Now that Hillary Clinton is officially running for president, Democrats are trying their best to project a united front.
Unfortunately for Hillary, liberals–who have been unsuccessfully trying to get a far-Left candidate like Elizabeth Warren to run–are still lukewarm about her candidacy. But rather than continue to pray for a liberal alternative, they’re doing their best to drag Hillary to the left.
Here’s why it won’t work: if your base doesn’t like you–if you’re getting their vote only because you’re seen as “better than those crazy Republicans,” you’ve already lost the race.
Of course, which Republican challenger Hillary runs against will make a difference, but generally speaking, elections aren’t won on fear of the other side, or to make history, or because the other party is so “crazy.” Candidates that can rally support–not extract it through guilt or fear–are the ones who win elections.
When your base is longing for someone else, and they’re only voting for you out of obligation, that shows. It results in a low-turnout election, which has favored Republicans lately, who are generally more passionate about voting.
Take Barack Obama. Love him or hate him, he inspired a great many people–who turned out to vote for him. In 2008, no Democrat was saying, “Just hold your nose and vote for Barack Obama.” He was the candidate filling stadiums, standing in front of styrofoam Greek columns like a rock star.
Compare him to Mitt Romney–a candidate who was never trust by the Republican Party’s conservative base. How often, in 2011 and 2012, was the logic for Mitt Romney: “It’s better than four more years of Obama,” rather than true passion for the candidate himself?
That’s where Hillary is right now. “Well, she’s better than the Republicans,” isn’t going to cut it in 2016.
