The Democrat's Achilles Heel

I suppose that most conservatives are disheartened by Hillary Clinton’s New Hampshire primary win. Barack Obama was supposed to win resoundingly, thus fatally weakening the Clinton campaign. Some speculated on the date that Hillary would officially withdraw from the race; others (mostly conservative) were gleefully predicting that the influence of the Clinton family on the Democratic Party would finally end.

They were all wrong. Hillary easily beat Obama tonight. She is now back on the fast track for the Democratic nomination. Many Clinton-hating conservatives are dismayed at the thought that the Clinton Machine is back up and running.

They shouldn’t be upset. Hillary Clinton is by far the easiest candidate for Republicans to beat. In most polls, Edwards easily beats the GOP candidate, Obama wins by a slightly smaller margin, and Hillary is either tied or lagging behind. She rarely if ever breaks fifty percent of the vote when matched up against a Republican. Her disapproval ratings are sky-high—over fifty percent of the country claims that they would never vote for her. She is seen as a far leftist by moderates, and as a moderate by far leftists. (These are far leftists, like the readers of the Daily Kos). Her base in the general election seems small.

The reason she polls so poorly against Republicans candidates is that her name is the only one that overshadows the label “Republican.” It is not an advantageous thing to be a Republican at present—there exists (understandably) widespread disgust at their poor performance in Washington. The Democrats represent change.

But Hillary Clinton doesn’t. Voters know exactly what they will get. Some may like it—but it won’t be change. Hillary must hope that enough voters look nostalgically back on the Clinton years to give her a large enough following to take back the White House. However, it is often unwise to base a campaign on things past—Presidential elections are about the future. A Clinton candidacy may be enough to permit the Republicans to keep the White House in an election which, to be honest, they deserve to lose.