Obama’s Hard-Left Politics Could Doom a Clinton Candidacy

President Barack Obama defeated Hillary Clinton for the Democrat nomination back in 2008, and now the stage appears set for him to defeat her yet, again — only this time, it could be in the general election.

As Josh Kraushaar points out at National Journal, Obama’s refusal to moderate his unpopular Progressive positions and continued pandering to the Democratic base puts Hillary Clinton in an increasingly difficult position. If Obama insists on continuing to define their party in his image, despite the unpopularity of his policies, eventually Hillary will be forced to either take up his banner, or risk a split that will resound throughout the rank and file.

To begin with, any improvement in Obama’s numbers seems marginal, at best. On top of that, an “NBC/WSJ survey illustrated a striking disconnect between the president’s improving approval rating (at 46 percent, up 2 points since November) and the top priorities of the American electorate. In the survey, 85 percent of voters rank “creating jobs” as a top priority, followed by defeating and dismantling ISIS (74 percent), reducing the federal deficit (71 percent), securing the border with Mexico (58 percent), and addressing Iran’s nuclear program (56 percent). The last four are core GOP strengths; polls consistently show Republicans with an edge on those issues”.

And at the same time, America doesn’t look much in the mood to be buying anymore of Obama, let alone what he’s selling.

The items at the bottom of the (Obama) priority list are all top administration priorities: closing the Guantanamo prison camp (24 percent rate as top priority), addressing the issue of climate change (34 percent), creating a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants (39 percent), and increasing the minimum wage (44 percent). It wasn’t just Obama’s assessment of the international stage that was disconnected from reality. It was also his assessment that the American people are with him on his agenda.

Obama’s refusal to listen to the American people and heed the Constitution could ruin any shot Hillary Clinton has of winning in 2016.