Welcome Back, Clintons

Grimes showing the door to Obama

The most worrisome thing in these midterm elections is the way Democratic candidates have run away from traditionally Democratic issues.  I'm most disconcerted with Alison Lundergan Grimes, who seems to be running more as a Tea Party candidate in Kentucky, looking to unseat a Republican who grew too fat on Congressional largesse, as she seems to campaign to the right of Mitch on most issues.

Grimes is apparently against climate change policies, as she has championed the coal industry every step of the way in this election, even though coal is no longer the biggest industry in Kentucky, and employs less than one percent of the work force in the state.  That's right -- less than one percent!  Yet, to hear Alison tell it, the fate of Kentucky, and the nation for that matter, hinges on coal.

This isn't the only issue Grimes appears out of step on.  She touts her NRA membership and has spoken out against Obama on any form of gun control, although recently she has backtracked a bit on the "gun show loophole," which allows persons to buy their weapons at gun shows without background checks.  To show her conviction, Alison has been showing off her gun prowess any chance she gets, as in this political ad.  I'm surprised she didn't use White House plates as skeets to score additional points with Kentucky voters, who resoundingly rejected Obama in 2008 and 2012.

Alison is not alone.  It seems most Democratic candidates are keeping Obama at arm's length, as well as contentious issues like health care, even though the new Affordable Care Act has proven a resounding success.  Michelle Nunn is looking past the current president entirely, saying in a recent Georgia Senate debate that the state needs "someone who is going to work with and respect whoever is the president," looking beyond the 2016 election.

The GOP strategy during the midterms has been to link Democratic Congressional candidates to Obama.  Apparently, the President didn't do Democratic candidates any favors when he recently said his policies were on the ballot.  What he was principally referring to were his economic policies, which have resulted in unparalleled economic growth and an unemployment rate which is now below 6 per cent nationally.  

You would think this would embolden Democratic candidates.  Instead, Mark Udall chastises the President on Inside Politics for his slow reaction to ISIS to curry favor with disgruntled Colorado voters, when everyone knows it is "the economy, stupid."

Throughout the midterms, we have seen the ebullient face of Bill Clinton campaigning for Democrats across the country.  He seems to have sparked up a warm relationship with Alison Lundergan Grimes, which I would think would give Hillary pause.  It seems the Clintons are once again en vogue, and there is great anticipation in the media that we could see a return of the Arkansas couple to the White House in 2016, with Hillary now Commander-in-Chief.

I had hoped with the election of Barack Obama in 2008 that we had put not only George Bush but also the Clintons behind us.  Unfortunately, memory seems fleeting, as the Clintons are more popular than ever before.  If you recall, these are the same Clintons who failed to get a health care bill through Congress, and the same Bill Clinton who settled for a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy when it came to gays in the military, ducking landmark legislation which was passed during the Obama administration, no thanks to the Clintons.

It would really be something if we see Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush running for President in 2016, offering us two past, largely failed legacies for the future.  Yet, here we have Democratic Congressional candidates across the country embracing the Clintons.  Even George Bush has undergone a rehabilitation of sorts, which cracks open the door for another Bush in the White House.

As the saying goes, the more things change the more they stay the same.