December 19, 2013

Thursday Hillary Bash - 2014 impacts

You scratch my back?
Forget 2016, Hillary Clinton could have an influence on 2014 according to USA Today:
Hillary Rodham Clinton looms large as a potential 2016 presidential candidate, but she could be a major factor in the 2014 elections too.

Ready for Hillary, the group organizing supporters nationwide for a potential Clinton presidential campaign, says it will ask its members to support candidates endorsed by Clinton in the 2014 midterm elections, and to push her policy agenda over the next two years.

In addition, Clinton could decide to campaign for 2014 Democratic candidates, many of whom are old friends and allies. She helped two candidates get elected this fall — Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. Doing the same in 2014 could help her amass support for a presidential run and help retain a Democratic-controlled Senate for a future President Clinton to work with. It could also help her decide whether she still has enough fun doing it to run for the presidency again.
That means apparently that whether Hillary runs in 2016 could depend on the impact she has in the 2014 races.
If Clinton helps Democrats win in 2014, it would solidify the support of a pro-Hillary swath of the political elite well before the first 2016 primary. But if Democrats lose widely in midterm elections, that could tarnish her.

"It's a matter of political momentum, who's on the winning side and who's on the losing side of that debate,'' Dayspring said. "Are they yesterday's news or are they tomorrow's news? If she associates herself … with losing candidates or the candidates of yesterday, that's a risk.''

Whether Clinton is campaigning next year or not, the people who want her to be president will be.

Ready for Hillary says it will be active in 2014 races that Hillary supports, just as it directed its members to help McAuliffe after Clinton campaigned for him this year. The group says it has raised $1.25 million and has 25,000 donors and 1.1 million "likes" on its Facebook page.
Forget the Facebook stuff, the money is what matters. And more importantly, if Hillary endorsed candidates suffer devastating losses in 2014, it might be enough to nudge her out of running in 2016. Wouldn't that be great? Republicans 'forced' to run against Joe Biden for the presidency? What a hoot. But don't expect that to happen. Expect Hillary to only endorse those who might be locks for the Democrats in 2016. She won't taint her image by endorsing losers in the run-up to 2016. It will provide a clear signal as to her 2016 intentions to see if she's willing to risk her own credibility by endorsing risky candidates (in terms of chances of winning) in 2014. Very telling indeed.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Disagreement is always welcome. Please remain civil. Vulgar or disrespectful comments towards anyone will be removed.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Share This