Unsurprisingly, there is already talk of Hillary Clinton
running for president in 2016. She
has been planning to get back to the White House since before she left
there. Her time as senator in New
York was a stepping stone to the presidency. When Barack Obama derailed her plans in 2008, she took the
job of Secretary of State so that she wouldn’t burn her bridges.
2016 could end up being a very interesting presidential
election year. Personally, I think
the presidency is overrated in regards to who wins. The rhetoric differs between candidates, but the policies
are continuous. Republicans and
Democrats don’t like to hear this, but there is not much difference between
Obama and his predecessor Bush.
And if you look at the 2012 election, it was a contest of
Obamacare and Romneycare. Romney
didn’t want to admit it, but Obamacare was essentially modeled after Romney’s
plan in Massachusetts.
I think 2016 does matter though, if only as a reflection of
public opinion. Ironically,
Hillary’s biggest threat right now is Obamacare. This healthcare debacle has become quite unpopular,
especially as people get kicked off their insurance plans and they see the huge
premiums for new plans. It is tied
to the Democrats and Hillary is a Democrat.
I almost wonder if Hillary will start to distance herself
from Obamacare. Her job in Obama’s
cabinet was related to foreign policy and had little or nothing to do with
medical care. I am just not sure
if Hillary will push for her fully socialized healthcare agenda or if she will
just try to change the subject.
I can envision Hillary getting into the White House, even
though she is disliked by many.
Some people are enthusiastic about Hillary, but about half the country
doesn’t like her. It might be more
accurate to say that half the country dislikes or hates Hillary.
But I can still see a path to the White House for her,
similar to her husband. Many
people forget that Bill Clinton never won a majority of the popular vote. Of those who actually voted, he only
received 43% of the vote in 1992 and 49% of the vote in 1996. Remember Ross Perot?
I would not be surprised to see Jesse Ventura run for
president in 2016 as an independent candidate. And don’t discount his chances. He is very anti-establishment at a time when people are not
fond of the government. Ventura is
mostly anti-war and pro civil liberties.
As a libertarian, I think he is lacking in economic understanding, but I
do give him credit for having some principles, having honesty, and having a
backbone.
I can also envision Rand Paul getting the Republican
nomination. He is far more
political than his father and he will play ball with the establishment
Republicans. (I am not saying this
as a good thing.)
If there is an election in 2016 between Hillary Clinton,
Rand Paul, and Jesse Ventura, I can see Hillary getting in with 40% of the popular
vote, or maybe even a little less.
If Ventura and Paul both get around 30%, then Hillary gets in.
This would make sense, as many independents and left-leaning
libertarians (if that isn’t a contradictory label) would likely support
Ventura. Many right-leaning
libertarians (again, if it isn’t a contradictory label) and most Republicans
would support Paul. Most Democrats
and a few independents would support Hillary.
Even if the Republicans nominated someone else, I could
still envision something similar to happen. There are a lot of possible candidates, although Chris
Christie looks far less likely now.
I don’t necessarily think this country is doomed if Hillary
gets in as president. She is
extremely corrupt and power-hungry, but even tyrants are limited in their
abilities by public opinion.
It will be interesting to see if Jesse Ventura runs. In my opinion, I think it would be a
good thing, even if he didn’t win.
I think he would attempt to expose a lot of government secrets and
lies. He would bring up issues
that we otherwise wouldn’t hear about and he would challenge his opponents.
2016 may be a really interesting year for politics. It may be even more interesting if the
economy is falling off a cliff at that point. If anything, the results will likely give us an indication
if there has been a shift in public opinion towards more liberty and less government.