Marco Rubio is right: “Hillary Clinton is not unbeatable.”
However, that doesn’t mean it would be easy to beat her. And Republicans shouldn’t assume that it would be.
In 2012, many Republicans thought it would be easy to defeat Barack Obama. With the economy still struggling, the Obama Doctrine unclear and unpromising, and many of Obama’s campaign promises unfulfilled, I was told repeatedly by many high-level Republican strategists that Mitt Romney would pull through without a doubt.
I had my doubts.
I certainly have my opinion on what could beat Hillary. I think it would take a libertarian-leaning platform focusing on economic opportunity, reforming the tax code and letting people keep more of their hard-earned cash, limited government, protecting people’s civil liberties, a strong free market-based Obamacare alternative, and standing up for personal choice and freedoms. No matter where you stand on social issues, opposition to gay marriage will be a problem for the GOP. Poll after poll after poll tell you that. I’m not telling you what to believe, just acknowledging reality.
As far as the candidate, charisma is a requirement. It just is. See 2008 and 2012 GOP losses for details. And to those who have recently in any way compared Romney to Reagan, stop. Just stop. Great policy doesn’t win if someone can’t convey it in a way that resonates with people. Reagan could; Romney couldn’t. If you can’t excel at outreach and your delivery inspires more yawns than cheers, you’re not winning. Period.
Finally, do I trust the GOP marketing and communications teams today to secure that win? No. Perhaps their latest anti-Hillary squirrel campaign has something to do with that.
So Rubio, you may be right. But the GOP has some obstacles to overcome first. Hillary may not be “unbeatable,” but you have to have a candidate, vision, and surrounding team that can win.
We’re waiting.
Jedediah Bila is co-host of “Outnumbered” on Fox News at 12pm ET. She is an author, columnist, and Fox News Contributor. Follow Jedediah on Twitter @JedediahBila.