progressive involvement

Benghazi! Benghazi! Benghazi!

Charles Pierce at Esquire turns his eye to Hillary Clinton's 2016 candidacy and reminds us that, while Hillary is riding a wave of popularity at the moment, the same people--"the vast right wing conspiracy"--who tried to destroy her husband will surely be on the prowl again and, indeed, already are.

The point should be obvious, but, if it isn't, see The Hunting of the President by Joe Conason and Gene Lyons, The Clinton Wars by Sydney Blumenthal, Blinded by the Right by David Brock, and Fools for Scandal by Gene Lyons.

The Clintons are not naive and take all this for granted.  They are quite experienced in dealing with the fever swamps of American politics.  They do not suffer from the fantasy that bipartisanship is possible under the current political arrangements.  They understand that the only way to deal is to win.

Which they are quite good at, and which is why they are so detested in some quarters.  They don't run from the room at the first whiff of political gunpowder.  Quite the contrary, in fact.  They rally to it.

Politics ain't beanbag, in other words.  Some people know this and accept it.  Others go chasing after what Sharon Dymond calls "Bipartisan, the delusional dog."  This is one reason Clinton has cleared the field on the Democratic side.  Rank and file Democrats know that the Clintons can deal with the onslaught and come out winning.  

Routine poll findings

According to a just-released Public Policy poll, people believe Hillary Clinton over the House Republicans by a margin of 49-39.  Her favorability rating of 52-44 is unchanged from March.

By a large margin, people feel that immigration reform is much more important than Benghazi.

41% of Republicans, on the other hand, think Benghazi is the most important issue ever, even though 39% of those can't identify where Benghazi is--10% say it's in Egypt, 6% say Cuba.

Hillary: I support gay marriage

This is old news.  Hillary has been a supporter of gay rights for quite some time.  Her "gay rights are human rights" speech covered this ground in 2011.  In 2008, gays within the Democratic Party generally supported her.  She released this video today:

 

Thanks, Hillary!

 

She came, she saw, she conquered

Dozens of attacks on US embassies have taken place over the past 30 years.  The attack at Benghazi has the distinction of being the one purely political football in the whole batch.    

The opposition's hook was that initial reports were later changed as new information became available.  Their critique basically boiled down to the administration not getting hysterical enough fast enough.  Even though the President called the attack an "act of terror" the day after the incident, he's to be faulted for not actually using the word "terrorist"--a distinction without a difference if ever there was one.

Yesterday, the administration's critics had their chance.  The Secretary of State met with Congressional committees to testify on Benghazi.  With HIllary's recent health problem, dubbed "Benghazi flu" by some, they even had an extra month to prepare.  

The opposition hoped to tarnish the administration, and, as the run-up to 2016 begins, take Secretary Clinton down a notch as well.  They failed miserably.  The Secretary of State was calm and professional, flicking off her opponent's barbs with, at times, tact and polish, and, at other times, righteous anger.  

Meanwhile, yet another poll shows HIllary Clinton to be the most popular political figure in the United States.  

Hillary leads pack for 2016

Hillary Clinton leads among presidential candidates for 2016 by a sizeable margin.  She leads Vice President Biden among Democrats by a 57%-16% margin.  Seven other Democrats were included in the Public Policy Polling (PPP) poll, but none of them broke 5%.

Among Republicans, Marco Rubio narrowly led Paul Ryan, 19%-16%.  Baptist grifter, Mike Huckabee, came in at 15%.  Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal, and Susan Martinez (Governor of New Mexico) were at 14%.  

Hillary led against all of them.  Chris Christie, currently riding a tide-let of enthusiasm, came closest, but still came up 2 points short.  Christie, however, has virtually no hope of being nominated.

Using the gun she used to kill Vince Foster and four people in Libya, Hillary Clinton turned it on herself and shot herself in the head hoping to induce a blood clot so that she wouldn't have to testify in Congress about her Benghazi rampage

Or something like that.

90% sounds about right

James Carville says that "90% of the Democratic Party" wants Hillary Clinton to run for president in 2016.

“I don’t know what she’s going to do, but I do know this: The Democrats want her to run,” Carville a friend of both Bill and Hillary Clinton said on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos.” And I don’t just mean a lot of Democrats. I mean a whole lot of Democrats, like 90 percent across the country.  We just don’t — we just want to win.  We think she’s the best person….  And that’s across the board.”

He's not far off.  In 2008, Hillary's coalition included women, traditionalist Democrats, minorities except for African-Americans, and working class whites.  This time, she'd be the choice of African-Americans--many were conflicted in 2008.

She'd have some opposition from the same recalcitrant liberal wing which supported Gary Hart, Bill Bradley, and Paul Tsongas, but even some of them would likely support her.

Others mentioned include New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, but, against Hillary, he would trouble gaining a majority in his own delegation.  Vice President Biden would have supporters, but he was not a major factor against Hillary in 2008 and probably would not best her with any of the party's constituent groups.  Maryland Governor O'Malley might run, but only if Hillary doesn't.

In the general election, no one on the GOP side has anything like the same stature.  She would carry minorities at about same level as Pres. Obama in 2012, and she'd probably do about 5% better among whites.

She's no shoo-in, of course.  No one ever is.  Her approval rating right now is sky-high, even among Republicans, but that is at least partly because, as Secretary of State, she's not seen as a partisan political figure.  Take that away, and her support returns to human levels.  Secondly, 2016 is four years away, an eternity in politics, and lots could change.  

That said, right now, she's the Colossus that hangs over the approach to the next general election.

Hillary brokers middle east deal

Israel and Hamas just agreed to a ceasefire, which will begin this afternoon.  New York Times:

“This is a critical moment for the region,” Mrs. Clinton, who rushed to the Middle East late Tuesday in an intensified effort to halt the hostilities, told reporters in Cairo. She thanked Egypt’s president, Mohamed Morsi, who played a pivotal role in the negotiations, for “assuming the leadership that has long made this country a cornerstone of regional stability and peace.”

Photo:  Egyptian State Television

 

Hillary 2016!

Warren Buffet is on board.