The media tells us that Hillary has a lock on the nomination. That news should make her supporters extremely nervous, and not because the prognosticators have been wrong so many times already. All Democrats should worry because her major policy and character flaws could leave us with a Republican president this fall. Here’s why.
1. The Senator from Wall Street: This is not 1972 when the country was so deeply divided over the Vietnam War. That upheaval wrecked the Democratic Party and led to the Nixon landslide over George McGovern. Now the country is united against Wall Street. Hillary will have a great deal of difficulty triangulating her way to safety. She will never be able to explain away why she received over $11 million in corporate speaking fees, much of it from Wall Street, and why she still is accepting millions from Wall Street for her campaign.
The defensive lines she is using are weak — Obama did it too. I have a proven record against Wall Street. I can’t be bought. My proposals are even tougher than my opponent’s.
Do you really think that will sell in the fall?
2. Free Trade Cheerleader: The neo-liberal consensus on corporate-managed trade has collapsed. The American people know they’ve been had. They see that average worker and thousands of communities have been screwed by trade agreements which put Americans in direct competition with low wage workers around the world. Hillary, during her husbands administration, pressed hard for NAFTA. And until very recently, she was proud of her work to develop the TPP — “the gold standard” of all trade agreements she said — until Bernie forced her to retreat. She has no credible defense.