No Surprise Here

(Cartoon by Jack Ohman, published 6/7/14 in the Sacramento Bee and featured at McClatchy DC.  Click on image to enlarge and then kindly return.)

Yeah, yeah.  I took yesterday off.  Nothing in the Sunday papers moved me and it was just one of those low energy days.  But I'm feeling a little better today.

Actually, this cartoon reminded me that Doyle McManus usually has something to say, so I wandered over to read what he offered in his latest column.  He's reading excerpts from Hillary Clinton's new book (about to be published) and from what he sees, there's no longer any doubt that she will be a candidate for the 2016 Democratic nomination.

Here's what Doyle McManus had to say:

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s memoir of her time as secretary of State isn’t officially being released until Tuesday, but thanks to a deluge of excerpts, we already know most of what’s in the book, and that makes it easy to figure out why she wrote it.

If there was any remaining doubt that Clinton is planning to run for president, “Hard Choices“ should remove it. ...

And, in the most interesting tidbits, she makes it clear that she differed with Obama on some issues: arming Syrian rebels (that divide was already well known), on being tough on Russia’s Vladimir Putin (she says she would have been tougher), on pushing Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak out of power (she counseled more caution), and on avoiding a clash with Israel over settlements in the West Bank. I’ll write more about those issues once I’ve had time to plow through the whole book.

The upshot: Clinton’s not going to run on Obama’s record. Which is exactly what any smart campaign strategist would advise.   [Emphasis added]

I don't think any of us had any doubt that she would run.  Most of us have no doubt that she will win the nomination.  And a goodly percentage of us believe she can win the White House, unless the GOP surprises us with a fairly rational, non-Tea-Partyish type candidate.  So far, I haven't seen anyone who fits the description, but the conventions are still two years away.  She's well-funded and well-positioned for a run, even in the midst of investigation after investigation of Benghazi by House Republicans.

Nor was there any doubt in my mind that she would run as far away from Obama's tenure as Al Gore ran away from Bill Clinton's tenure.  Obama has done a few good things, but he's not come close to fulfilling his various promises for "change."  And he's left too much undone on the big issues, preferring instead to secure his future and his future in history with bland baby steps. 

The problem I see is that Hillary's come with the same DLC background as the current president and is every bit the buddy of Wall Street banksters that he is.  You don't raise the kind of money she has at this point without those "friendships."

So, while Hillary won't be "more-of-same" in every detail, perhaps she will surprise me, especially when it comes to the treatment of women here and in the rest of the world. 

One can only hope.