A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.

5 November 2017 — 2039 mst

I look forward to reading Donna Brazile’s new book

Hillary Clinton’s claque, of course, prefers that no one reads Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House , the new book by former Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile, and that those who do read it dismiss it as sour grapes ravings by a disloyal woman scorned. That’s why they’re belittling Brazile and denouncing her book before it’s published on Tuesday.

Her critics are the same diehard Hillary worshippers who employed similar tactics to try to discredit Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign, the unflattering account of HRC’s campaign that has withstood its critic’s attacks.

The Clinton cabal’s attacks on Brazile will, of course, boost the sales of Hacks, but it no surprise that the cabal that wasn’t smart enough to win the election isn’s smart enough to say nothing.

One issue I hope Brazile’s book addresses is whether the Clinton cabal cleared the field for HRC. Earlier today, at Mother Jones, I left the following response to Kevin Drum’s question on what clearing the field meant:

Whether the DNC “cleared the field” for HRC depends on what “clearing the field means.” There is, however, a clear record of the both the DNC and Democratic leaders fearing and trying to avoid contested primaries for the U.S. House and Senate. That attitude could not have been helpful in bringing new blood into the 2016 presidential primary.

It seems to me that for HRC, the lesson of 2008 was she was a weak candidate who couldn’t defeat a strong primary challenger. Given she was 62, she would have been wise to have curbed her ambition and not run again. Instead, she, and the people supporting her, appear to have decided that the best way not to suffer another defeat in the primaries was to not have strong primary competition. A weak bench, combined with “it’s my turn” and “it’s her turn” and “it’s time for a woman president and no man should challenge that” may have contributed to clear the field so that her only challengers were an obscure former governor who never caught fire and a 75-year-old senator who, to her surprise and dismay, did.

She survived the primary, but she never was a strong candidate; never was a likable politician; never seemed trustworthy. Instead, she was a 68-year-old woman, wildly ambitious, deeply selfish, who believed she was entitled to the presidency. The election was lost the moment she was nominated, and the campaign became a last hurrah that turned the nation over to Donald Trump, Paul Ryan, and Mitch McConnell. HRC signed a death warrant for the New Deal, Great Society, and the ACA.

Donna Brazile may have some insights into how and why the Democratic Party facilitated that debacle instead of preventing it, and I look forward to reading her book.