In retrospect HRC wasn’t much of a natural campaigner but in looking at the competition I’m struck by (on average) what a collection of non-entities the rest of the Democratic slate was. You’d think there would be just a herd of dynamic “A” class competition angling for the office of the leader of the US, but (Bernie Sanders aside) these people are not all that impressive or inspiring. HRC was a uncharismatic campaigner with a lot of baggage, but a powerful machine behind her and she wiped the floor with them except for Bernie Sanders.
Where are the men and women with big shoulders and big ideas busting the door down and electrifying the polity with their vision? Where are the true, natural Democratic leaders of people? You look at it in retrospect and wonder how the hell did this happen? Are these schlubs the best we can do?
You look at the overall GOP slate and they aren’t much to look at either. Why aren’t true A class Americans running after this office? Does the job actually suck that much?
These were A class, on both sides, the problem is that Americans want sizzle now instead of steak. Used to be you had to work long and hard to rack up a record of accomplishment to point to when you ran for office. Now your career is made or destroyed by one high profile speech.
Many Presidential candidates aren’t particularly charismatic. McGovern, Ford, Mondale, Dukakis, Bush-41, Dole, Gore, Kerry, Romney — where’s the charisma? I’m not sure what “class A” means to you, but many of these non-charismatic candidates would have done a fine job.
[QUOTE=adaher]
the problem is that Americans want sizzle now instead of steak.
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Is that the point, OP? Beyoncé turned 35 before Election Day; should the Democrats have run her instead of Hillary?
Ms. Rodham Clinton is a fine intelligent and good-spirited person, eminently qualified to become President. She did have a strong good vision for the future. Other Democratic luminaries declined to run because they knew what a great President Hillary would make. Yet right here, on a message board allegedly noted for intelligence, there were dozens of posted shrieking about Hillary’s sins and crimes, almost all of them lies. Did she murder Vince Foster? Was she running a ring of child prostitutes? Most didn’t believe the most extreme charges but “there had to be something wrong with her or the charges wouldn’t have arisen.” Now we know that the Kremlin, in their glee that a Manchurian Candidate-type stooge could easily win (all the racist swine were for him, along with the millions who pull the R-lever for the same reason Pavlov’s dog salivates), mounted a major effort to promulgate lies about that fine woman.
[QUOTE=Cassius, misquoted from Shakespeare]
The fault, dear OP, is not in our candidates, but in ourselves.
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Both sides should have better field in 2020 or 2024. The Democrats definitely since the race will be wide open and the best will compete, and the REpublicans possibly if Trump doesn’t run for reelection.
I have to disagree. Other Democratic luminaries probably declined to run not because Hillary would make a good President, but because Hillary would be a very difficult candidate to beat in the primaries. At least that was how her candidature was spun. Hillary was successfully marketed as the “inevitable” candidate. This inevitability drew in most of the cash and most of the human resources of the Democrat establishment.
The only people who ever said ANYTHING about Hillary being “inevitable” were people who hated her, including many a Usual Suspect. It must be something like the idea that Democrats were the ones who called Obama our Messiah, another thing that happened pretty much entirely the opposite direction.
Hillary cleared her orbit probably three years ago. Her nomination was inevitable long before she announced. The Democratic bench decided they didn’t want to go against her juggernaut.
On the Republican side, all you have are B-listers. Bush thought it was his birthright. Cruz and Rubio lack personality. Christie has big-boned skeletons rattling about. Fiorina has the warmth of an undertaker. On and on, there simply aren’t any charismatic players with red jerseys.
Hillary didn’t have to be publicly talked of as inevitable to be successfully marketed as inevitable. These things often happen behind closed doors. She certainly sucked up the vast majority of Democratic money & heavy hitters in the lead up to the primaries. When you do that your candidature is as good as inevitable. Inevitability need not be in the eye of the voters but in the eye of Democratic insiders and potential rivals.