Hillary’s Gamble

Hillary Clinton’s 2016 run is less than a day old, and it’s already plain she means to play it safe. That’s a big risk. From the bizarre official announcement via a socialmedia video to the carefully staged followup events to early plans to expose the candidate only to carefully selected, no doubt friendly media, the campaign is dead set on shielding Clinton from the press.

And, reports Politico, her already leaked “big themes” are “middleclass pocketbook economics” and “her role as a gender trailblazer.” In other words, she’s looking to dodge any real issues of substance.

That’s understandable: It’s dangerous for her to talk about what’s wrong with America, when so much of it lies at the feet of the man she served loyally for four years. She can’t even bash Wall Street without raising awkward questions about her loyal donors.

Indeed, the big strategy is just to raise “an insane amount of money,” as one insider told the Daily Beast. The campaign is floating expectations as high as $ 2 billion.

This, when she faces no serious challenge for the Democratic nomination, while the Republicans will be scrapping it out for another year. Get ready for a vast negative-ad onslaught long before the conventions.

In short, Clinton is hoping to power her way to the White House without ever saying much to anyone, relying on fond memories of 1990s prosperity under President Bill Clinton to suggest she’ll somehow deliver something better than the Obama economy.

And that’s the big risk. Because Americans know this isn’t the ’ 90s — instead of that global post Cold-War peace, the world is slipping into chaos, including a new nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

And the road to chaos started on Secretary of State Clinton’s watch.

Nor will empty “Message: I care” talk of “pocketbook economics” reassure the countless voters — middleand workingclass — who see the “new normal” slowgrowth economy leaving them behind.

The nation needs serious action— real reform — to start producing the millions of good jobs it needs. Americans will want to hear a leader explain credibly howhe or she is going to get the country there.

The Clinton “safe” strategy — shelter the candidate, win by being the inevitable winner, raise big bucks and say almost nothing — lost once to a message of hope and change. It may wind up failing the sameway again.