As one that wants a Republican to win in 2016, I find myself torn as to whether I want Hillary to be the Democrat nominee. To be clear, I despise her and her politics, would hate for her to win the presidency, and in that sense I do not want her to run. I am approaching this more in the sense of whom is easiest to beat in a general election. A strong part of me believes that her political skills are way over rated. People seem to think that her and Bill were a package deal, and assume that both possess the same abilities. While we can never really know what goes on behind closed doors, my gut tells me that Hillary was the more legalistic, stonewall, parse every word advocate behind the scenes, and Bill was the man with the Midas touch and endless charisma that was able to pull off the entire charade. Ideology aside, Bill was probably the most charismatic, skilled politician in our lifetime. He had a likeability that could get him out of almost any jam. He could take the load of baggage that accompanies the Clinton's, and almost turn that into a strength, because his charismatic defense would successfully paint his opponents as being unfairly out to get him. Lets be clear, Hillary does NOT possess even a shred of Bill's charisma. In fact, she distinctly lacks that trait. The only thing charismatic about a potential Hillary run is that you will once again have Bill out on the campaign trail ( which does worry me), but I am not so sure that is enough to carry her to victory. If Bill Clinton never existed, Hillary doesn't really possess the typical traits that you would see in a presidential candidate. She is in the national eye solely because of her affiliation with the Clinton presidency, and NOT because of her individual political skill. If Hillary wins the nomination, she will be the one defending the Clinton baggage, and with her lack of charisma and typical traits you see in presidential candidates, that may very well be a losing formula. I believe that Bill may be able to help her deflect some of the heat, but at some point in the general election, she is going to have to stand on her own two feet, and I do not believe she has the political moxie and skill to be able to do that. People grossly overestimated her in 2008, and I believe they grossly overestimate her now. She has been essentially coronated as the nominee to be in two different elections, and in truth, in neither of those situations has she done anything to earn that designation, other than being a novelty in that she is the former first lady. When it is all said and done, I do not believe that is enough to carry her to victory, especially when she will have to defend all of the Clinton Baggage in the process. Upon further reflection, with all factors considered, my sincere hope is that Hillary wins the nomination. I am not saying she will lose in a landslide, because the truth is whomever is the nominee from both sides, the election is going to predictably be decided by a few percentage points. In the race for those few swing percentage points however, I do not believe Hillary possesses the skill to prevail. I know that on the surface leftists love all things Clinton, but for the reasons stated above, it is still very likely that she will lose in the primaries. As a rightist, that is not the outcome that I desire. My hope is that she marches through the Democrat primaries unvetted and unchallenged.
