Clinton on trial. Photo: Getty

US Senator Elizabeth Warren has an explanation for the singular nature of her power.

"I'll always be an outsider. That's how I understand the world," the Massachusetts Democrat said in an interview. "There's a real benefit to being clear about this. I know why I'm here. I think about this every morning before I open my eyes, and I'm still thinking about it every night when I go to sleep."

Being the target of that kind of focus can be an excruciating experience - the freshest case in point being investment banker Antonio Weiss, whom President Barack Obama put forward last year as his nominee for treasury undersecretary for domestic finance.

Proud outsider: Senator Elizabeth Warren's economic populism might provide the path forward for the Democrats. Photo: AP

Initially seen as a highly credentialed and uncontroversial pick for a low-profile post, Mr Weiss found himself up against a storm of opposition, led by Mrs Warren, who said he was yet another example of Wall Street cronyism within the Obama administration.

Advertisement

On Monday, Mr Weiss wrote a letter to the President asking that his name be taken out of consideration.

The tussle sent yet another signal, maybe the clearest yet, of how Mrs Warren intends to wield her growing clout. It showed that she and her brand of populism are forces to be reckoned with - not only by Mr Obama and his team, but also by the Democrats' likely 2016 presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton.

"It's not about Antonio Weiss personally," said Simon Johnson, an outspoken Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and former International Monetary Fund chief economist, who admires Mrs Warren and shares her views. "What it's really about is the presidential election."

Follow this link:
Meet Elizabeth Warren, the senator Hillary Clinton must reckon with in 2016

Jan 18, 2015 8:58am

Its almost enough to reconsider quitting the day job: Mike Huckabees got a steep hill to climb should he face off against Hillary Clinton for the presidency in 2016.

Tested in a head-to-head matchup among registered voters, Huckabee gets 39 percent support in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, vs. 56 percent for Clinton, a wide 17-point gap in presidential preference. Its their first test in an ABC/Post poll in this cycle, and much better for Clinton than a hypothetical matchup in late 2007, when she and Huckabee ran essentially evenly among registered voters, 48-45 percent.

See PDF with full results here.

Huckabee, a guest today on ABCs This Week with George Stephanopoulos, resigned his Fox News job earlier this month and said hes exploring another run for the Republican presidential nomination. Hes on a book tour the next few weeks, including three stops in Iowa, where the voting starts in a year.

Additional candidate matchups and attitudes about the 2016 contest will be covered later this week in a subsequent analysis of the latest ABC/Post poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates.

In one striking difference in their support profiles, Clintons backed by 92 percent of Democrats who are registered to vote (6 percent cross over to Huckabee), while Huckabees backed by fewer Republicans (79 percent, with 14 percent going to Clinton and 7 percent simply taking a pass.) Further, Clinton leads Huckabee among independents, potentially a swing voting group, by 52-41 percent.

Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, holds a broad 68-27 percent lead over Clinton among evangelical white Protestants, a core Republican group and one in which he did especially well in his 2008 campaign for the GOP nomination. However, that flips to a 55-39 percent race, Clinton-Huckabee, among non-evangelical white Protestants. And, typical for a Democrat, Clinton has a vast lead among nonwhites, 81-15 percent an ongoing challenge for the GOP as nonwhites grow as a proportion of the electorate.

Clinton leads Huckabee among women by 24 points, and does particularly well among younger adults, with a 65-32 percent advantage among registered voters who are under 40. Unusually for a Democrat, Clinton is competitive with Huckabee even in rural areas, customarily a GOP stronghold, as well as the suburbs, while shes trouncing him in urban areas, 66-29 percent.

Ideology is another strong differentiator. Huckabee leads Clinton by 73-22 percent among Americans who identify themselves as very conservative, and by a much closer 16 points among somewhat conservatives. Clinton, though, comes back with a 62-33 percent result among moderates and 81-15 percent among liberals, who together account for 60 percent of all registered voters.

More here:
Huckabee vs. Clinton: Reconsider the Day Job?

Too Many Candidates: Does Flood of GOP Hopefuls Mean Trouble in 2016?
A year before the first 2016 presidential primaries we #39;re already hearing that too many Republican candidates could cause a party split, while Democrats rally around Hillary Clinton. Guest...

By: PJ Media

Originally posted here:
Too Many Candidates: Does Flood of GOP Hopefuls Mean Trouble in 2016? - Video

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has an explanation for the singular nature of her power.

Ill always be an outsider. Thats how I understand the world, the Massachusetts Democrat said in an interview. Theres a real benefit to being clear about this. I know why Im here. I think about this every morning before I open my eyes, and Im still thinking about it every night when I go to sleep.

Being the target of that kind of focus can be an excruciating experience the freshest case in point being investment banker Antonio Weiss, whom President Obama put forward last year as his nominee for Treasury undersecretary for domestic finance.

Initially seen as a highly credentialed and noncontroversial pick for a low-profile post, Weiss found himself up against a storm of opposition, led by Warren, who said he was yet another example of Wall Street cronyism within the Obama administration.

On Monday, Weiss wrote a letter to the president asking that his name be taken out of consideration.

The tussle sent yet another signal, maybe the clearest yet, of how Warren intends to wield her growing clout. It showed that she and her brand of populism are forces to be reckoned with not only by Obama and his team, but also by the Democrats likely 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Its not about Antonio Weiss personally, said Simon Johnson, an outspoken Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and former International Monetary Fund chief economist who admires Warren and shares her views. What its really about is the presidential election.

No small amount of speculation has centered on whether Warren herself will run for the White House in 2016. She insists that she will not. But her advisers and longtime allies say that she intends to keep the pressure on Clinton, to make sure the former secretary of state pays more than lip service to the issues that matter to Warren.

She is training her heat vision not on the Oval Office, but two doors down the hall on the Cabinet Room. Warren wants to make sure that Wall Street-aligned figures who have shaped the Clinton and Obama brand of economic policy for the past quarter-century, going back to former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, are not the only ones at the oval mahogany table.

The worst case for us is that [Clinton] gives a feisty speech now and then, but surrounds herself with the same old economic gurus, said one longtime Warren ally, insisting upon anonymity to speak frankly.

More here:
Elizabeth Warren keeps pressure on Hillary Clinton and Democrats ahead of 2016