Now on a scale of one to yuck… honestly, tell me what you thought of this video?
From a purely technical viewpoint, there are some things I really liked about this ad: color, tempo, sound, emphasis on minorities and business relationships, babies…
On the other hand? There are some things in here that take a conservative’s guts and twist them in a knot. Frankly, they introduced Hillary too late in the video… what she had to say was right, but the emphasis — oddly enough — was what I would have expected out of a Gillespie ad aimed at small businesses and families rather than an ad concerned about winning the Democratic base (to a point — the hat tip towards mock weddings was probably enough for the social progressives, though a calculated risk for the political center).
Which brings up an interesting point. Who was this announcement for?
Certainly not the Democratic base.
Certainly not towards the center.
…and certainly not towards Republicans watching for a serious shot over the bow.
Allow me to opine on what should concern Hillary Clinton at the moment. If one observes the serious insurgency posed by the populist wing (Ted Cruz) and the liberty wing of the Republican Party (Rand Paul), it’s not as if Clinton shouldn’t worry about folks on her left ready to disrupt the narrative over there.
Certainly there is a call for a true progressive in the mold of Barack Obama or Elizabeth Warren. But that would be an expected challenge much like Scott Walker taking on Jeb Bush for the conservative mantle.
The Democrats have their own version of Rand Paul. It’s former Virginia Senator Jim Webb — a man who took on the DLC mainstream once before, and then wheeled left to smash conservative rising star George Allen in 2006.
What does Webb bring to the table that Hillary Clinton does not? A foreign policy record that is actually respected by his political opponents. Purple Hearts actually earned. Legislation actually enacted and passed. A labor union card and blue collar sensibility. Much like Rand Paul, the former Virginia senator has a heart for prison reform, non-interventionism, and an eye towards the working poor in Appalachia that few if any politicians seem willing to express.
Hillary’s announcement was a warning shot to Jim Webb, and with good reason. Webb can tap into the rising tide of American populism like few others on the Democratic left. Replace Hillary with Webb — would this not have been the perfect introduction for a Webb candidacy?
Let’s add some flavor to this from the right: what if Rand Paul goes down to defeat quickly in the GOP nomination contest? What if Ted Cruz does likewise? If there is such a thing as the “Tea Party Left” vs. the inevitability of say a Jeb Bush candidacy, how quickly would Jim Webb – former darling of the Lew Rockwell crowd — be able to make the case among the blue collar working class Reagan Democrats who aren’t entirely cozy with the last 8 years, but aren’t entirely enthused with the options on the right?
Of course, Jim Webb has about as much of a chance of making waves as any other one-term senator. Then again, history has been made once before and in much more challenging times.
UPDATED: Folks over at the Washington Post seem to think the target isn’t Jim Webb at all… but Elizabeth Warren:
Of course, this kind of talk isn’t completely new for Clinton, nor is it totally just a Warren thing. Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley (D), whom we currently rate as the most likely Clinton opponent to give her a run for the nomination, has sounded a similar tone.
. . .
And this isn’t just a one-off quote from a lengthy announcement video. Clinton speaks for about 30 seconds in the two-minute video (the rest is images of regular Americans), and this is the central theme of what she talks about.
Point being, Hillary isn’t going to talk about herself — she is going to co-opt the platforms of others. Far different from the Jeb Bush approach, which seems to be to allow his challengers to announce, peak, then self-destruct (or in some instances, with a little push from below).
