Hillary Clinton's campaign for President may be in big trouble. Because of Donald Trump. We're not talking about polls concerning a hypothetical contest between her and the Donald. We're talking about the fact that Jeb Bush's support is running around 3% in the most recent polls.
Jeb Bush is the GOP's Hillary--from a Presidential family with tons of connections, well-qualified to be Chief Executive, thoughtful speaker, intelligent person. He is also backed by shiploads and shiploads of money, far more than any other Republican candidate. With this humongous war chest, he was supposedly going to scare off competing candidates tout de suite and waltz into the nomination.
But Jeb is getting his arse kicked a mile and quarter. By the Donald no less, a guy who has done only limited fundraising. Looks like b.s. (at least Trump's b.s.) talks and money walks.
Like Jeb, Hillary has a campaign war chest that was supposed to scare the gym socks off potential rivals. It hasn't scared off Bernie Sanders, who is running a feisty campaign that gives him poll numbers a seriously underfunded candidate shouldn't have. That should give Hillary pause.
But Trump's success over Jeb is the red flag that should be setting off huge alarm bells in Hillary's campaign headquarters. Money is turning out to be relatively inconsequential in this campaign. Plain talk, speaking from the heart and to the heart, and charisma are carrying the day. As much as the Establishment media doesn't want to believe it, the truth is that Trump is quite charismatic to a lot of people. His numbers are growing as the primaries draw near, and his lead may soon become insurmountable.
Hillary's campaign seems utterly confident they can beat Trump. This is how she lost in 2008--overconfidence. In actuality, much of Hillary's support is pretty flimsy, and if she faced the Donald, he might shift toward the middle and draw off many of the moderate working class voters she is counting on. She's already lost the hearts of much of the liberal left; even if she prevails over Sanders, many of his supporters may stay home during the general election. When it comes to charisma and plain talk, the Donald has Hillary beat by a country mile. And all her campaign funding can't change that.
Hillary Clinton reminds us of a high school valedictorian--smart, ambitious, headed for bigger and better things. But people generally don't like high school valedictorians. They may respect and even admire them. But they can't connect with them. Any contest between Hillary and the Donald would probably be close. But, if she means to win, Hillary needs to look beyond the bank balances and focus on convincing people they want to vote for her.
If the prospect of a Trump Presidency or another Clinton Presidency has you down, remember that this is America, the land built on hope and dreams. There's always hope; there's always another dream. Forget about what dodo is in the White House. Follow your dreams. Tomorrow (Dec. 12) is Frank Sinatra's birthday. Here's what Frank had to say (or sing) about hope and dreams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yCwiaZwiB8.
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