The Las Vegas Review-Journal has an article out that asks: “Is Hillary Clinton the Democrats’ Mitt Romney?” Politico and a website called The American Prospect have articles out about “the GOP’s plan to turn Hillary into Mitt Romney.”
The websites shine a light on the issue that Hillary may seem inevitable, but that may not necessarily be the case.
Hillary Clinton officially announced her candidacy for president Sunday, and received praise and backlash from both sides of the political spectrum.
Because of her huge profile and the lack of other well-known Democrats in the field, the former first lady, Senator, and Secretary of State enters the race in a position that is perhaps unmatched in modern U.S. presidential politics.
However,her path has similarities to a past presidential candidate: Mitt Romney.
1. They were repeat runners
It will be Clinton’s second time running for President, just as it was Romney’s second time running in 2012.
2. They were popular with the public
Huffington Post’s pollster shows a recent declining trend in Hillary’s popularity, but overall, she’s been favorable since 2009. Clinton resonated with female voters in 2012, as well as those Democrats with Bill still fresh in their minds. Various polls showed Romney as the favorite in 2012.
3. They had opposition within their own party
Progressives are unsure of Clinton’s positions on “a litany of current policy issues,” according to Al Jazeera English.
“…(O)n so many important society-shaping issues we don’t know where she stands and we have a suspicion that she’d rather not say,” Roger Hickey, co-director of the progressive Campaign for America’s Future said.
While Romney resonated with the GOP for being a “by-the-books Republican,” members of the party who disliked him did so more for personality, not policy, states the Review-Journal.
Romney’s “aloofness” and “elitism”put off Democrats as well as Republicans. Romney in his second campaign tripped over a line of gaffes and past controversies along the way, states the Review-Journal.
When it came down to the wire, the way Romney handled himself had become an issue for voters. That “aloofness” created a discepancy between who Romney actually was and who he wanted the public to know in his campaign, states the Review-Jornal.
Toward the end of his campaign he became known to some degree for his wealth and Mormon faith. Where very few outright hated him — they simply never found him completely trustworthy, state the Review-Journal.
That same lack of trust is the polarizing issue Clinton faces as she enters the race for the 2016 election.
“It raises a huge character issue for me. It goes to whether I can literally trust her,” said Leake Little, a 54-year-old Democrat and poll respondent.
After a recent email scandal, an April 10 Bloomberg poll found that 53 percent agree she purposely withheld or deleted some, with 29 percent saying she was truthful. One-fourth of Democrats agreed to the former.
An Issue for Republicans and those in the middle may be the death of four Americans in Benghazi in 2012, though Clinton was exonerated from any culpability in the most recent investigation, conducted by the Republican-led House Intelligence Committee. There is currently yet another investigation underway being led by Trey Gowdy in the House of Representatives.
4. Both seemed inevitable
The last issue is that both cadidates seemed inevitable. Earlier this month, Democrat Martin O’Malley said regarding Hillary, “History is full of examples where the inevitable frontrunner was inevitable right up until she was no longer or he was no longer inevitable.”
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/gops-plan-attack-hillary-clinton-as-mitt-romney-116943.html#ixzz3XaTOuA5D
(Updated article)
OK, Fine. 