As the midterm elections approach a growing number of Democrats aren’t seeking out an endorsement from failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Some, in fact, consider her a liability and are distancing themselves, including one self-described progressive candidate in Arkansas, where Hillary and her husband Bill Clinton cut their political teeth.
The Hillary endorsement divide is in the spotlight this week as she is expected to endorse New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s reelection at a Democratic state party convention. The move will likely anger liberals who support far-left candidate Cynthia Nixon, according to the New York Times.
The Times article, which called Clinton’s loss “stunning,” compiled the number of Democratic candidates and operatives who do not consider Hillary an asset to the Party going into a critical election for winning back seats from Republicans.
The Times reported:
They worry that the Clinton name reeks of the past and fear that their unpopularity with conservative-leaning and independent voters could harm Democrats in close races. And among many younger and more liberal voters, the Clintons’ reputation for ideological centrism has little appeal.
President Trump, meanwhile, has continued to level caustic attacks that have made the Clintons radioactive with Republicans. A Gallup poll in December found Mrs. and Mr. Clinton with their lowest favorability ratings in years.
The Times article starts with Arkansas — where Bill Clinton was governor — where it reported, “There is scant demand for their help.”
In Little Rock, Arkansas, none of the four Democratic candidates vying for a House seat at Tuesday’s primary election sought out support from Clinton, the Times reported.
“I see the Clintons as a liability,” Paul Spencer, a progressive in the Arkansas race, said in the Times article. “They simply represent the old mindset of a Democratic Party that is going to continue to lose elections.”
The Times noted, however, that Clinton is courting the far left through her newly-minted political organization, Onward Together, by funding groups like the anti-trump Indivisible and Swing Left.
And Hillary clearly sees herself as a political operative for the Party.
“We have to win back the Congress,” she said in a speech on Friday in Washington at an event organized by the Democratic National Committee.
The Times reported that Hillary’s remarks after losing to President Donald Trump “stirred frustration among Democrats.”
Those remarks included a speech in India where Hillary suggested that women didn’t vote for her because of their husband’s opposition to her and the claim that being a capitalist hurt her campaign because most Democrats are now Socialists.
“At least two Democratic women have nearly begged Mrs. Clinton to stay away from their high-stakes red-state Senate races,” the Times reported. “After Mrs. Clinton said in March that she won parts of America that are ‘moving forward,’ unlike Trump-friendly areas, Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri rebuked her.”
“I don’t think that’s the way you should talk about any voter, especially ones in my state,” McCaskill said.
“Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota was blunter when asked, on the radio, when Mrs. Clinton might ‘ride off into the sunset,’” the Times reported.
“Not soon enough,” Heitkamp replied.
A spokesman for Hillary disputed a tone-downed approach to elections going forward based on the news of the Cuomo endorsement.
“There will be more to come,” Nick Merrill said in the Times article. “While Republicans are hellbent on focusing on the past, she is focused on the future.”
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