Reid: Hillary Clinton 'has a clear field' for 2016

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: The Hill

Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) says in an interview airing Friday that Hillary Clinton “has a clear field” to the Democratic presidential nomination, but the party lacks an “all-star” challenger like President Obama.

"Right now we have Hillary Clinton. And that's it," Reid says.

"There's not another Barack Obama out there. There are no all-stars out there," he says, based on a transcript of the interview set to air Friday on "The Rundown with José Díaz-Balart."

The comments from Reid would appear to serve as a response to a Telemundo anchor who asked if there is any concern about a lack of debate among Democratic candidates. (The GOP field is much larger and growing.)

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/242182-reid-clinton-has-a-clear-field

[Gothmog]

1. Senator Reid is correct

[FLPanhandle]

27. He is but people don't want to hear the truth

and sometimes the truth isn't what they want to hear.

[Gothmog]

87. I am well aware of Sanders

I personally like Bernie Sanders and many of his positions. But he is polling below 20% and does not appear to viable in the general election. We are in the primary process and HRC has the organization and financing to be viable in the general election.

[WestSideStory]

84. No he's not

Bernie Sanders is out there.

[Gothmog]

86. Polling at less than 20%

[valerief]

2. Meaning there are no other fiscally centrist Dems out there. Progressives don't count in

this country apparently.

[brooklynite]

17. No, it means no Progressives with strong electoral potential chose to run.

Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown would be much more competitive (Clinton would still be likely to win in my opinion). Neither of them wants to.

Perhaps this "who's our backup candidate" question should be reversed. Who else do the progressives who insist Clinton in unacceptable have to call on?

[Buzz Clik]

3. Poor Bernie. Mr. Irrelevant.

[TheNutcracker]

5. Bernie's support pool is not poor, nor has he ever been irrelevant! More 3rd way propaganda

Go Bernie!

[arcane1]

30. Calling him "Irrelevant" highlights ignorance of his years of service.

[Autumn]

4. The only thing I agree with Harry on is that there's not another Barack Obama out there.

But the rest of his Bull Shit is dead wrong.

[Backwoodsrider]

6. dont think Obama has ever told reporters in a press conference to shut up

Or claims he is a socialist and votes for the F-35. Not sure Obama has ever done any of those things.

[frylock]

9. and that has fuckall to do with..?

[Backwoodsrider]

16. has a lot to do with getting my and probably about 30 million others vote

If he was serious about running he sure us pissing a lot of people off. And this thread has a lot to do with Sanders not being the hero Obama was.

I am just putting this out there because it is obvious some people are in love with Sanders and when we are in love sometimes we don't make realistic decisions.

[frylock]

22. Precisely how is Bernie pissing a lot of people off?

By asking a group of disruptive loudmouths to shut up? Really?

[INdemo]

26. Real Democrats would not support Hillary

Real Democrats can see the difference between a Democrat and a Republican lite and Hillary is the Republican lite.

For those that support Hillary if it so happen that Bernie Sanders won the Democratic nomination, I believe many of those now supporting Hillary would vote for the Republican over Sanders..

[redstateblues]

53. Not true for this Hillary supporter

I think most HRC supporters would vote for the Democratic nominee. I see lots of Bernistas on here that will not vote for the Democrat if their guy doesn't win.

[Backwoodsrider]

28. oh no Sanders does not piss me off

But he kinda scares me, he reminds me of a knight. Sure talk about some stuff the public can identify make and try and push these crazy ideas that don't stand a chance in Hell to maybe get people thinking but I want royalty in the whitehouse. I want someone who thinking globally.

Sanders = knight, maybe Hillary = royalty and yep you guessed it the repubs = the jester and that crazy bishop

[frylock]

38. Give me an example of some of these crazy ideas.

[GeorgeGist]

49. Your critical thinking blows me away.

[Backwoodsrider]

50. its a gift

[foo_bar]

69. "I want royalty in the whitehouse."

Yeah, I think this quasi-democracy experiment ran its course.

[Backwoodsrider]

72. yep I agree

But it is difficult stepping back from the budding Oligarchy nation we have become where money makes the laws. Then I remember I am just 1 grain of sand and can do nothing to guide this nation, this planet and this universe. Whatever happens happens the question is how do we deal with that?

[LoveIsNow]

76. She is Royalty.

And royalty is the antithesis of democracy.

[Autumn]

13. This is as sad as your last attempt Backwoodsrider

You should post an OP about that.

[arcane1]

31. Or voted for an illegal war that killed THOUSANDS of Americans.

And maimed/amputated tens of thousands more.

[pnwmom]

40. Hillary voted for a war that was specifically CONDITIONED on WMD's being found. They weren't.

Bush ignored the conditions, so he acted on his own, outside of the IWR she, Biden, Kerry, and other Dems voted for.

[arcane1]

44. Voted for a war whose justification was obviously false.

[pnwmom]

45. Voted for a war on condition that WMD's were found. They weren't. Therefore, the condition

wasn't met and they didn't vote for the war that Bush carried out.

They assumed that Colin Powell was telling the truth; but that if no WMD's were actually found, then Bush wouldn't go to war anyway. They were wrong. But they didn't authorize the war.

[TM99]

56. The UN knew Powell was lying.

Many Democrats, independent observers, journalists, and even Republicans knew that Powell was lying.

If Clinton was so unobservant and un-intelligent to recognize that Bush & company were lying to them, she was not qualified to be made Secretary of State.

And she is damned sure not qualified to be our next President.

That is some seriously tortured logic and rationalizations you are using to justify the unjustifiable.

[pnwmom]

57. Ted Kennedy said that the only reason he didn't trust Powell about this was because

Kennedy was a member of the Armed Services Committee and, as such, had access to confidential military presentations and other information that he was not allowed to share with other Senators.

Biden and Kerry and other Democrats also did not think Powell was lying to them.

HRC, former Senator of NY and Secretary of State, is eminently qualified to be our next President.

[TM99]

58. Nope.

There were more than Kennedy.

She is definitely not qualified based on your rationalizations. You might want to own up to the truth of her lies then at least you can be congruent when saying that you will still vote for her even though she made a horrid mistake.

I doubt you will of course.

[Art_from_Ark]

59. What really gets me

is that the woman who talked about a "vast right-wing conspiracy" in 1998 would somehow go along with the IWR just 4 years later, especially after seeing right-wingers steal the 2000 election.

[TM99]

60. I think that Clinton has one goal since at least the 1990's

and that is to be the first female president.

Every action since then has been calculated to allow her to achieve that goal.

Her IWR vote was factual and morally wrong, yet it was politically expedient.

I expect her to say anything and do the opposite. I expect her to say she will overturn CU but will take the billions and do nothing once in office. Obama campaigned on many such populist promises, and not only did some turn out to be lies, others were lies and then so much worse like TPP.

[Art_from_Ark]

82. I have to agree with your assessment

And that is one reason why I am supporting Bernie Sanders, who seems to be the Real Deal, rather than the Raw Deal.

[wildbilln864]

85. you nailed it! thanks. n/t

[Ken Burch]

62. HRC, Biden and Kerry KNEW WHEN THEY VOTED that Dubya would take their votes as votes for war.

They knew and they enabled him anyway.

None of them have any excuses, and all owe the nation (and the survivors of the massive number of Iraqi war dead none of their leaders ever cared about) an abject apology.

[pnwmom]

63. You are making a claim that you have no evidence for. What's your excuse?

You can't read any of their minds and you can't KNOW that they thought Bush would go to war even if he didn't find WMD's.

You are saying they didn't believe the words in the IWR meant anything, and weren't intended to restrict Bush's actions. But you don't have an iota of proof for that.

[Ken Burch]

66. They knew Bush was obsessed with invading Iraq and would use any "yes" vote

on any measure that sounded even vaguely pro-war to get it. They had heard every word the man had said on the subject sine 9/11.

None of them could have seriously believed that Bush would care about the mild,meaningless caveats against invasion that the IWR contained. They had been around politics far too long to possibly have been that naive or delusional.

They voted for it out of cowardice and out of the mistaken belief that a Democrat could only havr been electedd president in 2004 by being essentially indistinguishable from Bush and Cheney on the war-and this stance(and the complete suppression of antiwar opinion imposed by Kerry at the 2004 Democratic convention lost at the polls anyway.

[swilton]

47. ++++

[Orsino]

71. If Bernie does not become this year's Obama, Reid is correct.

At the moment, Reid is indulging in wishful thinking. Yes, it would be much easier for poor Sec. Clinton not to have to face a challenger--but if she's got guts and integrity, she could emerge from a primary as an even stronger candidate.

Pretending that Sanders isn't there will be called "practical," but any really practical eye will see that Sanders has what Clinton needs. And vice-versa.

[kenfrequed]

7. Isn't this a blog?

I thought blogs were verboten on the latest breaking news thread?

[OKNancy]

21. Here is the SOP

Post the latest news from reputable mainstream news websites and blogs. Important news of national interest only.
No analysis or opinion pieces. No duplicates. News stories must have been published within the last 12 hours.
Use the published title of the story as the title of the discussion thread.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=about&forum=1014

[kenfrequed]

34. Right...

I posted from US news and world report last night and it was taken down because it was considered a blog. This website has blog written all over it.

[OKNancy]

42. no, if you look at the bolded part

the host did in the lock message.. it was analysis, not "breaking" news. It had nothing to do with a blog.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

8. "Clear field" is right. She doesn't even have to campaign ...

... and she has the nomination sewed up.

But, after that, I don't know how she will excite the undecided, the ambivalent, the uninterested to get off their butts and vote "D" in the general.

Apparently, not by talking with the press.

[Thinkingabout]

39. She is campaigning so I don't know where you are getting your information.

Each candidate has to sell themselves, Bernie will not be given a pass any more than Hillary, O'Malley, Webb or any other candidate. Will not happen.

[workinclasszero]

43. Wow really?

What a joke.

The election is still far off and Hillary is not making a secret of her view. Of course the MSM is chomping at the bit to smear her some more with right wing lies like the NY Times did but...F them.

The only motivation most non committed Americans will need is going to happen when the Republican mullahs start their debates on how to drag the country back 1000 years, endless war, killing social security for more tax breaks for the 1%, war on immigration, war on women, war on minorities, etc.

Hillary will win in a landslide.

[Geronimoe]

10. Looks like Hillary has fast track to nomination

Her policy positions will remain a secret and the Democratic voters will get an up/down vote.

It isn't a democratic process when all we get is one candidate representing Wall Street.

[brooklynite]

19. You seriously believe Clinton won't reveal her policy positions?

In the -34- weeks to go before voting starts?

[F4lconF16]

33. One would think she wouldn't need to reveal them.

But maybe that's just me.

[L0oniX]

37. ***policy positions***

[davidn3600]

41. She won't have to

It seems she can just keep her mouth shut and the party will nominate her no matter what. So why talk to the press? Why debate with anyone? Identity politics and perceived electability are all that matters to the DNC. Asking what a candidate believes will only risk messing up the establishment's plan.

I guess we have to wait for the real debates in September 2016 before she'll be forced to answer a question. Unfortunately that question will come from a Republican who will be battle-tested.

[Sgt Preston]

73. +1

That is her strategy. The less she says, the less she will offend people who disagree with her. That's one reason why she hasn't had a press conference in two months. There are other reasons, too, including the email problem.

[polichick]

11. Translation: Corporate America has made its choice.

[eloydude]

12. Reid's wrong, and he's always been a milquetoast Democrat

Thankfully his ass is retiring, and a progressive Democrat needs to rise up and give them the same choice: the real thing, or the fake thing (Republican)

Bernie is already rising, and Clinton is on her way down. Her coronation is NOT assured.

[swilton]

48. ++++++++++++++++++

[Beacool]

80. Seriously, Sanders is an "all-star" of the Democratic party?

Most people around the country don't even know who he is. Heck, he wasn't even a Democrat before he decided to run for president.

[eloydude]

81. Yes he is. He's called a Democratic Socialist

big difference from just a socialist.

He's a Democrat through and through.

He's already filed for the Democratic Party nomination.

http://www.dsausa.org

Have a nice day..

[raindaddy]

14. And for all of you marginalized progressives....

Hillary's willing to play the role of a populist throughout her campaign...

I guess that's what makes her an "all-star candidate"..

[bowens43]

15. fuck you harry you ineffective centrist moron

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

18. Bully!

[Gamecock Lefty]

20. Obama -> Hillary

I was part of the crowd of over 100,000 that saw Obama when he campaigned in St Louis in 2008 – it was very exciting! I doubt that size crowd will be repeated anytime soon.

If both Hillary and Sanders came here at the same time, I’d go see Hillary and vote for her, too. I like Sanders, but I love me my Hillary!

[Tarheel_Dem]

23. +1. He was a rock star, and his rallies were something to behold. There's no one to duplicate that.

Obama Rally Draws 100,000 in Missouri - Washington Wire - …



Welcome to DU!

[FLPanhandle]

32. ...and most of the time they continue to ignore you.

I like Bernie but I won't kid myself into believing he has a chance.

[Maedhros]

29. Harry no doubt has cut a deal with Hillary. [n/t]

[L0oniX]

35. Ignorance is bliss for Reid ...and others.

[Thinkingabout]

36. Reid is straight forward and does not beat around the bush.

It is a reality check, in order to win an election poll numbers has to at least in double digits. Bernie can hang in the primaries but I would think Bernie be smart and know he would not win in the general election.

[SoapBox]

51. Like HRC, Reid is the same old, same old...

Very much time for a new, better direction.

[TM99]

52. I don't want another fucking rock star.

Last edited Fri May 15, 2015, 11:22 PM - Edit history (1)

I don't want another fucking Third Way DLC centrist either.

I don't want a politician who flip flops and changes their story to suit their audience.

I don't want another politician that has to evolve on social or economic issues.

I don't want a messiah. I don't want a savior. I don't want a perfect candidate. I don't want a fucking pink pony shitting rainbow glitter. I definitely don't want a liar who says they are a populist but then governs like a 1980's socially moderate Reagan Republican.

I want a real politician with a consistent and congruent track record of actually promoting traditional Democratic positions and policies.

I want a real politician that is honest and hell even a bit gruff and blunt at times.

I want a real politician that is 90% or more in sync and standing with me on the same principles and policies that are vital for our problems today.

[libdem4life]

54. What you said ... !

[ucrdem]

55. A funny thing happened on the way to the corronation

but I can't remember what it was . . .

[davidpdx]

61. As much as I don't want to see Hillary Clinton win the nomination

I think Reid is right. I believe that the field was cleared for her before she declared. Sanders given his independent streak was going to decide to run whether or not Clinton did. Webb is far too conservative and O'Malley has made no decision yet. I continually hope that I am wrong in my opinion that we are stuck with Clinton (and I have said it over and over again for a few months) and that this will come down to Clinton versus Bush.

If so, in the primary I will either vote for Sanders or another candidate depending who is on the ballot or change my registration and vote in the Republican primary for the biggest buffoon that isn't Jeb Bush and then change my registration back.

[AtomicKitten]

65. Bernie is running BECAUSE Hillary is running.

I saw him talking about it a while back. He said it's over for the middle class if a pro-corporate candidate wins. (That's the field on both sides of the aisle.) He said he was waiting to see if Elizabeth Warren was going to run. I don't think he otherwise has ambition for higher office.

[davidpdx]

67. I understand that, I'm saying that no one was going to try to persuade him otherwise

if he decided to run. I like Sanders and that maybe who I end up supporting. The decision for me is not as easy as it was in 2007.

[perkevendel]

64. Hillary and Bill Clinton earned more than $30 Million from last year January

Hillary Clinton and her husband Bill Clinton told that they earned more than $30 million from their in speaking fees and book royalties since 2014

Read More: http://presstou.com/news/clintons-earned-30-million-in-last-16-months

[GP6971]

68. What does that have

to do with this thread? You don't have an opinion whether the fees are good or bad?

[Beauregard]

70. I don't believe these speaking fees are due to "star quality" or valuable content.

They are rewards for a job "well done" from the point of view of their rich sponsors.

[workinclasszero]

74. Got any proof of that accusation?

Or do you just like to slander democratic candidates for the hell of it?

There's a place for you on fox & friends no doubt.

[Beauregard]

75. :)

[DemocratSinceBirth]

77. If the Bushes got rich for destroying the republic..

And former president George W. Bush raked in $15 million within two years of leaving office, averaging about $110,000 per speech, Yahoo! News reported

If the Bushes got rich for destroying the republic the Clintons deserve a reward for trying to save it.

[Beacool]

78. So what?

If someone wants to pay them to hear them speak, then more power to them.

[Beacool]

79. Well, he's only stating the truth.

The only rock star politician that the Democratic party has at the moment is Hillary. Liz Warren has that potential too, but she's not in the running.

[4dsc]

83. Let centrist and the DNC present another disaster

If 2014 is any indication of how the DNC and centrists operate we are sunk.