The way things are going for the Democratic front-runner, maybe the headline for this column should be “When will the Democrats dump Hillary?” because things have certainly not been going well for the presidential candidate.
The first indication that something is seriously wrong for her candidacy is the startling success of Bernie Sanders’ campaign against her. Sanders, the avowed socialist senator from Vermont, has been drawing much larger crowds at his campaign rallies than anything Hillary Clinton can corral. He even out-polled her in one survey in New Hampshire.
And the guy is not even a Democrat, for crying out loud!
When an obscure politician from Vermont who’s a registered independent — not even a member of her party — can attract bigger crowds and more responses in a poll, it says there is something seriously wrong in the Clinton candidacy.
What’s wrong, of course, is that a huge number of people simply don’t believe her. And their numbers are growing like mushrooms after a rainstorm. The latest Fox News poll, taken just last Friday, reports that 58 percent of Americans now believe Hillary lied about not having classified material on her private email server. And 54 percent believe her use of that private server created a security risk.
It isn’t just hard-core Republicans who share these suspicions. Fox found that an even larger majority of independent voters — some 67 percent — believe she lied. Even women voters, by an 11-point margin, say the lady has not been telling us the truth. So much for the support from what may be Hillary’s most cherished constituency.
Yes, the situation for Hillary is looking pretty grim. And Dick Morris says it’s going to get a whole lot worse. In fact, the political analyst predicts that before this scandal is over, Hillary will be indicted.
Morris points out that the inspectors general who reported finding classified material in her emails based their conclusions on just “two emails out of 40 that were reviewed. There are 30,000 more to go.”
Morris says: “When they go through all 30,000, the evidence is going to be so overwhelming that I believe she will be indicted.”
I’m a little doubtful that the Justice Department, which has been incredibly politicized under the Obama administration, will decide to pursue charges against Clinton. In fact, I suspect that one reason her server was finally turned over to the FBI — after being swept as clean as her technicians could make it — was because she was confident that an investigation would drag on well past next year’s primaries.
But Hillary doesn’t have to be indicted for this scandal to doom her presidential ambitions. When a large enough majority of potential voters believe the lady is a liar, the Democratic power brokers will demand she be replaced.
Who will they pick? There’s no question who is the favorite of the leftwing zealots in the Democratic Party: Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. She’d be a fervent campaigner with a fanatical base of support. But since she is, if anything, even further left than socialist Sanders, it’s hard to believe a majority of voters will buy into her strident rhetoric.
The other candidates already in the race sure don’t have much to offer. Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee says he wants the U.S. to adopt the metric system. That position won’t win him enough support to fill an elevator.
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley demonstrated the backbone of a jellyfish when he succumbed to the intimidation of the “Black Lives Matter” radicals. And former Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia, who by all accounts is a pretty decent guy, hasn’t been able to impress anyone beyond his immediate family.
Pressure is growing for Vice President Joe Biden to enter the race. But while he’s got a great smile and a pretty decent résumé, do we really want as president a guy who is so notorious for sticking his foot in his mouth? And don’t get me started on Al Gore, who is possibly the most mean-spirited man since Lyndon Johnson to hold national office.
Don’t expect Clinton to quietly give up her quest. She may not have much charisma (thank goodness!), but she’s got a ton of ambition. And we know her team will play the hardest of hardball to get her elected.
While the Republican battle for the nomination has been getting most of the publicity, it looks like things could get just as interesting for the Democrats. Will Hillary emerge as victor or vanquished? A lot of the smart money is betting on the latter.
Until next time, keep some powder dry.
Chip Wood was the first news editor of The Review of the News and also wrote for American Opinion, our two predecessor publications. He is now the geopolitical editor of Personal Liberty Digest. This article first appeared on PersonalLiberty.com and has been reprinted with permission.
