Can Hillary Clinton Overcome 'Politics As Usual' To Bridge Enthusiasm Gap?
When Hillary Clinton formally launches her 2016 presidential campaign on Sunday, it will mark the second time she is seen as the inevitable Democratic nominee.
During her first bid for the White House in 2008, Clinton was both the establishment pick and the broader favorite to secure her party’s nomination – if not the presidency – until a young and relatively unknown senator from Illinois swept in and handed her a stunning defeat in the Democratic primary.
The vaunted Clinton machine proved no match for Barack Obama’s ability to generate unprecedented enthusiasm at the grassroots and turn out young voters in record numbers through a then unparalleled campaign apparatus. This time, a large part of Clinton’s success hinges on whether her campaign can retain the enthusiasm among the key Democratic voting blocs that lifted Obama to the nation’s highest office nearly eight years ago.
One obstacle facing Clinton is that she is already viewed with skepticism by progressives, who have at times likened the former secretary of state’s foreign policy positions to those of Republicans and, domestically, complained about her close ties to big banks. Even as Clinton has sought to change that perception, many liberals have questioned her authenticity as she moves to the left. Many are still hoping that Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts senator and progressive champion, will jump into the race and pull off an Obama-like upset.
Although Clinton is virtually unmatched in any hypothetical Democratic primary, it remains unclear if she can harness the same excitement as her predecessor. If she can do so, at least two cohorts – millennials and women – could hold the key in pushing her over into the White House, so long as such voters are convinced her new campaign has fresh ideas and is not simply a reboot.
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http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/11/hillary-clinton-2016-politics-millennials-women