Well, I don’t know as that would hurt Clinton electorally, she does have a solid warhawk reputation.
Again, you are forgetting that talk is cheap. Trump has no history of political actions, he has the opportunity to repaint himself from now to November. In addition these are not the top concerns of the majority of the American people. Hillary will become president if she can find a way to convince people she will be a good president, in people’s minds that means making their lives better. She has failed to do that so far. She has failed to show leadership in her own party by making peace with Bernie Sanders. She is planning a negative campaign against Trump in the general which is the most likely reason she could lose. You can call Trump unpresidential all you like, if Hillary can’t present herself as actually presidential she has no edge over Trump. If you haven’t figured it out so far, the American people want change for the better, Hillary has actually run against that promising to maintain the status quo. Unless the economy booms by November, or we get unconditional surrender from terrorists then Trump will continue to pick up support.
So, in other words, she should accede to every demand so that Bernie will stop running. Get serious.
She has plausible deniability, at least. It’s the PAC that’s running the negative campaign, not her.
He plainly is unpresidential. And that’s pretty much all she’s been doing, not lowering herself to the sex-crazed child she’ll be running against, and doing things like going to unannounced town halls that would have been under the radar had some of her supporters not alerted the media.
And only the most information-free, totally self-absorbed voter would see Trump as a change for the better. Which is why I’m worried about this election. (Note: that last was not sarcasm.)
Thanks to those who took a stab at answering my question.
Sorry, got to call ‘bullshit’ here. If a significant component of Mr. Trump’s message is not fear (of Mexicans, Muslims, international trade, the press, loss of the good old days), then what is it?
No, she should find a solution. That’s what presidents have to do in office, if she can’t do that in a campaign it reflects poorly on her.
That’s not plausible. Nobody believes that.
That doesn’t matter, if she doesn’t make herself look presidential it’s a race between two unpresidential candidates. That’s not going to be good for her.
Doesn’t matter if she is not seen as a change for the better either.
Me too. I can’t see how we win either way right now.
Some perspective is in order- in 2008 Hillary stayed in the race long after she had no prayer of catching Obama. She then turned into an active supporter of his and most of her supporters returned to the roost and voted for Obama. She may be underperforming in the polls right now since when Sanders supporters are polled, they may express doubt about supporting Hillary or may even claim to back Trump, but after the hug fest at the convention Democrats will come together and give that short-fingered vulgarian the sound whipping he so richly deserves.
As far as seeming presidential, she has it in spades over him. She’s unflappable. If she can take hours of grilling from Trey Gowdy’s inquisition, she can beat the guy who was afraid of Megyn Kelly.
How do you find compromise with someone who won’t? You’re asking for an impossibility. She’s not Gandalf, nor is anyone else. (Just ask Obama with a Republican Congress. He’s practically bent over backwards to provide Republicans with palatable solutions, but because Obama…)
I’d also ask, how can you possibly not point out how ignorant and wrong for the job Trump is? Is she just supposed to say nothing at all, ignoring Trump completely, as he panderingly, wishy-washily flipflops his way to the White House?
I’d love to hear how she’s supposed to look any more presidential than she already does. Probably 95% of the shit Pubbies throw at her is bullshit, and I’m sure they know it, not that it’ll stop them from slinging more. She is acting presidential; it’s not doing any good.
Again, I’m open to suggestions. She deals substantively and knowledgeably with the issues while Mr. “Corrupt” “Little” “Lyin’” egomaniac avoids issues like the plague.
I’m well beyond that point. I’m into not losing, which is not the same thing in the slightest. And, like her or not, that’s Hillary.
I can’t fault Clinton for not finding common cause with Bernie. He has no motivation to do so, and every motivation not to. Further down the road, maybe, but not now.
It’s not a question of fault, or that I even know the solution, it’s the optics. Hillary can’t blame Bernie for continuing in the same manner she did 8 years ago, but she’s not making it look like she wants any solution before the convention. It’s on her to work it out.
I don’t know that he’s ignorant and wrong for the job, no one does. That’s his major failing, he’s an unknown and he’s not clarifying anything. I don’t have any reason to think Hillary would do any better based on her track record of accomplishing nothing after all these years. And she doesn’t have to say anything about Trump if she has positive things to say about herself. I hear all about how she knows what to do as president but haven’t seen evidence that she actually does. She promises to fight for people but I haven’t seen her win a fight yet. I’m not going to decide who I vote for based on who I like best, I’ll decide on who will be best for the country, and at this point I don’t see her doing significantly better than Trump. (That doesn’t mean I’m voting for Trump, this is about who is going to end up winning and why).
She’ll look presidential by seeming to be more concerned with the country than her election. She has a much better chance of doing that than Trump, but she has to do it. If she knows how to deal with the economy, terrorism, or other issues she ought to say so, and explain why. She’s not doing that well, and it appears to me she’s counting on Trump’s negatives to put her ahead. Ignoring Trump would be a great way to look presidential.
Where is the substance? She’s great at talking about the causes she favors, not so good at the details. What is she going to do to improve the economy? She’s said she’s going to continue what Obama has been doing. That’s not a bad thing but it’s only preaching to the choir. It’s that vision thing again, she’s not demonstrating that she has it. She’s falling into the cycle of responding to Trump, that’s not leadership, let’s see her set the agenda.
She favors (and has repeatedly and consistently advocated for) increasing the minimum wage; raising taxes on higher incomes; moving the ACA in the direction of a single payer system; majorly revamping student loans such that those with debt can refinance at rates available to new students, reducing interest rates, and capping payments; strengthening and defending Dodd-Frank; taxing high-frequency stock trades; impose risk fees on large financial institutions; close hedge fund loopholes; strengthen regulators’ ability to regulate; and much, much more.
She’s also attacked Trump.
Her positions seem nigh-infinitely better to me than Trump’s on virtually every issue.
Easy. We win if Clinton wins and Trump loses. She ain’t Sanders, but she ain’t crazy either, she is, as P.J. O’Rourke recently put it, “wrong within normal parameters.”
Minimum wage I am all for. I haven’t heard the details on the taxes and Trump has also said he’s open to raising taxes on the rich, and revamping the tax system. I doubt he has any plan, but simply saying raise taxes on the rich doesn’t sound like a big seller to me. Moving the ACA toward single payer is a long journey without any specific plan. Trump hasn’t said what his plan is (because I’m sure he has none), but it wouldn’t surprise me if he promised Medicare for all whether he means it or not and he’ll make her look bad there. She’s weak on healthcare because she has a record of failure there. Strengthing Dodd-Frank in what way? Making it sound better or actually going against the people financing her campaign? It’s easy to say tax this and fee that to make people do things, how about some actual reform? She has to explain these things to people who may not vote for her, not to the people already decided. She has to win over voters who are ignorant of the details, who don’t understand what exists now and why it’s been a problem. From the way her supporters sound this should be a slam dunk for her but the numbers aren’t showing it. I think that’s because she is not a good communicator and plenty of people don’t feel that she understands their problems and at best she only panders to them. This is not a mid-term election, some people will need a good reason not to switch parties in the White House in order to vote for her and this has become a new kind of problem for her because she can’t pin the past behavior of the GOP on Trump.
The California primary is June 7. That’s the last significant primary day, and over 700 delegates are going to get chosen, from California, New Jersey, and the last few remaining states. Surely we can forgive Bernie for waiting until then to drop out, and surely we can forgive Hillary for waiting until then to expect Bernie to drop out.
Yeah, Trump is the Republican nominee. And the three weeks until the June 7th primary is not a very long wait until we know the Democratic nominee. It’s not going to destroy the Democrats to wait until then to fall in line behind Hillary.
Trump wants to abolish it and says that wages are too high in America.
Trump’s insisted that the ACA is a disaster and he will repeal it. That’s his plan. Hillary says the ACA has been a great improvement that should nonetheless be further improved.
Okay, but I’m just talking to you, not all the other voters. From all the evidence I can see from what Hillary has said during her campaign, and what Trump has said, Hillary is nigh-infinitely closer to my positions on all or almost all of the issues, and from what I’ve seen from you as a poster, she’s much closer than Trump is to your positions as well.
Sanders has said he won’t run as an independent, so that’s out.
Someone in GD explained that the email thing was not a real crime, that if anything, Clinton would only be in violation of internal rules. There will be no indictment.
Given that, I highly doubt anything will derail the election for the Democrats
I don’t recall him saying anything about the minimum wage so I don’t know, but he said wages are to high in the context of wages in other countries and how that affects our jobs and trade, and in that regard he is correct. I won’t defend his position because I don’t know where it goes from there.
Trump said he’d replace it with something better. He’s got months to come up with something better. If it was me I’d repeal it and replace it also. What is Hillary going to do to make it better?
Yes she is. It’s difficult for her not to be because as I said before I don’t know what Trump’s positions are actually, nobody does, including him I think. But neither you or I are running for president and I’m looking at how the election will turn out, not what I want the next president to do because I don’t think either of them will do a very good job for various reasons. And I don’t see any point in joining the echo chamber just because Hillary and Democratic party are closer my positions than Trump is. So let’s turn that on Hillary, is she able to turn toward something better or not? If her message doesn’t change between now and November I think she’s at risk of losing. She doesn’t have years to plan for this one, she’s only got months and I think she only likes to listen to the applause from her adoring fans and I don’t see an ability to adapt on a timely basis in her history.
This whole thing just sounds like totally unrealistic expectations. Hillary is supposed to be god- (or FDR-) like in everything she does.
Bernie holds no blame whatsoever. Hillary must bend the knee and vow fealty to Bernie, and that will resolve everything. Once again, give me (and, more to the point, her) a break.
Seriously? Have we been watching different primary campaigns? Trump would be the absolute worst thing to happen to the Oval Office EVER. The man is a proven egomaniac with skin thinner than the finest gossamer who has not the slightest clue how to govern, let alone compromise, and a mouth that goes off without anything resembling a connection to his brain. Are you kidding me?
I should have known immediately when you said she must come to Bernie: you’re a Bernie supporter. Go to her website and actually read about the issues she deals with and the policies she presents. She talks about these things every day she’s on the campaign trail. Maybe you need to follow things just a bit more closely, or take off the Bernie-colored glasses for a few minutes.
See above. She is doing those things that you say are presidential. But let me ask you this. How in hell do you get to be President without being concerned about getting elected? Hello?
I know, I’m talking to a brick wall. But whatever. Vote for Trump if you want, or waste your vote on another candidate who couldn’t possibly win in a million years. Just make sure you have your survival rations socked in come January 20 if the Donald gets elected. OR, vote for the one person who both can win AND has some realistic chance at making positive change in the country.
But spare me the Bernie rhetoric. It’s gotten old, and the only significance he has anymore is in helping to write a document that no one cares about anyway.
Oh, he’s got whole months to come up with a replacement? No problem then. One problem: Presidents can’t repeal legislation as far as I know.
Or to wait until the convention, either, and I really hope Sanders doesn’t drop out until then.
I can see you’re a Hillary supporter because any criticism of her is evil. Give me a break. You’re acting like she does. If she can’t take the heat then the kitchen is no place for her, or you. Who you like or don’t like doesn’t determine the outcome of the election.