According to a new report from Jeremy W. Peters of the New York Times, there’s one Republican candidate that Democrats fear in a 2016 match-up with Hillary Clinton:
A Hillary Clinton Match-Up With Marco Rubio Is a Scary Thought for DemocratsWASHINGTON — They use words like “historic” and “charismatic,” phrases like “great potential” and “million-dollar smile.” They notice audience members moved to tears by an American-dream-come-true success story. When they look at the cold, hard political math, they get uneasy.An incipient sense of anxiety is tugging at some Democrats — a feeling tersely captured in four words from a blog post written recently by a seasoned party strategist in Florida: “Marco Rubio scares me.”What is so unnerving to them at this early phase of the 2016 presidential campaign still seems, at worst, a distant danger: the prospect of a head-to-head general-election contest between Mr. Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida, and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The KOS kids don’t seem as concerned:
I think it has some merit. I personally am not “scared” of Hillary facing Rubio in the general, but I do think that he would far and away be the Republicans strongest candidate. That does not mean that I find him impressive in any way – I do not. But I do believe that he could put a dent in the Hispanic advantage that the Democratic part has, and I also think that he could win Florida.Yes, I know, I know – his immigration stance will probably hurt him with both the Hispanic voting block and the RWNJ voting block – but I do believe that Democrats – and the Clinton campaign – should take Rubio very seriously.
Rubio represents the younger, new crop of Republicans who came up in the mid term elections of 2010 and 2014. Whether he represents a danger to Clinton in 2016 or not, he’s certainly a reminder of a big problem Democrats currently face.
Josh Kraushaar of National Journal:
Democrats’ Vanishing FutureOne of the most underappreciated stories in recent years is the deterioration of the Democratic bench under President Obama’s tenure in office. The party has become much more ideologically homogenous, losing most of its moderate wing as a result of the last two disastrous midterm elections. By one new catch-all measure, a party-strength index introduced by RealClearPolitics analysts Sean Trende and David Byler, Democrats are in their worst position since 1928. That dynamic has manifested itself in the Democratic presidential contest, where the bench is so barren that a flawed Hillary Clinton is barreling to an uncontested nomination.But less attention has been paid to how the shrinking number of Democratic officeholders in the House and in statewide offices is affecting the party’s Senate races. It’s awfully unusual to see how dependent Democrats are in relying on former losing candidates as their standard-bearers in 2016.
Rubio may also explain the reason for the Hillary campaign’s newest hire.
Stephen Dinan of the Washington Times:
Hillary Clinton’s campaign hires illegal immigrant ‘Dreamer’Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign has hired an illegal immigrant “Dreamer” to work on her 2016 bid, activists said Wednesday, in a move that sees the Democratic front-runner check off yet another wish list item for Hispanic voters.Lorella Praeli is in the U.S. under President Obama’s 2012 deportation amnesty for Dreamers, or young adult illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. As part of that amnesty, she has tentative legal status and a work permit, so it is legal to hire her — but she is still not a lawful presence.Immigrant rights advocates cheered the move as historic, though they warned Mrs. Clinton not to use the symbolic hire as a token gesture.
Maybe the press can ask her about that if she ever starts taking questions.
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