November of 2016 was a tough month for Democrats. The presidential race was supposed to be a shoe-in, and even regaining control of both the House and the Senate was a very distinct possibility according to some polls.
The idea of a Clinton White House, a Democrat-majority Congress, and a selection of liberal Supreme Court justice picks that would keep the judicial branch left-leaning for the next few decades had even the most pessimistic Democrats gleaming with anticipation.
Instead, as we all know, Donald Trump won the White House, Republicans easily retained control of both chambers of Congress, and the Supreme Court added conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch. A few months later, during the special elections to replace the members of Congress that Trump had appointed to his cabinet, Democrats were hopeful again. Surely, they thought, the media firestorm against Trump would sway the electorate to appoint Democrats to fill the vacant slots.
Except, once again, the Dems were left disappointed. Republican candidates claimed victory in all five special elections, crushing the idea that the political tide that put Trump in office had somehow turned.
Now, Democrats are left picking up the pieces, wondering what went wrong as they prepare to take another stab at things in 2018. Ironically enough, the person currently spearheading the effort to salvage the Democratic Party is the person who represents its downfall – Hillary Clinton.
In what you may choose to describe as a sad attempt to stay relevant after having her political career shattered in the form of an Electoral College runaway, Hillary Clinton is now pondering taking a prominent role in helping Democrats avoid another disgracing defeat in 2018. She’s already launched a PAC meant to support Democratic congressional candidates in next year’s election, and sources close to Clinton indicate that she will take an increasingly prominent role as the 2018 election draws closer, saying that she is especially eyeing the districts where she defeated Trump.
“She’s very well aware of how she performed in those districts,” said one source, “She knows she won Darrell Issa’s district by 8. She knows she came close in about a handful of others. She has studied this stuff thoroughly.”
However, anyone in the Democratic Party who isn’t completely blind to the current public opinion of Clinton should be very concerned about allowing the failed candidate to continue representing their party. Even to her supporters, Clinton is now seen as a failure and a disappointment, incapable of winning an election she was supposed to have won by a landslide.
To those who supported Bernie Sanders, Clinton is seen as a lying cheater who cost their candidate a shot at the general election. To a large percentage of others, Clinton is seen as a traitor and a crook who would be more at home behind bars than she would be behind the desk in the Oval Office.
In short, there’s basically no one in the United States who still views Clinton in a positive light, and Democratic Party leaders who allow her to continue maintaining an active role in the party do so at their own peril.
It’s for these reasons that Republicans seem to be delighted by the idea of Clinton taking an active role in the 2018 elections. GOP strategist Doug Heye said, “For 30 years, Hillary Clinton has essentially been Old Faithful for Republican candidates. Her continued prominence only helps GOP candidates with an electorate that historically is more favorable than what they faced in the last presidential election. The more Clinton weighs in and tries to tell voters ‘I’m back,’ the more Republicans will tell her to keep on trucking.”
In 2016 and the special elections of 2017, the voters of America spoke out loud and clear. The Democratic Party, however, doesn’t seem to have heard them, as not much has changed so far in their approach. 2016 may have been a tough year for Democrats, but if the party continues counting on obstructionist efforts, fake news lies, and exposed figureheads such as Hillary Clinton to win the day, 2018 is going to be even tougher.
~ Liberty Planet
