Shakes here…
Writing in Congressional Quarterly, Craig Crawford takes a look at the issues for Dems with having a presumed nominee in Hillary Clinton. There’s not a ton of new stuff here—Clinton is a controversial and divisive figure; she has serious fundraising ability; her stature intimidates those who might criticize her—but I found his suggestion of a litmus test for sorting out serious contenders rather interesting.
None of her challengers show any inclination to explicitly make the charge that she can’t win against the Republican nominee. For starters, doing so would probably end any possibility of becoming Clinton’s running mate.
That’s my test for separating serious rivals from those who are just auditioning to join a Clinton ticket. Those who can’t find a way to publicly speak to party concerns about Clinton’s general-election appeal will not be serious presidential contenders in my book.
