http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=5A24B35F-C962-4E34-8F42-FEC1FF7A9062 4 things Hillary can do to win
By: Roger Simon
October 8, 2014 05:01 AM EDT
Here are four dramatic things Hillary Clinton can do to win the presidency.
Wait, did I skip the fact she has not yet announced for office? Yeah, I am skipping that.
And am I skipping her battle for the Democratic nomination? Yeah, I am skipping that, too. For now.
I am going straight to the general election because the only way to get past Hillary fatigue is to get things over with quickly.
So how does Hillary win the presidency? Should she play it cautiously and hope the Republicans nominate somebody so out of touch with the American people that she cannot lose? Or should she run a campaign of big risks and big rewards?
Her nature may be to do the former. But some people I have been talking to suggest she do the latter.
So here are four, somewhat startling things, she can do:
1. Hillary should announce she will serve only one term as president.
I admit I was shocked when I first heard this idea. I couldn’t see any rationale for it.
“The rationale for running for just one term is that you can say: ‘Here are the three or four big things I want to do in my administration, and I am going to pursue them without the distraction of reelection,” a top-flight Democratic strategist with presidential campaign experience told me.
“She says: ‘I can try to accomplish what I want to and not be focused on my reelection 18 months after I get into office.’”
Also, it would save her the enormous amount of time, focus and energy it takes to raise money for a second term, which by 2020, could be $5 billion or so.
“It would send the message that we have a real agenda,” the strategist said. “It would say: ‘We are going to pursue economic growth, immigration reform, education reform and a sound foreign policy. We are going to keep the American people on our side, put pressure on Congress, drive our agenda and get something done.’”
2. Hillary should also require her running mate to serve for just one term.
“I think requiring the same pledge from the vice presidential candidate would send the message we are not going to play politics for four years,” the source said. “I admit it’s a pretty ballsy thing to do.”
The real question could be: Can you find someone who is willing to serve as vice president for just four years and then not turn around and run for president?
3. Hillary should not be afraid to choose a woman as a running mate.
Think that’s risky? Maybe. But not really that much riskier than when Bill Clinton picked Al Gore as a running mate in 1992. The choice confounded those who believed tickets had to be “balanced” in terms of geography, age, religion, political leanings — or all of the above.
Yet Clinton and Gore both were from the South, they were only 19 months apart in age, they were both Southern Baptists, and they were both moderates.
And they both won. Twice.
Some powerful women in the Democratic Party have already come out against the idea, however. “It’s certainly possible to have two women,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California told The New York Times in April. “I am not sure it’s wise. You want a ticket that represents men and women.”
Ruth Mandel, director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, told the paper: “If Hillary Clinton decides to run, she will bring many women with her. Her candidacy would be a historic moment in mobilizing women’s interest. But whether she would put another woman on the ticket, that’s a very different calculus. As women, we tend to do our changes in increments.”
But why get cold feet now? The Democrats have a deep field of qualified women, and there is no disputing the power of the women’s vote.
Some 53 percent of voters in 2012 were women, and 55 percent of them voted for Barack Obama, compared with 44 percent who voted for Mitt Romney. Romney won the male vote by 52 percent to 45 percent, but it didn’t put him in the White House.
Republicans who think they can spurn female voters and still win the presidency are probably kidding themselves.
4. Hillary should distance herself from Obama, not so much on issues as on attitude.
One senior Democrat already has a theme for her: “I can work with people.”
“If she has a specific agenda and the ability to work with people,” the strategist said, “then voters will assume she can get something done. It would be a big game changer.”
