Hillary Clinton decided to shake things up when she announced her presidential campaign Sunday. Instead of launching her candidacy with a forced, painfully rehearsed, one-on-one conversation with a camera like she did in 2007, Clinton released a well-executed video with a diverse cast of characters.
John Dickerson of Slate noted the video featured “expectant parents, job seekers, a same-sex couple on the verge of marriage and women of all ages and ethnicities.” These people were the reason Obama won in 2008 and Clinton lost.
Only after 90 seconds of the two-minute video do we see the Democratic candidate.
For the most part, the campaign video did a great job of hiding the weakest aspect of Hillary’s 2008 campaign and potentially the weakest aspect of her 2016 campaign: Hillary Clinton.
Many people forget that in 2008, she was the favorite to win the Democratic and general elections. She was so certain to win the only person that could thwart her trip to the Oval Office was Clinton. In the end, that’s exactly what happened.
Clinton is a lot of things, but a campaign virtuoso is not one of them. She lacks the political instincts and extroversion of her husband, as well as the hope that surrounded Obama’s campaign. On the campaign trail, she’s wooden and cold. All of her stump speeches feel like they’ve been rehearsed a hundred times in front of her staff. The words in her speeches have been precisely picked and employed for maximum effect, only after focus groups and polling data have greenlighted them. Even Clinton’s full-belly cackle seems poll-tested.
And let’s not forget about her Mitt Romney-like unrelatablilty. Hillary has been in a bubble since her time as the first lady of Arkansas. She lives in a mansion in New York. She gets paid megabucks for her speaking engagements. I doubt many Iowans can relate to this. Though, Republican operatives quipped that she relates to those Americans that live a chauffeured life.
All of these are characteristics of a bad campaigner.
While Clinton does not pride herself on her campaign skills — for good reason — she is perceived to be a much better manager. But even this leads her into trouble. Despite the fact that she has been in more political offices than practically any other career politician, her tenure in the State Department, Senate and White House have been filled with folly.
All of her accomplishments at the State Department are now crumbling before our eyes. Her “reset” with Russia has plunged us almost into a new Cold War. The Libyan Intervention she promoted contributed to the attack on our consulate in Benghazi. Terrorism is spreading across the world. She tripped over herself when she attempted to “pivot to Asia.” Pundits often say that no Republican can match her tenure and foreign policy credentials. For the GOP, this is a great thing. Nobody wants to defend her abysmal record as secretary of state.
As a senator from New York, Clinton voted for the Iraq War and cozied up to Wall Street fat cats. This is as far away as you can go from the Elizabeth Warren-oriented Democratic party of today. While she was first lady, she rolled out the disastrous health care policy Hillarycare.
A flawed campaigner and flawed politician do not bode well for presidential politics. In spite of this, Hillary is ready to be crowned U.S. president in 2016, just like she was ready to be crowned in 2008.
But this election is different in a few ways: The voting base has become more cynical and is not prone to lofty rhetoric, the incumbent has been a divisive Democrat with a mixed record and foreign policy is likely to be front and center in the race. None of these things are likely to favor Hillary Clinton. But again, the 2016 election is her election to lose. The only person stopping her from sitting down and cackling in the Oval Office is herself. I would say that’s not very reassuring for Team Hillary.
Michael Beato is a UF economics junior. His column appears on Thursdays.
[A version of this story ran on page 6 on 4/16/2015]
