The Evaporating Issue: In 2016, Voters Likely Won’t Care About Ebola or ISIS
Of course, thirteen months from now it is likely that torture and police brutality will no longer be in the headlines and that voters will be thinking about issues that are hard to predict now. In a competitive Republican primary, the ability to adapt to the changing policy environment will be very important; and the candidates who can best do that, rather than simply compete to see who can criticize President Obama in the strongest language, will have an advantage. If there is competitive Democratic primary, Ms. Clinton will have difficulty adapting to new issues because of her long public record and her frequently less than deft campaign skills. This is one of the reasons why precluding a primary remains central to the Clinton campaign strategy. Nonetheless, Ms. Clinton can win the nomination not by being the most adaptable Democrat, but by being the best funded and organized; and that is precisely what her non-campaign is doing now.
