Republicans are ‘in denial’ about Hillary Clinton

[sufrommich]

By Greg Sargent October 26 at 8:45 AM



Some Republicans so detest Hillary Clinton they are badly underestimating how likely she is, at this point in the campaign, to be America’s 45th president. Their denial is just as strong now as it was a month ago, before Clinton began a run of political victories that have enhanced her prospects….many elite and grassroots Republicans believe Clinton’s personality, which they can’t stand, will keep her out of the Oval Office no matter what.

Republicans are erroneously convinced they can beat Clinton solely with talk of Benghazi, e-mails, and other controversies that have nothing to do with the economy and the real lives of real people. Nowhere does the Fox News-Rush Limbaugh echo chamber more hurt Republican chances of beating Clinton than in the politics of scandal and controversy. To paraphrase the famous line attributed to Pauline Kael: everyone who conservatives know think the Clintons should be in prison. The problem is that swing voters don’t share that view in sufficient numbers to actually warrant banking a victory on placing those arguments front and center.

I find it hard to believe that the smarter GOP strategists really believe all this. But if this is the prevailing Republican theory of the 2016 election, there is precedent for it. In 2012, it often seemed as if the Romney campaign’s assessments of the election were shaped by a tendency to believe their own superficial, GOP-base-friendly talking points about Obama. The Romney campaign convinced itself that there was no way Obama could possibly get reelected amid such high unemployment. The Romney camp convinced itself that there was no way the 2012 electorate could possibly be as diverse as it had been in 2008. Obama’s election was best explained as a fluke — his cult of personality had captivated nonwhite and young voters, but that would prove as fleeting as a high-school crush. There was no way swing voters in 2012 could possibly see the Obama presidency as anything other than an irredeemable catastrophe, since Republicans knew, just knew, that’s what it had been. Something similar might be happening now.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/10/26/morning-plum-republicans-are-in-denial-about-hillary-clinton/

[leftofcool]

1. I hear they love Bernie though. Gonna cross over and vote for him.

I read it on DU.

[bravenak]

3. Lol!

He already has all fifty states!!

[Vogon_Glory]

2. The Problem With Living Inside A Bubble Is When It Pops

The problem with living inside a bubble is that they usually collide with something solid and real and its occupants find that they have to deal with the real world.

I suspect that a lot of Whackastanis are going to have such an experience next November.

[NurseJackie]

4. Not just Republicans. I think this applies to all who oppose her.

[BeyondGeography]

5. At the end of the day

more people are of the mind that they should receive something besides a hate spasm for their vote than not.

[Historic NY]

6. Excellent analysis

[NorthCarolina]

7. Yes, she has zero potential for crossover vote, and actually

a Clinton candidacy would likely drive Republicans TO the polls who might otherwise have stayed home on election day.

Bernie is the far better choice, not only because he does have some crossover appeal, but because his politics is the right thing for America and it's people.