Discussion for article #231321
This is the core issue for the party in '16. Failing to take credit for the successes of Obama’s most progressive maneuvers and failing to use Obama’s successes as a launching pad to articulate a vision of economic hope for the middle class contributed greatly to Democratic losses in November.
I see little sign that Hillary grasps the problems of middle class folks or is willing to side with ordinary folks against the people who fund her. This is the core issue for the party right now. Failing to take credit for the successes of Obama’s most progressive maneuvers and failing to use Obama’s successes as a launching pad to articulate a vision of economic hope for the middle class contributed greatly to Democratic losses in November.
I see little sign that Hillary grasps the problems of Middle Class folks or is willing to side with ordinary folks against the people who fund her. I hope I’m wrong.
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Democrats should develop and embrace an employee bill of rights that improves the lives of growing share of Americans who work for low wages. A living wage, workplace rights, scheduling protections, limits on executive pay. I’d like to see a link between executive salaries at public corporations and entry-level pay, perhaps a limit of 52-to-1.
Hillary will show support for Warren’s new economic message just like Obama did when talking his support for the progressive message while running for pres. Basically, BS. The scarier question is will Warren, if she runs and wins the presidency, will she support her new economic message?
Will Hillary Clinton Embrace Warren’s Economic Message?
Answer: NO.
Prediction: HRC is going to campaign on the idea that people who are successful and wealthy shouldn’t be villified. After all, that’s what success is all about and something we should all aspire to. What we should be doing (in her opinion) is coming together as a country to work towards lifting everyone up, blah. blah. blah.
For her, Wall Street won’t be the country’s problem; they’ll be the country’s partner.
And it will resonate with no one.
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It can be a really simple message: Don’t deny anyone their ability to run a private business and don’t deny them the ability to make a profit. Just ask that they do so responsibly. Is that really too much to ask? If they’re not willing to take responsibility for their actions, if they’re not willing to be accountable for their behavior, then it is the duty of the Federal Government to hold them accountable and to make them take responsibility, for the good of the country. Being accountable and taking responsibility are some of the first things we teach our children. Why do adult business people get a pass?
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It is fairly early in the 2016 campaign to see clearly any specific positions of any candidate. But I think it is fair to predict that the Democratic nominee will adhere to Democratic policy positions, especially if they are popular vote-getters.
In short, of course HRC will endorse Warren’s popular positions. Clinton will probably put Warren on some sort of panel to help her refine and explain the Democratic view of the economy and middle-class issues.
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Is that too much to ask? For me, absolutely not. For most of this country, yes, it is. In America, we align ourselves with successful people and the gauge of that success tends to come in the form of wealth accumulation. No matter how it’s obtained. Most Americans nowadays see the federal government as the problem not the solution and it appears that that idea is really calcifying as time goes on. The concept of responsibility isn’t a good platform to run on because I just don’t think it will translate into that many people voting for it. They’ll agree with it but I don’t think it’s a vote getter.
Just my $0.02.
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Wha? How can HRC endorse Warren’s popular positions when, in some ways, HRC is the embodiment of what Warren is against? Don’t misunderstand me: I’m not saying that HRC is the only candidate getting Wall Street funds; they all do because they have to. That’s just the economics of politics nowadays. I’m just saying that HRC isn’t the right candidate to coopt Warren’s message and even if she tried to do it, it wouldn’t come off as genuine.
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The economic message is something we all have to help formulate and advocate for, and not just Hillary.
We need to reclaim and reframe the narrative that our policies are good for all Americans – rich and poor, employer and worker – alike.
Rather than put all our hopes on a seemingly reluctant champion, we need to put together our own agenda for an economic revival. If Hillary or any other Democratic candidate wants to win the nomination, they will have to respond to our issues.
Instead, I see too many putting all their hopes on a Warren-or-bust movement – that will only appeal to the most liberal voter groups and threatens to come across as too shrill or strident to moderates – rather than articulate our economic vision in a way that resonates with the broader public and explains how the benefits of more-populist policies will be broadly shared
That’s what we need to do as citizens of a representative democracy: reclaim the public sphere and reframe the narrative.
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As long as you’re making predictions with no basis in fact, how about giving out the winning Powerball numbers?
I predict Hillary will run an empty campaign on being the first woman president, champion of women and minorities. Republicans will ask how she can be a champion of women and minorities without violating the equal protection clause of the constitution. Men will listen to her and conclude she offers them nothing. Hillary will lose; last time she could not even win over half the Democrats to get the nomination.
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Nope. She’ll “triangulate” with it, using Warren as a foil to juxtapose herself with the “crazy liberal socialist” wing of the Dem party and liberal/progressive movement in hopes that she comes across as the “moderate” candidate to the independents. She will view it as 100% necessary and a means of distancing herself from Obama and the non-stop accusations from the GOP/Teatrolls and MSM that electing her would be “Obama’s 3rd term”…because I guarantee you that will be the central pillar of the GOP/Teatrolls’ entire 2016 campaign strategery and will become an overwhelming go-to talking point for the MSM bobbleheads who want to sound smart by spewing whatever vapid, irrational nonsense “analysis” that the “conventional wisdom” (i.e., the ubiquitous consensus delusions of the punditocracy) dictates.
As a result, she will risk alienating progressives and youth voters and failing to motivate them sufficiently to get out and vote.
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Hillary Clinton is no Elisabeth Warren?
The last 40 years of Hillary’s life have been spent in a DC bubble fully funded by Wall Street. Before that she was a corporate lawyer and Walmart board member. She has no experience with regular Americans. She doesn’t have the real world experience to allow her to begin to understand that for most middle class Americans the American dream has gone aglimmering.
HIllary will say what her handlers tell her she needs to say. She will do what her Wall Street funders tell her they want her to do. We need to ask ourselves. Does Hillary really know America? Does she know Americans? We are going to elect a President not crown a queen.
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I really don’t expect Hillary to take a stand on much of anything until she’s forced to. And even then she’ll be wishy washy.
Thank you for that brief synopsis of some of the GOP/Teatrolls’ favorite talking points for the portion of their 2016 strategy that involves trying to convince liberals to (a) nominate someone the GOP/Teatrolls can beat (b) not show up at the polls when HRC gets nominated and © demotivate liberals and cause a division in the ranks. Many a Teatroll sockpuppet will be posting exactly what you just said…which for some reason resounded in my head with Alex Castellanos’ voice, because I can almost hear him blabbering it on CNN with a giant smirk under his ridiculous moustache.
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I doubt if the Tea Party people will say it, but I can certainly hear what I said coming out of the mouths of pundits working against her. We can either put our heads in the sand or we can accept that every politician, including HIllary, has weaknesses. Personally, I want some proof she really understands and cares about the middle class. Obama didn’t have any problem convincing me he did, that is why I supported him in 2008 and 2012. Hillary, not so much.
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“The problem is the general caution that defines her political style. Of Bill Clinton it was often said that if you put him in a crowded room, he would gravitate toward his harshest critic, determined to win them over. Hillary strikes you as the opposite—the sort who huddles with friends and allies while eying the detractor warily from a distance.”
-Noam Scheiber
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I’m just waiting for someone to name something Hillary has accomplished. I know she setback healthcare reform by a couple decades, and authored 3 pieces of legislation as Senator (two were for renaming post offices, and the third was just as meaningless).