I do not want Hillary Clinton to be the Democratic nominee.

[DFW]

240. Not just Kristol on the right

Plenty on the left, too. There is no doubt that Hillary CAN win. But she needs to do some diligent work and make some important decisions if she wants it, and even then she'll have one hell of a fight on her hands. If we have a repeat of the results of 2000, the Republicans will steal it again, and they are much better at it now than they were 15 years ago.

As you can see in this thread, she will also have to do some work to distance herself from the Republicans. I am not one who thinks she is anything like them, but she will still have to distance herself from some whom she might perceive as essential to the success of her candidacy. That also applies to personal relationships with those in her campaign. That helped sink her in the 2008 primaries, so if she hasn't figured it out this time, she might as well not run at all.

If she runs and keeps Howard in her camp, it's a step in the right direction in two ways. Howard can help keep her positions leaning leftward, and he won't have any personal allegiance to anyone who might be detrimental to her campaign. He will also bail if she gives the impression that she prefers to go in another direction. There is plenty of time for the "un-Hillary" to step up and claim the nomination and smash any Republican candidate. There is also time for Hillary to do it herself. As long as our candidate espouses positions I agree with, and does eloquently and forcefully, and then amasses a staff that indicates they are sincere about those positions, I'm cool with supporting that candidate in the general election, because one thing is for sure--the positions embraced by ANY Republican will be abhorrent.