Two prominent Democrat insiders not affiliated with the Clintons think Hillary Clinton’s nomination is inevitable. Clinton will officially enter the 2016 contest on Sunday and is without a serious challenger.
Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, whom the Clintons have not forgiven for endorsing Barack Obama after cutting a deal with his supporters in Iowa during the 2008 campaign that helped Obama defeat Clinton in the first-in-the-nation caucus state, told Politico, “I don’t see a path for anyone not named Clinton.”
“You know I don’t get along with her,” Richardson, who was U.N. Ambassador under President Bill Clinton, added. “I’m not a Ready for Hillary person. I’m trying to be honest with you.”
Longtime Democrat strategist Bob Shrum also said, “Assuming she remains healthy and runs the kind of campaign she will run, I don’t see anyone beating her.”
As Politico pointed out, “the situation on the ground does not mirror 2007… By mid-April 2007, both Clinton and Barack Obama were both polling in the 20-to-40 percent range nationally.”
Though some liberal activists are trying desperately to hype former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley as a Clinton alternative, O’Malley was only at 1 percent in the RealClearPolitics average of the polls in March. Richardson, as Politico noted, was at 3 percent in the national polling average in April of 2007, which is three times higher than where O’Malley is at the same stage.
In addition, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), the candidate left-wing activists most want to take on Clinton, has repeatedly said she will not run in 2016.
Democrats, though, want Clinton to have a “serious” primary challenger. A recent Bloomberg poll found that 72% of Democrats and independents thought it would be a “good thing” for Democrats if Clinton faced a “serious” primary challenge.
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