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Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Let Hillary Be Hillary

The Democrats had their unity moment yesterday.  A very uncomfortable Bernie Sanders gave a speech about himself and his movement and then finally endorsed Clinton.  The two of them did the arm around the back hug and the crowd in New Hampshire responded.  I say responded because it was about half cheering and half booing.  Okay, that Kabuki Theater moment is over.  So what's next for Hillary Clinton?

This is not a simple question.  Hillary, after all, is the most scripted candidate we've ever seen in the USA (not counting those plays and TV shows about elections.)  She never says anything that hasn't been focus grouped, poll tested and the like.  She never leaves her talking points.  Sometimes, she even reads her stage directions off the teleprompter.  So what will the brain trust around Hillary Clinton decide comes now?  It is truly a tough question.

Think about it.  She really can't talk about the biggest issue:  the economy.  She's said that she's going to name Bill Clinton to resuscitate the economy; but that presents a problem.  She has no program other than announcing that she will continue the Obama policies, but those policies got us the economy in need of resuscitation.  It makes no sense, so she won't talk about it much.  Indeed, the Democrat platform confirms this; it is virtually silent about the economy.

Hillary cannot talk about the second main issue, national security, too much either.  Just imagine the speech if she did.  "Thanks to me and my efforts, we have a failed state in Libya that is home to thousands of terrorists who want to kill Americans!  YAY!  I also did my part to keep us away from involvement in Syria so that we left a vacuum in which ISISI flourished!  YAY!  And let's not forget Iraq.  When I was secretary of state, we rushed our troops out of that country after the war there was won.  It left another vacuum that ISIS filled.  YAY!"  On top of that, there's the problem of the optics of having a woman who was extremely careless with national security information telling America about what a good job she would do on that subject.

So what can they do?  Hillary can talk about global warming.  Can't you hear her:  "We're not only going to put all those coal miners out of work, but we're also going to make sure that anyone who works in the oil or gas industry loses their jobs too!  YAY!"  Well, maybe that one won't work either.

She can talk about race relations.  She just told white Americans that the reason why a few police have shot black suspects over the years is that white Americans are just racists at heart.  There are some with whom that will play well.

Hillary can also talk about trade.  I've even got the slogan for her to use:  "I was for the TPP before I was against it!  YAY!"

So what can they have Hillary say?  The sad truth is that they have to play to her strengths.  What we know about Hillary is that she is best at being nasty and destructive to others.  Her actions have resulted in some of her friends going to prison; just imagine what she can do to her enemies.  That means we can expect a truly harsh and negative campaign from Hillary as she tells us over and over just what a bad president Donald Trump will make.

Let's visualize the attack by Hillary.  It's the last night of the Democrat convention.  Hillary has actually achieved her life long goal.  She's now been nominated by the Democrats for president.  She's speaking to the nation and the world; there are over a hundred million people listening to her.  As she speaks she gets to the true punch line of her speech.  She smile and she gives a little laugh.  She looks directly into the camera and addresses Donald Trump.  She then reveals her essence as she says, "I'll get you, Donald Trump, and your little dog too!"

That's right, her handlers have decided that they have to let Hillary be Hillary.

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