In my Sunday essay Hillary Clinton and a left flank: How a Clinton presidency could redefine progressive governance, I argued:
there is another benefit for progressives to a Hillary Clinton presidency, a less fettered ability to establish the left flank of politics outside a Democratic White House/ [... whereas ] the establishment media presented President Obama as the left flank of American politics.
David Sirota, like many others, argued in 2009
that "[Obama] was far and away the best and most progressive person for the job."
That simply is not how Hillary Clinton is or will be perceived. Consider this CNN article published today:
[S]urveys also suggest the base of [Clinton's] party is drifting leftward, away from the centrism that defines Clintonian politics.[Emphasis supplied.]
There are many aspects of the Clinton potential presidential candidacy that are historically anomalous - she stands n a unique place in history, but I would strongly argue that her favorite status does not derive from her positions on issues.
There s room for the establishment of an independent, influential Left Flank centered in the progressive elements of the Democratic congressional caucus and in outside groups. There is a great chance that a President Clinton will neither establish nor be seen as establishing the progressive position on issues. Her favorite status is decidedly NOT an endorsement of the Third Way.
This strikes me as a potential benefit to the progressive movement.