Unlike the Republican field where three Senators have already thrown their hats in the presidential ring with nearly a dozen potential aspirants expected to decide their course in the coming weeks, Hillary Clinton is sitting pretty on the Democratic side, with just one Senator from the fringes, Bernie Sanders, entering the race thus far.
What more, no political heavyweight seem to be on the horizon to challenge the former First lady and Secretary of State’s second presidential bid even as polls continue to project her as the clear Democratic favourite for the top job.
There has been no definitive word from Vice President Joe Biden one way or the other on whether he would be running. Quizzed on the subject, he told reporters earlier this month: “There’s a lot the President and I care about that has to get done in the next two to three months…When you run for President you’ve got to run for President, and I’m not ready to do that, if I’m ever going to be ready to do that.”
Other Democrats who are still weighing a run against the formidable Clinton include former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and former Senators Jim Webb of Virginia and lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island. Elizabeth Warren, a first-term Senator from Massachusetts and a former Harvard law School professors, is being coaxed by her supporters to take the plunge, but she has repeatedly said she will not be running.
A “Democratic socialist”, Bernie, who has been serving as an Independent in the Senate but caucusing with the Democratic Party, is not perceived to be one posing any worthwhile challenge to Clinton.
As Sanders, who focuses on middle class uplift, announced his bid on Thursday, Clinton actually welcomed with a tweet. “I agree with Bernie. Focus must be on helping America’s middle class. GOP (Republican Party) would hold them back. I welcome him to the race,” she tweeted.
Despite the recent controversy over foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation, stoked by the book by conservative author Peter Schweizer, CNN reported that Hillary Clinton has maintained a decisive, double-digit lead in every survey of the prospective Democratic presidential field, drawing from 50-70 per cent support among Democrats. “But progressives remain wary of her candidacy, as they see her as too close to Wall Street,” the network said.
In an interview to ABC News, Senator Sanders himself projected the foreign donations issue as “a very serious problem”. As Sanders put it, “It’s not just about Hillary Clinton or Bill Clinton. It is about a political system today that is dominated by big money. It’s about the Koch brothers being prepared to spend $900 million dollars in the coming election.”