The Democratic party’s drubbing in Tuesday’s election was good for Hillary Clinton’s presidential chances. At least that’s the line being fed by the New York Times.
“A number of advisers saw only upside for Mrs. Clinton in the party’s midterm defeats,” writes Amy Chozick, the paper’s Clinton reporter.
“Before then, opinions had been mixed about when she should form an exploratory committee, the first step toward declaring a presidential candidacy, with some urging her to delay it until late spring.
“But over the past few days, a consensus formed among those close to Mrs. Clinton that it is time to accelerate her schedule: She faces pressure to resurrect the Democratic Party, and she is already being scrutinized as the party’s presumptive nominee, so advisers see little reason to delay.”
Right, it’s certainly a good thing for Hillary that Democrats overwhelmingly lost. The opposite might have been devastating.
Reading Chozick’s article, one would hardly come away with the fact that Democrats actually lost seats (many of them!) in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The main argument Chozick offers to suggest the election was good for Hillary is to say that the results make it less likely for her to face a strong liberal challenger. “In many ways, Tuesday’s election results clear a path for Mrs. Clinton. The lopsided outcome and conservative tilt makes it less likely she would face an insurgent challenger from the left,” she writes.
“Other Democratic defeats had a silver lining. The Maryland governor’s race in which a Republican, Larry Hogan, defeated the Democrat, Anthony G. Brown, 51.6 percent to 46.9 percent, for example, diminished the likelihood that former Gov. Martin O’Malley, another Democrat, could emerge as a serious primary challenge to Mrs. Clinton.”
Chozick also says her big money fans are “giddy.” She writes, “Donors, meanwhile, have already started to discuss a Clinton candidacy, at times barely veiling a giddy excitement.”
Daniel Halper is author of Clinton, Inc.: The Audacious Rebuilding of a Political Machine.
