Amy Chozick New York Times article “Hillary Clinton Tells Voters She’s Listening, and Learning” should upset everyone irrespective of party. It is granted that all politicians will be doing some sort of pandering. However for the Democrat, who the media and Democratic Party have all but coronated as the nominee, to claim she is listening and learning is pathetic. Most reading this post can qualify and quantify most of our problems.
This snippet from the article is probative.
Mrs. Clinton lacks some of the extraordinary gifts for connection and empathy that her husband possesses, and the round-table events that have characterized her early campaign can feel stage-managed. But even these settings are producing revealing moments, as Mrs. Clinton finds herself far from the world of international diplomacy and scrambling to re-educate herself about the nation she hopes to lead.
Why should the presidential front-runner need to re-educate herself on the nation she hopes to lead? Elizabeth Warren & Bernie Sanders have been articulating what ails the middle-class and the poor for years and decades respectively. Even ultra Right Wing Conservatives like Rick Santorum and Ted Cruz have adopted, however insincere, a populist mantra.
Hillary Clinton and her handlers are undermining the intelligence of many. America knows that the Clintons are wealthy. That is not a problem. America knows that unlike the public policies that wealthy folk like the Kennedys stood for, her husband believed in triangulation, not populism. Triangulation worked then. Bill Clinton won with less than 50% of the vote twice (Clinton 43% & 49% vs Obama 53%, 52%).
Hillary Clinton seems to be triangulating. She seems to be using her listening and learning tour to buy time. During this period she does not need to articulate policies that would naturally upset the donor class. What happens when she crafts her message? Will it be a message attempting to get 50% +1 or a populist message that will likely resonate in 2016 given the real state of the poor and the middle-class.
Why is she doing this? One can speculate, however the opposition won’t if she is the nominee. As I write this the following video snippet caught my eye and I think it is very relevant here.
Hillary Clinton’s Mitt Romney Problem?
America does not need a President who needs to re-educate themselves on what ails America. America needs a president who is not willfully asleep with their eyes open. If Hillary Clinton wants to be a champion of the poor, middle-class, and all of America, perfecting her husband’s triangulating methods won’t do. She will need to call out what is really wrong with America. Neither Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, nor other Democrats seem to need that re-education. In fact many Republican candidates give the semblance of that populist notion as well. Hillary Clinton is not currently on a winning path irrespective of what the polls say today. When folks begin to listen, it will be a different presidential candidate landscape.