Hillary looks like she has 271+ electoral votes in the bag, so I’m not worried that she will be elected President. And we’ve heard ad nuseum about Donald Trump’s pivot, or lack thereof. It’s more like a peg-foot pivot of the type where he turns and turns back, bending and twisting, and quickly turns sideways and back again, spinning awkwardly with hair askew and not really going anywhere as if one of his bone-spurred feet is pegged to the floor. But Trump himself is only part of the problem, so let’s put things in perspective here.
Republican obstructionism is a major tenet of the Republican Party. Over the past eight years, overt obstruction has hurt America badly: A gridlocked congress and their refusal to move on key legislation – infrastructure spending, comprehensive immigration reform, health care tweaking, tax reform, voting reform, and many others. And of course, as a bloc, Republican senators refused to even hold confirmation hearings for a supremely well-qualified moderate for the U.S. Supreme Court.
These are the reasons a lot of folks are angry at congress, and Democrats want change. But not merely any change. What we all want is a Progressive government that works, not one held hostage by a fringe element of the Republican Party.
With all this in mind, little or nothing has been said on the national campaign trail – by Hillary or her surrogates or in TV ads – about THE key issue that will either give Hillary majorities in the Senate and House, or she will be relegated to President Obama’s level of success with the same Republican obstructionists.
If Hillary has some “secret plan” to address this issue to get folks motivated to vote Democrat all the way down the ticket, I’m begging on bended knee for her to declassify it immediately.
It’s time to pivot. Folks get that Trump is dangerous, and unstable. Her “Just one wrong move” ad is powerful and serves her well. What folks need to hear now, again and again before mail-in voting begins, via surrogates and from Hillary herself, is that she also understands the serious problem unrelated to Trump himself, one she can solve merely by talking about the issue head on – unrelenting Republican obstruction that’s killing this country and no less dangerous than Donald “just one wrong move” Trump.
As to the counter-argument that Hillary need “checks and balances” in congress, folks should be reminded (and motivated to get out and vote) of what will happen if Hillary does not at least have a Senate majority, if not a House majority, too. Think Benghazi and e-mail investigations for four years. No immigration reform, no health care fixes, no infrastructure spending, no tax reform, nada. Poll some voters and ask if those are the checks and balances we want!
It’s time for Hillary to pivot to the one issue receiving short shrift in this election, the very one causing many of the problems we now face and will face down the road – Republican obstruction.
I’ve given money to Hillary, and I’ve even sent money to Democrats outside my district. But I’m not giving another dime until I see evidence of this much needed pivot. It’s not rocket science or nuanced policy details, so everyone knows the clear issue, and it’s up to Hillary to define and explain it in terms folks can relate to. If she doesn’t pivot to this issue, and before the debates so she can USE it in the debates, she will be passing up some very valuable low-hanging fruit ripe for the picking. It would be a crying shame if her failure to expose and hammer this one issue costs her the Senate and House majorities. Hillary needs to govern, and govern effectively. This is the change folks need and want, and Hillary has to talk about how she can achieve change with a Democrat-controlled congress.
Just sayin’.
Oh, and by the way, someone please tell me the difference in the “optics” of a Clinton foundation donor potentially seeking influence when she’s in office versus a big political donor to either “potential” presidents Clinton or Trump. Not to mention the deaths of children around the world left unvaccinated via Clinton Foundation funding. Wouldn’t it be more prudent to announce that NO adjustments will be made to the Clinton Foundation unless and until Trump releases his full tax returns and we experience the “optics” of HIS potential influence peddlers?