By Corey Krajewski
Contributing Writer
With a year and a half until the 2016 Presidential election, Hillary Clinton has positioned herself far ahead of any potential competition for the Democratic Party candidacy. While she has not made an official declaration, she already has a well-funded campaign staff and multiple political action committees in place. As it stands, Hillary will run a campaign free from competition on her way to the Democratic Candidacy, and will be a weaker candidate for this.
Outside of Clinton, the only people discussed at all for the democratic candidacy have been Joe Biden, Martin O’Malley, Elizabeth Warren, and Jim Webb. Only one of these candidates comes close to having the same widespread image and renown that Clinton has, and that is Biden, our current vice president. O’Malley, the former governor of Maryland, and Webb, a senator from Virginia have little traction right now and are mostly unknown on a national scale. Warren, a senator from Massachusetts who does have widespread appeal in the democratic party, has claimed she will not run despite the speculation.
It is hard to imagine a race where O’Malley and Webb come close to beating Clinton. They lack the renown necessary to win outside of the states that they have direct ties to. Only Biden has anything close to the national renown that Clinton has. This is in noticeable contrast to the Republican party elections, where there are numerous candidates, of similar levels of renown, all vying for the presidency, and no clear cut favorite by any capacity. In a recent poll recorded by CNN, Clinton had received 67 percent of the votes, 50 percent more than the next candidate.
Hillary Clinton has all of the potential to be a strong candidate for president, and her winning the election does not require a stretch of the imagination. On the other hand, running through the Democratic Primaries with no real competition could be more detrimental to her campaign than helpful. Without needing to prove herself against her competition due to their relative anonymity, she will not get the opportunity to prove herself to non-party voters.
It would be in the best interest of the Democrats to encourage some of the better known names in their party enter the race. People like former vice president Al Gore and former Secretary of State John Kerry have the name recognition needed to go toe-to-toe with Clinton and potentially come out on top. And if they are not the winning party candidate, they would make it a competitive race that will strengthen Clinton’s candidacy.
The current view of the upcoming Democratic primaries is that it is already Clinton’s race to lose, and numerous other candidates are only using it to get themselves in the public consciousness for the 2020 election. While it is not unreasonable for these candidates to do this, as it is a good strategy for gaining renown, it is not a good idea for the Democrats to load the primary with only small name candidates. A few large names need to run in order to provide some sort of realistic alternatives for the candidacy, and to ensure a properly competitive race.
krajewcj11@bonaventure.edu
