I’ve been saying for a long time that no potential Hillary scandal, including remaining questions with respect to the Benghazi attack and her email controversy, will matter if people aren’t inspired by the alternative. She will be viewed as the lesser of two evils and soar to victory if GOP candidates don’t have a positive, convincing, charismatic alternative message.
A new CNN/ORC poll confirms precisely that. Via CNN:
Hillary Clinton continues to be a dominant force heading into the 2016 presidential election, according to a new CNN/ORC poll. The former secretary of state maintains a broad lead over the field of potential Democratic challengers she could face in a nomination contest and sizable advantages over the leading contenders from the Republican side in general election match-ups.
More specifically:
But none of the top candidates in this field gets within 10 points of Hillary Clinton in a series of hypothetical general election matchups.
Rand Paul comes closest, with 43% saying they’d be more likely to back him while 54% choose Clinton. The two candidates who currently top the GOP field, Bush and Walker, match up equally against Clinton, with each carrying 40% to her 55%. Huckabee gets 41% to Clinton’s 55% and Carson has 40% to Clinton’s 56%.
In the midst of an email crisis, after key missteps surrounding her book tour, Clinton is still on top. That tells you plenty about what voters think of the GOP alternatives right now.
I’m not interested in sugarcoating or inflating/deflating facts to make myself feel better. Reality is reality. And the truth is that in spite of Hillary’s slipups and potential scandals, she’s still winning. The truth is that the GOP frontrunners have yet to inspire enough confidence to sway many minds.
Yes, there’s plenty of time to change that. But if the GOP continues on the marketing, communications, and public relations course it’s on right now, its candidate will lose.
Let’s see if the GOP wakes up this round.
Jedediah Bila is co-host of “Outnumbered” on Fox News at 12pm ET. She is an author, columnist, and Fox News Contributor. Follow Jedediah on Twitter @JedediahBila.
I have absolutely no respect for H. Clinton nor her husband…..I even less respect for people that
cast votes with out knowing the FACTS or know The FACTS but just do not care or want to be
confused by them…
The electorate “WE THE PEOPLE” put Prez “O” in office TWICE….What does that say about the
American Electorate?? And what does that election TWO TIMES say about WE THE PEOPLE that do
not care enough to VOTE??
WAKE UP AMERICA I T I S T I M E ….
Foxtrot the Cunt Hillary; if America votes for this Pig then they are plain stupid. Nixon screwed up. W sold us down the tube with TARP
Do we really need to use such “colorful language”…..I think not…
Hi Jedediah,
You say “Yes, there’s plenty of time to change that. But if the GOP continues on the marketing, communications, and public relations course it’s on right now, its candidate will lose.” The problem that I see many of the 2016 GOP hopefuls making is that they are ALL, to one degree or another, hiring the same, tired, out of fresh ideas or any ideas at all political consulting firms and individuals that have been the GOP “go to” folks since Bush 1 and Dole. Their advice and recommendations today seems to be virtually identical to what they have been pushing for the last quarter century. Which in case anyone has been in a coma during that time, has produced a muddled and nearly incoherent message that has resulted in a string of epic failures to capture the White House. Repeating a failed strategy over and over again and hoping for a different outcome the next time is indeed the definition of insanity. It is also the definition of stupidity!
Yes, I agree with you that there is still time to change the dynamics of the next election., However, that will require the removal of ALL the so-called “expert” GOP consultants, that have been part of this string of epic failures, and a shift in the establishment GOP strategy towards recognizing the value and validity of a fiscally conservative, pro-growth message. Right now, the establishment wing of the GOP views fiscal conservatives, who want to adhere to the Constitution, as a group that needs to be purged in favor of a Democrat-lite platform. All supposedly to attract the so-called “independent voter”, who in many cases is simply a Democrat simply looking for extra attention. To a country in desperate need of positive change away from the Progressive policies that have damaged so much of our country, that’s not a winning GOP strategy as evidenced by numerous election outcomes.
People want the opportunity to potentially improve their lives, not merely a slower path to falling over the cliff into full-blown socialism, which is all the Democrat-lite strategy provides. At least the people that can still think for themselves anyway recognize that fact, which is another issue for another day.
A few of the current GOP candidates actually have some real potential to win, but they need to radically improve their messaging strategy. It’s one thing to have a better strategy than your opponent, but you also have to be able to effectively communicate and sell that strategy to the public. That won’t get done with the current crop of consultants running the major facets of their campaigns. So dumping these consultants as quickly as possible, in favor of a better group of people with fresh ideas and a real understanding of how to get a message out there properly, is absolutely critical. Barring such a major change, what we will see come January 20, 2017 is the swearing in of either a President Clinton or President Warren. That will mark the end of this glorious experiment, as our Founding Fathers called our country, and the start of our final leg into the ranks of fully embracing socialism.
The problem with Republican is that they need remedial math classes, they actually think that 2+2 is 5 and that extra guy or girl will vote for them in a national election. They are against everything and expect to win, even thou they are against women who are 51% of the population but 56% of the electoral, Hispanic who are 17%, blacks who are 14% and Asian that even thou they are a very conservative group, every Asian have an undocumented cousin, who will tell them to vote for Hillary, besides the fact that must of the population is poor and they are also against social security. But the biggest fundamental question for Republicans is the fact that Republican States have only 160 electoral votes while the Blue States have 246, so while Hillary is looking for 24 the Republican have steep hill to climb, not taking into account that Hillary could decide to spend 300 million in Florida and the race will be over by 7 pm Eastern time. They can keep winning the made to order Congressional Districts, but come 2016 if Hillary is able to stir the masses their 24 Senators in play are going to be in trouble.
The sleeping giant, We the People, have awaken and we want our Republic back. It’s not about Republicans or Democrats. It is about the Constitution. Those that talk of Liberty and the Constitution will rule the day.
It’s quite unfortunate that the Americas Public has to endure nearly two years of the political races.
Republicans will have difficulty in garnering sufficient support that will carry them past the Democrats in the general election.
It’s even more frightening that Hillary Clinton is leading and will win beyond the nomination because America will suffer from her potential failures.
She was inept in saving four Americas in the Bengazi tragedy so how can she direct a more complicated America?
I share the opinion of many that as Republicans were capturing offices in the ’80s and ’90s, liberals were capturing the culture. America has been fundamentally transformed, not in 6 years, but in 25. A successful candidate can not just wax fondly about Ronald Reagan; he or she needs to connect the dots between less government and better quality of life; between a robust civil society and real liberty; between moral clarity and national security. It’s a very tall order, perhaps an unfair one. But, as you point out, no amount of corruption or incompetence will derail Hillary Clinton without a Republican who can successfully cut through the crap.