WASHINGTON – For Hillary Clinton the goal is simple, but it may not be easy: Don’t let history repeat – at least not when it comes to the mistakes of her last campaign.
As the first Democratic presidential debate arrives Tuesday evening, Clinton is trying not to re-live 2008. That year, the nomination was considered hers to lose when her campaign began, but then she lost to an upstart outsider.
Last time, it was the largely unknown and relatively youthful one-term senator Barack Obama, who came from obscurity to crush Clinton’s candidacy on a mantra of “hope” and “change.”
This time, she is getting an unexpectedly strong challenge from an insurgent 74-year-old who is generally considered far outside the political mainstream: Bernie Sanders, the self-described socialist senator from Vermont.
Sanders is such an outsider, some question whether he’s even a Democrat.
Although he is running for the Democratic Party nomination, Sanders is still listed as an independent by the government’s
Senate website.
And now there are signs Clinton is becoming unnerved at the prospect 2016 could become a 2008 déjà vu.
On the eve of the all-important first debate, Clinton’s staff reportedly was terrified she could have “a serious meltdown.”
“Hillary’s been having screaming, child-like tantrums that have left staff members in tears and unable to work,” a campaign aide reportedly confided.
“She thought the nomination was hers for the asking, but her mounting problems have been getting to her and she’s become shrill and, at times, even violent,” wrote author Ed Klein in the
New York Post.
Klein reported, “Bill Clinton and Hillary’s campaign team are concerned that her anger may surface at the wrong time. They are concerned that she could have a serious meltdown in front of TV cameras, which would make her look so out of control that voters would decide she doesn’t have the temperament to be commander in chief.”
Clinton may be shocked by her 10-point drop in a Reuters poll released Friday, but she still has a double-digit lead of 16 points.
And, unless Vice President Joe Biden jumps into the fray, it is still a two-person race, with only Clinton and Sanders in double-digits among the declared candidates.
In fact, the three other declared contenders are not even in the single digits. Not one of them – not Jim Webb, Martin O’Malley or Lincoln Chafee – even registers one point: All three poll at less than 1 percent.
The latest poll on the Democratic race from Real Clear politics, which averages the top polls:
The debate will begin at 9 p.m. EST on Tuesday and will be televised from Las Vegas by CNN, with Anderson Cooper moderating.
CNN isn’t expecting big numbers, certainly nothing like the first two Republican debates.
The GOP debate on Sept. 16 was CNN’s most-watched program ever, with 23 million viewers.
The GOP debate on Aug. 6 was Fox News’ most-watched program ever, with 24 million viewers. It was also the highest-rated primary debate in television history.
Republican frontrunner Donald Trump thinks he knows why the Democratic Party debate won’t come near those numbers: He won’t be in it.
“I think people are going to turn it on for a couple of minutes and then fall asleep,” he said on Fox News.
CNN is trying to add some ratings-grabbing star power by having rock star Sheryl Crow sing the national anthem.
In another apparent attempt to boost interest, CNN also announced it has a podium ready for Biden, should he decide to jump into the race.
Perhaps to the chagrin of the cable networks, some Democrats have called for even more debates, accusing the Democratic National Committee, or DNC, of trying to protect establishment favorite Clinton by limiting her exposure to opponents, the media and the public.
The criticism seems to have hit a nerve.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, who is a DNC vice chairwoman, said she was disinvited from attending the first debate after she called for more debates.
Gabbard’s chief of staff confirmed to the New York Times that the congressowman had received a message about her attendance at the debate from DNC chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla.
“When I first came to Washington, one of the things that I was disappointed about was there’s a lot of immaturity and petty gamesmanship that goes on, and it kind of reminds me of how high-school teenagers act,” Gabbard told the Times.
Six debates are scheduled, just as in 2008. But there were more than a dozen unsanctioned debates in that campaign. This time, the DNC has threatened to kick candidates out of the sanctioned debates if they participate in those not approved by the party.
As
WND reported in August , O’Malley went so far as to accuse the Democratic Party of devising a “rigged process.”
Sanders said the skimpy debate schedule was “dead wrong and I have let the the leadership of the Democrats know that.”
Liberal commentator Kirsten Powers wrote in USA today, “[P]arty insiders are making sure their preferred candidate – Hillary Clinton – is protected from debate.”
“Her arrogant and secretive email server shenanigans are reminding Americans just how entitled and unaccountable Clinton believes herself to be,” Powers added. “Refusing to debate her primary opponents – including one who has ignited the kind of excitement Clinton could only dream of – will just fuel the sense that she believes she doesn’t have to campaign to become president.”
Hillary Clinton
The Clintons have a long history of scandals, and that recurring specter may pose a greater threat to her than any challenger.
A
Quinnipiac poll released last week showed voters consider her the least honest and trustworthy of all the major candidates.
Before she was even famous, Clinton’s first job in Washington
ended in disgrace, when the 27-year-old lawyer was fired from the House committee investigating Watergate, “Because she was a liar.”
Her supervisor and lifelong Democrat Jerry Zeifman said, “She was an unethical, dishonest lawyer. She conspired to violate the Constitution, the rules of the House, the rules of the committee and the rules of confidentiality.”
While first lady of Arkansas, Clinton somehow turned $1,000 into nearly $100,000 by investing in cattle futures, but was never investigated.
During her husband’s administration she was tainted by
such scandals as Travelgate; Whitewater; missing files; renting the Lincoln bedroom; and Monica Lewinsky’s affair with the president.
As
WND reported, the Lewinsky affair may come back to haunt her, as her husband’s former mistress of 14 years, Gennifer Flowers, said she believes the issue of Bill Clinton’s former lovers is a legitimate discussion that should return for Hillary’s 2016 campaign.
Flowers accused Hillary of being “an enabler that has encouraged him (Bill) to go out and do whatever he does with women.” And she called Hillary’s bid to run on women’s issues “a joke.”
In addition to that history, Clinton has a pair of major ongoing scandals from her tenure as secretary of state, in her handling of the Benghazi terrorist attack and her use of a private email system for official business.
Clinton will testify on Oct. 22 before a select House committee investigating the attack on a U.S. embassy outpost in Benghazi, Libya on Sept. 11, 2012 that killed four Americans including Ambassador Chris Stevens.
Critics say she and President Obama made a deadly mistake by reducing security at the compound and then not sending help when it came under attack. Additionally, the since-discredited decision to blame the terrorist attack on spontaneous protest over an obscure Internet video appeared to come from a phone conversation between her and Obama on the night of the attack.
Many political observers blame Clinton’s recent drop in the polls to a steady series of damning revelations in her email scandal. She is under investigation by the FBI for the use of a private email server as secretary of state, which contained emails with classified information, contrary to her denials.
Clinton’s stances on the major issues do not deviate greatly from the standard Democratic Party platform. She favors abortion at any point during a pregnancy and has been “proud” to defend Planned Parenthood during its baby body parts for sale scandal. She flip-flopped on same-sex marriage and announced her support of it last year.
Clinton has veered even further leftward on a few issues recently, apparently trying to pry away support from the far-left Sanders.
She now opposes the Keystone oil pipeline, which she supported in 2010, and recently came out against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, trade pact, even though she played a small role in negotiating it and called the deal the “gold standard in trade agreements.”
The editorial board of USA Today on Sunday accused her of opting for “one politically expedient position after another” but warned that “will make it more difficult for her to move back to the center for the general election if she wins her party’s nomination.”
Bernie Sanders
By contrast, Sanders believes his consistent left-leaning positions on key issues gives him the edge over Clinton.
The Vermont senator has long opposed sweeping trade deals and the Keystone pipeline, and favored same-sex marriage.
In the five months since Sanders announced his candidacy, he has shot up in the polls from 6 to 25 percent.
Perhaps even more impressive are the massive crowds he draws to rallies.
One-hundred thousand people came to see Sanders during a 30-day stretch over the summer, and their enthusiasm drew comparisons to Obama’s rallies in 2007.
The Washington Post said Sanders’ friends credit him with having “carefully cultivated a young and progressive following, with appearances on Bill Maher’s show where he sparred with Republicans.”
He can also distinguish himself from Clinton, and curry favor on the left, by having opposed the Iraq war from the start. Clinton voted for the war as a senator then later said she made a mistake.
Sanders’ positions on key issues are typically leftist, but as a socialist, he goes even further left than most in stridently calling for higher taxes and more government control.
And while some accuse Clinton of being beholden to big money interests, Sanders blames Wall Street for the nation’s economic woes and vows to dismantle the big banks.
An exact opposite of Ronald Reagan in philosophy, Sanders believes government is the solution, not the problem.
In fact, he has gone so far as to say, “The government, in a democratic society, is the people.”
As president, he would propose to spend $3.27 trillion by raising $3.4 trillion in new taxes.
He wants to make tuition at public colleges free, meaning, it would be paid for by taxpayers.
Sanders wants to replace Obamacare, but, unlike conservatives, he wants to install universal health care, meaning a completely government-run system.
The big question for Sanders is whether America would elect a president who admits he is a socialist. Apparently, a quarter of the nation’s Democrats are prepared to do so.
Martin O’Malley
For any of the other three announced Democratic contenders to make any kind of move north in the polls, they must make some kind of waves during the debate.
O’Malley launched his campaign in May hoping to be a more left-leaning alternative to Clinton, then was dwarfed by the Sanders phenomenon.
With Clinton seeking to make a historic bid to become the first female president, and Sanders running as the scourge of Wall Street, O’Malley is stuck in a limbo where he is not identified with any particular cause or issue.
The former Maryland governor and Baltimore mayor just may try to make some news of his own by creating fireworks at the debate, as he appears to sense it is his last chance to get in the game.
He has called the debate a “make or break” moment for his campaign.
Speaking of the lower-tier candidates, Democrat strategist and former O’Malley adviser told the Washington Post, “If all three of them give a credible performance, it’s not going to propel O’Malley forward.”
And, like the other three, if he does not perform well, it is likely the end of his campaign.
Jim Webb
It may be difficult to tell why Webb is running, as he hasn’t staked out any particular stances that would distinguish him from the field.
Webb has vowed to “clean out the manure-filled stables of a political system that has become characterized by greed.”
But, if it is not entirely clear what is compelling him to run for the nation’s highest office, he may be the most interesting candidate in the race, or, at least, have the most intriguing history.
- Was secretary of the Navy under Ronald Reagan.
- Won the Navy Cross for heroism in combat as Marine first lieutenant in Vietnam.
- Also won the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts.
- Refused to shake John Kerry’s hand for 20 years because of his allegations against American soldiers.
- Refused to shake President George W. Bush’s hand for years because of the war in Iraq.
- Taught literature at the United States Naval Academy.
- Was a fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics.
- Is an Emmy-winning documentary producer.
- Wrote the screenplay for the film “Rules of Engagement.”
- Wrote numerous articles and book reviews.
- Lost a “legendary and controversial” championship boxing match at Annapolis against Oliver North.
- Is a graduate of Georgetown Law School.
- Then worked on the staff of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
- Is a champion of prison reform.
- Wrote a 1979 article titled, “Women Can’t Fight,” arguing against allowing women into combat and maintaining they were not fit to lead men in battle.
- Criticized the Vietnam War Memorial as “defeatist” and “too morose,” calling it “the black ditch of shame.”
- Married a Vietnamese attorney, who is his third wife.
- Speaks fluent Vietnamese.
- Quit the Democratic Party over President Carter’s amnesty for draft dodgers.
- Supported the presidential campaigns of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.
- Returned to the Democratic Party over what he perceived as GOP inflexibility on social issues.
- Has switched from strongly opposing to favoring same-sex marriage.
- Opposes gun-control laws.
After Webb’s tenure as secretary of the Navy, Reagan wrote in his diary, “I don’t think Navy was sorry to see him go.”
Lincoln Chafee
It may be a complete mystery as to why former Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee is running for president.
But his microscopic poll numbers do not seem mysterious, considering his major policy proposal is to convert the nation to the metric system.
Chaffee was the only Republican senator to vote against the war in Iraq.
According to NPR, colleagues sometimes referred to him as “the missing Linc.”
He left the GOP in 2007 after losing re-election to the Senate.
Chafee was elected governor of Rhode Island as an independent in 2010.
In 2012, Chaffee was a co-chair in Obama’s re-election campaign.
He became a Democrat in 2013 while serving as governor.
Chaffee did not seek re-election in 2014, but decided to run for president in 2015.
Follow Garth Kant @DCgarth
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