Love it or Hate it, Hillary is the "third Obama term" candidate

[cthulu2016]

She is the continuity candidate. The "stay the course" candidate. The same-policies, same-philosophy candidate. (Moreso than Biden.)

It is somewhat ironic, given their history, but here we are.

What Obama policies would she discontinue? What would she do that Obama would see as a deal-breaker?

What primary contender would distance themselves from Obama less? What primary contender will be watching Obama's approval numbers more closely?

And if she fails, it will be precisely because she IS continuity, versus change.

I think Obama has been a good president, and I wouldn't object to eight more years of pretty much the same because it is soooooo much better than the alternatives I see as likely.

On the other hand, if a somewhat leftier candidate emerges with a solid chance of winning, that would please me.

Thus I am quite ambivalent about Hillary... her value is practical in nature, and depends on what US politics is like after 2014, and I don't know what that environment will be.

[AgingAmerican]

1. I do not see her doing 'Grand Bargains'

nt

[el_bryanto]

2. On what do you base that?

Bill Clinton certainly did his share of them back in the day.

Bryant

[AgingAmerican]

3. Bill Clinton did no 'grand bargains'

nt

[el_bryanto]

4. Welfare reform? nt

[AgingAmerican]

5. There was no bargain there

He pre-empted the GOP on that issue.

[el_bryanto]

8. Ah - i see completely different.

Obama made a grand bargain with the Republicans that ended up giving them a lot of what they wanted and screwed us. Bill Clinton pre-empted the Republicans by screwing us himself, so they couldn't take credit for it.

Yeah - I can see how that's a huge advantage.

Bryant

[ProSense]

19. The

"grand bargain" was short-lived. The two bills signed into law over the last month reversed the sequestration.

Senate Sends Budget Bill to the White House

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 – The Senate tonight passed and sent to President Barack Obama a budget that averts another government shutdown, eases sharp spending cuts known as sequestration and spares Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid from proposed cuts in benefits.

In what he called a difficult decision, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) voted with the 64 - 36 majority to pass the budget package but voiced disappointment that it does nothing to create jobs and continues tax breaks for profitable corporations.

The budget keeps the government running and avoids cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The threatened cuts in the retirement and health care programs were staved off thanks in part to a petition drive Sanders organized. As founder of the Defending Social Security Caucus, Sanders worked with seniors’ organizations and others to gather more than 700,000 signatures from opponents of the cuts.

The budget also restores some of the across-the-board spending cuts. “It will allow modest increases in funding for programs that are important to many Vermonters like Head Start, Meals on Wheels, low-income heating assistance and education,” Sanders said.

A member of the Senate Budget Committee, Sanders faulted the bill for doing nothing to create jobs. “At a time when Americans are clear about the need to create millions of new jobs, this bill does nothing about high unemployment. In fact, it doesn’t even help the 1.3 million Americans who are about to lose their unemployment benefits,” Sanders said.

He also had hoped the agreement would do more to lower deficits by closing tax loopholes that benefit profitable corporations and wealthy individuals. “I am disappointed that my Republican colleagues continue to protect corporate loopholes which are costing us about $100 billion every single year,” Sanders said. “At a time of growing income and wealth inequality, this budget doesn’t ask the wealthy and profitable corporations to pay a nickel more in taxes,” he added.

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senate-sends-budget-bill-to-the-white-house

Statement on Funding Bill Passage

Thursday, January 16, 2014

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement tonight after the Senate voted 72-26 to approve a House-passed $1.1 trillion bill to fund the government for the remainder of fiscal 2014:

“This is most certainly not the budget that I would have written. At a time when one out of four corporations pays nothing in federal income taxes and income inequality is exploding, this budget fails to ask the richest Americans or most profitable corporations to pay a nickel more in taxes.

“Having said that, this bill makes some significant improvements to the status quo. It adds $1 billion to Head Start to help some 90,000 kids get the early education that they need. This bill will increase funding for home heating assistance, which is very import for senior citizens on fixed incomes and families with young children in Vermont.

“While this is not the bill that I would have written, the alternative – another government shutdown – would have been catastrophic for our country and for the economy.”

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/statement-on-funding-bill-passage

Sanders' concern is that it didn't include an extension of unemployment benefits and more funding for job creation.

[AgingAmerican]

70. No

Obama sought to "Fundamentally transform" the country by offering half Republican, half Democratic 'solutions', AKA .
'grand Bargains' to the problems brought on by the Bush administration. He believed wrongly that giving the GOP most of what they wanted for little in return would be a kumbaya moment for the country. The Republicans predictably scoffed at and attacked everything he did. Clinton repeatedly owned the Republicans and beat them at every turn. You are wrong, wrong, wrong.

[Cali_Democrat]

60. LOL. nt

[Hell Hath No Fury]

7. Seriously???

Bill Clinton was the fucking father of the modern day "Grand Bargain". NAFTA and welfare "reform" are two off the top of my head.

[Whisp]

14. I know. That one grabbed me too.

what a hoot.
in a sad, pathetic way this is hilarious.

[Egnever]

63. dont forget DADT

there are plenty more though. The poster above doesn't know what they are talking about.

[DonCoquixote]

39. only because he needed the left after Monica

I suggest you read this:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Pact-Clinton-Gingrich-Generation/dp/0195322789

where he attempted to destroy social security long before Obama was in the picture.

[marmar]

41. In what alternate universe?

[yeoman6987]

55. This will be interesting

She has a way of getting what she wants. I think she will have the Republicans eating out of her hands within weeks of her Inauguration. If America wants Hillary, they will get a determined and very intelligent President who will get things done very quickly.

[truebluegreen]

75. The question is, "what things?"

[Whisp]

77. oh I'm pretty damned sure the Pugs would like Hillary far better than they do Obama

Think about that and that is the reason why she nor her husband (cough) shouldn't get near the WH again.

They'd have their little theatre for a while but in the end Hillary will be the one they can deal with because That One was, you know - too Kenyan Socialist Wall Streetin' Teacher Hatin' Warmongering Bad Man - a soup made from both idiot extremities.

[SamKnause]

6. Hate it.

I think Obama has been a weak president.

If I hear him say bipartisanship one more time I will barf.

He had the momentum and mandate from day one.

He blew it.

My proof, the rich have become richer, the poor have become poorer.

Wall Street is happy.

NYSE is climbing and gearing up for the next crash.

"Entitlements" have been slashed.

He signed 3 new Free Trade Deals and is pushing hard behind closed doors to pass the TPP.

Hillary is a war mongering corporate tool.

She loves the TPP.

I have heard her make so many hypocritical statements.

I wish someone would make a video montage.

Any politician that is in favor of the TPP is not looking out for the US, or its citizens.

[polichick]

9. Obama only "blew it" if he meant to put the people ahead of corporations...

That seems unlikely now.

[SamKnause]

17. Exactly

[NYC Liberal]

26. Good thing he has put people first...

and has improved life for millions in this country.

[polichick]

48. In what way? If you mean healthcare, putting people first would have...

meant a "Medicare For All" kind of universal healthcare instead of a program that makes insurance corporations richer - and leaves big pharma without even having to provide the discounts insisted upon by countries like Canada.

[Armstead]

25. Nail on head +1

[VanillaRhapsody]

28. weak? The most successful President we have seen in our lifetime is weak? Even in the face

of racism and obstruction...

If this is what you call "weak"....

[LittleBlue]

10. Or Bill's third term

Look how many Clinton aides are in the WH right now.

This would be Bill's 5th term if you include Obama.

We need some new ideas, not the same old retreads.

[Vincardog]

29. OR W's 5'th term They are all fruit of the same poisonous tree.

[polichick]

71. Or Reagan's ?th

[Vincardog]

72. ZZactly

[TheKentuckian]

81. Nope, Reagan is still President. 9th term for him.

[Whisp]

11. I wish!

but Hillary is about money and personal power for the Clinton Mafia and their fold of oathkeepers.

Obama is none of those things.

I feel queasy in the tummy at the Thought that some think Obama is Anything like the Clintons.

[polichick]

13. He is like them in the sense that he puts corporations ahead of people.

[Armstead]

27. He is very much like them...Just has updated the "talk" for different times

We live in a country that is worse off than in the 90's.

So Obama has to at least address those issues, even if he actually does the same shit as the Clinton.

[VanillaRhapsody]

31. Yeah because the single biggest advance for women since we got the right to vote

is Obamacares....

right yeah...

[Armstead]

36. The single biggest gift to insurance companies is Obama care

It was a Republican plan the Clintons tried unsuccessfully tried to get through to avoid true universal health care.

Mandated coverage from private insurers? How progressive.
'

[VanillaRhapsody]

40. Single biggest ADVANCE for women....You do know that those insurance companies

can no longer charge me TWICE what YOU pay!

[Armstead]

46. You still have to pay more than you should if you're moderate or middle income

It's not just a gender issue. A rotten corrupt abusive healthcare system is bad for men and women.

[VanillaRhapsody]

50. I am one of those...and NO I don't!

I am getting and paying the same as last year...in FACT NOW I get MUCH MORE for my money don't I? Free diagnostic tests...thats a BFD!

for YOU its not a gender issue...thats for sure!

[Armstead]

56. For me its a human issue

I'm glad women get discriminated against less and get additional services now.

But the basic system still sucks for everyone. It may suck slightly less, but that's not the point.

There was a chance to move in a different, much better direction with health care, and Obama (and others) chose to satisfy the corporate masters instead of the people.

[VanillaRhapsody]

61. Yes and its the FIRST change in over 40 yrs....

something EVERY single Democratic President want to make changes to...and ONLY this one has..

It may only "suck a little less" for you....but for me...it means I can NEVER be charged twice as much as YOU...that makes it a BFD for me and other women. Birth control coverage in health insurance...do you KNOW how much that costs?


Being born a woman is no longer a Pre-existing condition THAT my friend is a Big Fucking Deal!

[Armstead]

62. It entrenches the insurance coimnpoanies as tghe only provider of coverage...

except for those "lucky" enough to qualify for public programs like Medicaid.

Not even a public option to provide competition to private insurance.

Rather than start us moving away from the domination of insurance companies, Obamacare enshrined it as your only choice -- and not even a choice because you have to buy it now (to placate the insurance companies).

A step in the wrong direction is worse than nothing IMO.

[Egnever]

64. what a bunch of crap

It opens the door for single payer and several states are moving towards doing just that.

[VanillaRhapsody]

68. Thats exactly it Egnever....

saying its worse...it's the epitome of denying the obvious.

[VanillaRhapsody]

67. Lucky enough? 6 million are just getting lucky enough.?

While it may not mean anything to YOU but to THOSE millions and women...it means a HUGE difference.

[polichick]

12. Yep - same ol' corporate shit that got going really well with Reagan...

and continues to this day.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

15. Not interested in the least.

The first O term was the moment for trans-formative change. With the exception of LGBT rights there has been very little that I can point to and say we are truly moving forward on. Clinton would certainly be the 5th Bill Clinton term -- we need new blood, new ideas, a new focus.

I live in CA, so I will have the luxury of voting for whichever candidate I feel would be best for the positions. If only all Americans could afford to do so.

[VanillaRhapsody]

32. Lilly Ledbetter slip your mind...

I am sure alot of women remember it...

[Scuba]

16. Can't we do better?

[DirkGently]

18. I think the Clintons have had their day.

I liked Hillary as Sec'y State, but she and Bill had two administrations to try "We are the President." They did plenty well, but plenty wrong as well, and part of their core approach was always a strong alliance with Wall Street. Dems need to move away from that approach with all possible speed.

But we will see what she has to say, and who else may yet emerge. Remember Hillary was the unquestionable heir apparent before Obama came along as well.

[ProSense]

20. Hillary is not Obama

and this is no way to drum up support for her, by trying to hitch her to Obama's record.

Besides, it's 2014. LOL!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

21. she and obama were always similar in policy and dissimilar in personality

it is why their respective supporters always ended up in name calling, because there were no major policy differences to bicker about

[Whisp]

22. a wee bit off topic but, Planet Hillary?

Apparently this is for real and not an Onion or hoaxy thing?
LOL.

Gaseous and going in circles. well, maybe then!

[Phlem]

51. ...

-p

[cynatnite]

23. Well, for one thing she hasn't said that she's running...

And if she did, she is by far the one most likely to get the nomination. I also think she is liked well enough by the masses that her win wouldn't be too difficult. Chris Christie is pretty much out of the race. The only one that might have a shot of beating Hillary is Jeb and I don't think that's likely to go far because of his last name.

Also, I think she'd make a fine president if she did win. I'm not sure if we'd get exactly the same. There are liable to be differences from Obama. I don't think he's done a bad job either.

If she does run, I will fully get behind her. Not just because she's a frontrunner right out of the gate, but also because I think she'd make a damn fine president we can all be proud of.

[VanillaRhapsody]

34. I agree with you!

[Beacool]

79. Hear, hear!!!

[NYC Liberal]

24. I'd be thrilled with a third Obama term. Sign me up.

I supported Hillary in 2008 anyway.

[sendero]

30. Given that 61% think America is ..

.... on the "wrong track" compared with about half that think it is on the "right track" this does not bode well for the Democratic party.

[VanillaRhapsody]

35. Yeah and they like the Republican party even less....

they blame THEM!

[Armstead]

44. Dream on....

Tghey blame all politicians. So they'll vote for anything that is not the same old same old..Unfortunately the Democrats are currently perceived as the same old same old....If the GOP is smart (which they are sometimes and not sometimes) all they have to do is find a bright face to package their own same old same old, and voters will buy it.

Democrats need to find a way to get away from their own same old same old if they are going to sell the voters.

[VanillaRhapsody]

47. yeah that single digit approval rating for Republican run Congress...

is the bad dream you forgot about....

[sendero]

52. The approval rating..

... for the Senate is better than the house? I don't think so.

Go ahead and tell yourself that the public is ready for more Clinton/Bush. I'm telling you that you are wrong.

[VanillaRhapsody]

57. Yes it is....

single digits and the LEAST effective Congress of all time....

Nobody is suggesting Clinton/Bush...we are suggesting President Hillary Clinton...our first female President...

and what happens when the Republicans keep telling women to just keep their legs shut instead of expecting health insurance to cover birth control? I will tell you what will happen...HUGE (in The Donald's voice) women voter turnout...


I think YOU need to go back to sleep.

[Armstead]

53. Time will tell -- People have short memories

If conditions improve enough over the next months, the GOP will be outta here in the coming Congressional elections.

If they stay shitty, they'll solidify their power.

[VanillaRhapsody]

69. not as short as YOU think...considering those single digits the Congress

are getting themselves...

[highmindedhavi]

33. If she takes money from Banks/Wall St ...

nothing changes.

[VanillaRhapsody]

37. Every one of them does....

until campaign finance changes....that won't. Soooo...

[MineralMan]

38. What's far more important than the Presidency is to

make sure we have a Democratic Congress. With that, much can happen. Without that, very little, as we have seen.\

GOTV 2014 and Beyond!

[beachbum bob]

42. more important to me for democrats to retain the Presidency

then foolish liberal/progress outrage....and I am a lberal progressive. I remember what Ralph NAder and HIS supporters did to our country in 2000 and I say NEVER again

Nader and his supporters have as much blood on their hands as GWB and the MIC

[Beacool]

43. So much anguish over a possible Hillary run.

I think that some of you are under the delusion that a LW candidate would somehow magically accomplish more than Obama or Hillary if they were in the WH.

How do you expect this person to do it? The house will remain in Republican hands and I'm starting to worry about the Senate. One thing that Hilary has in her favor is that she knows all these people, she dealt with them for 8 years as Senator and for 4 year as SOS. The real old timers she knows from her WH days. It helps to know these folks and what makes them tick. She would be under no illusion that she could get anything done with some of them.

[Auntie Bush]

73. You are so correct. Wish more people would realize the truth in what you said.

We are sooo lucky to have Hillary. It's hard to believe so many here are so ungrateful for our good fortune. We should have the election sewed up in 2014...but people can't see the forest through the trees. (Hillary voted for the war! Therefore she doesn't deserve the presidency)

[Beacool]

80. This place is so far away from the real world.

If one only read comments on this site, one would think that Hillary is reviled within the Democratic party when the contrary is closer to the truth.

The nastiness is depressing, they even use some of the same talking points that the RW uses.

Pathetic.........

[Proud Public Servant]

45. That's her Achilles heel

I'm not a fan, and I don't want her as our party's nominee. But I do want us to win, and I do think that her biggest vulnerability is that she's going to be very easy to paint as the candidate of the status quo in an election where people are going to want change (nobody is going to look at the last eight years and say, "more of that, please!&quot . Add to that the fact people are disgusted with DC, and that she's the ultimate Beltway insider; now add to THAT the fact that, in the end, she doesn't have an especially robust record to run on (an impressive resume, sure; but name your top three Hillary accomplishments. Not easy, is it?). Finally, the heir-apparent stuff will work against her; America likes to see David beat Goliath, likes to see the entitled given their comeuppance (which is why the whole rest of the country hates the Yankees and the Cowboys). Put her up against a charismatic GOP candidate with outsider-the Beltway credibility, and she would actually have a fight on her hands.

[Whisp]

54. ''name your top three Hillary accomplishments. Not easy, is it?''

Exactly. There is no there there, just smoke and mirrors and yap yaps. No substance. Or very little.

Isn't she wonderful and hard working says absolutely nothing of accomplishments.

[BKH70041]

49. Hopefully a 2nd Clinton

But if you're counting Obama as the 2nd, then the 1st was good and the 2nd has been less than impressive. Hopefully the 3rd would be more like the 1st.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

58. I'm not in the least ambivalent about Hillary.

Her vote for the IWR and her support for the wars removed any doubts in my mind about her or her politics.

No Sale.

[Cali_Democrat]

65. If she is the nominee...will you vote for her in the general?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

66. Maybe. Maybe not. And, that's a promise.

"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." John Quincy Adams

[mercymechap]

59. And,

she's still better than any Republican/conservative/Tea Partier candidate......Go Hillary......

[truebluegreen]

74. The last thing we need is yet another defender of the status quo.

[hrmjustin]

76. Hopefully she will do a good job.

[NCTraveler]

78. One of the most fair assessments of Clinton I have seen here.

Agree with all of your op.