The cloak of inevitability that shrouds Hillary Clinton in secrecy does nothing to mask the problem Democrats are facing: there are few options for 2016. While Barack Obama was the young hotshot of the Democratic Party in 2008, there are no rockstars this time around. The elderly, white Democrats pitted against Hillary in theoretical polls, all lose badly -- theoretically. In a roundup of recent polls on potential Democratic Presidential candidates, RealClear politics has Hillary Clinton averaging at 57.3 percent, versus Joe Biden with 12.8 percent, Elizabeth Warren with 12.3 percent, Bernie Sanders with 4 percent, Jim Webb with 1.7 percent and Martin O'Malley with 1.2 percent.
If you put down your drinks for a second, Democrats, these polling numbers are a sobering reminder of the irresponsibility of relying on one candidate. Furthermore, why Chuck Schumer, Harry Reid or Debbie Wasserman Schultz have not publicly vetted any young Democratic politicians (or anyone for that matter) is anyone's guess. Perhaps Schumer and Wasserman Schultz have their own presidential ambitions? Maybe in 2020 or 2024. It is unlikely at this point.
I am disappointed with the Republican field as well. How did another Bush get to be the new Romney? "Step aside folks, I'm the decider!" He will bring down the whole Party! If youth is the Left's problem, the Tea Party is the Right's problem. Democrats may be ready for Hillary. But is the country at large? Can a Conservative who appeals to mainstream Republicans appeal to mainstream America? We have a lot of Cruzes, Walkers and Perrys, but not enough moderates. Moderate Republicans may be branded as RINOs (Republicans in Name Only), but if any can get past that distinction, he or she should please contact the local Republican Party office. Such candidates are needed to appeal to the general election voters. As for the Democrats, they are running the clock backwards to 2008 again with the same candidate who lost the nomination to Obama. The other candidates are virtual unknowns.
The majority of Americans will not vote for Chris Christie. I'm just putting that out there. Comment again in 2016 if I'm wrong. Jeb Bush is the Republican Party's "Anointed One" (as Rush Limbaugh calls Obama). Hillary Clinton feels entitled to the presidency and that the Democrats are beholden to her. How did we get to this? Is this what George Washington envisioned when he rejected the monarchy? If being a former politician is the gateway to the judiciary (in some states), perhaps being a failed Presidential candidate is reason enough to run again and again.
While Americans say they want change, we are falling for more of the same. This may be because these are uncertain times and people are looking towards candidates they are familiar with. Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush may be from the old guard, but we know them and expect new policies, that is, policies different from George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Wether either of these candidates can make it through a general election is anyone's guess.
We the people can do better next time. As Hillary Clinton herself said in a recorded interview with Der Spiegel (as opposed to her private yoga emails), the U.S. is "not a monarchy." Even Bush the First's First Lady Barbara Bush has weighed in saying, "If we can't find more than two or three families to run for higher office, that's silly." She later made a silly exception for her son Jeb. Americans cannot afford an endless cycle of kings and queens. Democracy deserves better.