It’s a long time until the 2016 presidential election, a
friend reminds me. Doesn’t matter; I can’t stop tracking the news – about the
Democrats as well as those zany Republicans.

And I’m getting really worried about Hillary Clinton. She is
certainly qualified to be president. And while I don’t embrace all of her
positions, for liberals like me, she is clearly far better than any of the
Republicans.

But Clinton looks very, very vulnerable against many of the
Republicans – even Donald Trump. The Democratic elite may want her. She might
make an excellent president. But I’m becoming convinced that she can’t be
elected.

I also worry that even if she were elected, she would have
as tough a time getting things done as Barack Obama has. She wouldn’t encounter
the racism that he has, but plenty of Republicans in Congress simply despise
her, and have for a very long time.

In recent national poll numbers from Real Clear Politics,
Clinton was ahead of Donald Trump by only 2.4 points. She beat Jeb Bush by 3.2
and Ben Carson by 5. And she was ahead of Marco Rubio by only 1 point.

The national campaign hasn’t formally started, of course,
and a lot will change. Still, it’s troubling that Clinton’s margins are so slim
and that her poll numbers are getting worse.

A Democrat absolutely must win the 2016 presidential
election. Way too much is at stake, and the Republican candidates have marched
together into fringe land.

Jeb Bush would have us heavily involved in fighting in Iraq
again and lord knows where else (Iran, of course, being first on the list).

Scott Walker says the US should consider building a wall
between us and Canada to keep out terrorists. Chris Christie wants to track foreign
visitors the way Fed Ex tracks packages. Ben Carson, who is closing in on
Donald Trump for the lead in Iowa caucus polls, told MSNBC that he is “thinking
very seriously” about having a “covert” arm of government employ people to spy
on co-workers so they’ll work harder.

Marco Rubio opposes policies to limit greenhouse-gas emissions
to combat climate change and opposes abortion, even to protect the life of the
mother.

And then, of course, there’s Donald Trump. We can laugh, and
many people are. That’s looking increasingly like a very bad idea. The
Trump-Sanders phenomena seem real. Many voters are fed up with politics and
politicians. They’re hungry for someone they think will tell the truth –
someone they can trust. And poll after poll says this is Hillary Clinton’s
biggest handicap. Many voters don’t trust her and don’t like her. Since she’s
not an unknown, I don’t see how she can convince people that she’s trustworthy.
And I think that spells almost certain defeat.

Who’s the alternative? Much as I agree with Bernie Sanders
on many issues, he stands absolutely no chance of being elected. None. The only viable Democrat, I think, is Vice President
Joe Biden.

Biden said late last week that he hadn’t made up his mind,
that his decision would depend on whether he and his family are emotionally
ready for a campaign. Clinton would make his decision easier, I suspect, if her
falling poll numbers and the Republicans’ pummeling convinced her to pull out
of the race. Then, a sense that his party and his country needed him might give
Biden the strength he’s not yet sure he has.

But Clinton being Clinton, there is little possibility that
she’ll quit. In fact, I’d bet that the worse things look for her, the harder
she’ll dig in her heels. And then, sadly, her negatives will feed on
themselves.

I’m a pessimist at heart, and plenty of experienced
political observers are insisting that Clinton will do fine, that she’ll not
only have an easy time of it in most of the primaries but that she’s hands-down
the favorite for the general election.

We can hope. And I do. But the optimists’ optimism won’t
keep me from worrying.

This article appears in Sep 9-15, 2015.

Mary Anna Towler is a transplant from the Southern Appalachians and is editor, co-publisher, and co-founder of City. She is happy to have converted a shy but opinionated childhood into an adult job. She...

14 replies on “Waiting for Hillary – and worrying about her chances”

  1. “And I’m getting really worried about Hillary Clinton. She is certainly qualified to be president.”

    Tell us how she is qualified. You spent the whole article trashing the Republicans and nothing about Hilary’s “qualifications”. Please name one thing she has accomplished other than deceive the American people.

    “And then, of course, there’s Donald Trump. We can laugh, and many people are”

    Even if you don’t like him personally, how can you laugh at someone who has accomplished so much? This is a man who TALKS STRAIGHT and DOES WHAT HE SAYS HE WILL DO. Again, what is so funny about that Mary Anna?

  2. Yes, please list her supposed qualifications and accomplishments. I’m waiting. It’s not enough for her arrogant presumption that it’s “her turn” to be president. Americans are looking for outsiders and non-politicians for a much-need change in Washington. Clinton is an insider’s insider. Her email problem is of her own making (not the result of a “vast right-wing conspiracy”) and typical of the Clinton’s nature: they are defensive, secretive, controlling and they operate like the rules don’t apply to them.

  3. Oscar Wilde said,”experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.”

    Yes, Hillary Clinton is making mistakes, left and right. But the times have changed. The voters expect something new every day. It is easy to run out of surprises during a long campaign season.

    But Clinton has one special surprise for the American people. She can be the first woman president. I think this is huge. Women think differently. They focus more on the family, the children, education, the community. They tend to be more diplomatic and less combative then men. As the French say: “Viva la difference”.

    The nation is stuck in gridlock.

    Forget the emails and think females!
    ===========================
    http://www.SavingSchools.org

  5. Dear Bart, Carly Fiorina has not experience in government, while Hillary Clinton has been everywhere and done lots. I cannot prove to you that having a woman president is huge. Only time will tell how things play out.

    Perhaps someday, we will have perfect candidates for president, but right now we have to settle for REAL PEOPLE, with real faults. Now with long campaign seasons, we may see candidates who improve along the way… THANKS H

  6. Carly oversaw the destruction of Bell Labs and then of HP. Sure, let’s let her take a swing at the entire economy.

  7. Seriously? A self-proclaimed “Alternative” newspaper hoping for a Hillary Clinton (i.e., status quo) presidency? Or Joe Biden?? Please.

    I’ll be voting for Bernie.

  8. Perhaps Robert Frost can help us with his short poem, “The Road Not Taken”. Here is the full text:

    http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/17353…

    It ends with:

    I shall be telling this with a sigh
    Somewhere ages and ages hence:
    Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
    I took the one less traveled by,
    And that has made all the difference.
    ===========================
    I think the scary think about Hillary Clinton is having the first woman president. It may be seen as the “Road less traveled”. As much as we want change, we are afraid of it. I think America has become afraid of change, because we have so much choice in the marketplace.

    We can shop, here and there to get what we think we want. If we don’t like what we get, we return it. But in elections we have to pick from what is available. I pick Hillary Clinton and “The Road Less Traveled” with a woman president…

  9. “Dear Bart, Carly Fiorina has not experience in government, while Hillary Clinton has been everywhere and done lots. ” Like I said, people are looking for OUTSIDERS this time around. Also, “been everywhere and done lots” are not specific accomplishments. Interestingly Carly Fiorina said it best: “Like Mrs. Clinton I too have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles but flying and traveling is an activity, it’s not an accomplishment and unfortunately she didn’t accomplish anything as Secretary of State,”

  10. In 2006, I worked for a guy who repeatedly said, “If Hillary Clinton is elected president, I’m moving to Canada”. He then started mocking and imitating Bill Clinton. The soapbox then came out and I had to endure lengthy talks on values.

    Trump doesn’t preach values. Therefore, He wouldn’t bash the Clintons in the same way a Limbaugh or my boss would. The way I see it, Hillary Clinton would beat Donald Trump. Scott Walker preaches values and so could beat Hillary Clinton.

    Joe Biden doesn’t have an integrity problem. He’s the Democrat’s best hope.

  13. Bernie Sanders says he is a Socialist. Countering that, Hillary Clinton claims she is a ‘real Democrat’. Can anyone explain the differences between Socialist Sanders and the Democrat party? Now that the Democrats have foisted Obamacare on us and Hillary Clinton is touting free college education (surprise – at taxpayers’ expense) I don’t see any difference.

  14. regarding Bernie’s electability. First they laugh at you, then they attack you, then you win. As I wrote to the DNCC -DON”T TORPEDO his campaign in favor of your “anointed chosen”. Since the attacks Have in fact commenced-see Huff Post, I think we’re well on the way to the Whitehouse

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