DePauwlitics:

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While much of the discussion surrounding the race for the presidency in 2016 is focused on Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders (especially here on a college campus), it is almost inevitable that Hillary Clinton will be the next president of the United States. Yes, Bernie Sanders is gaining in the polls. Yes, Hillary still has lots of room and time and make mistakes and succumb to the rules of political gravity. And yes, she is far from a perfect candidate. However, there seems to be no other legitimate, electable contenders; she ostensibly has the support of the democratic political elite and Wall Street; and she has the strongest, most weathered campaign staff. 

The Clinton campaign team is clearly the most robust of any of the presidential candidates. Hillary has hired a team staffed by veterans of her own campaigns, top aides to the Obama campaigns, former wall-street executives, and several key power brokers in the democratic party. What’s more, Hillary’s connections in Washington are sure to win her several key endorsements, like the one she recently received from New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. She also has the support of Wall Street. Four of her top five donors include Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley, according to opensecrets.org. In total she has raked in almost six million dollars from Wall Street donors. Her formidable connections in Washington, as well as Wall Street, are unmatched by any other candidates, and will surely prove to play to her advantage. 

Already leading by 22 points nationally according to Real Clear Politics’ (RCP) most recent poll, the Clinton campaign is in full control of the democratic primaries. While Sanders is certainly taking steps to close that gap (gaining 18 points since June according to RCP), it is still Hillary’s race to lose. And after Joe Biden announced his intentions not to run for President, the Democratic primaries became a two-horse race. The electorate is faced with two distinct options, the moderate, face-of-the-establishment that is Hillary Clinton and the anti-establishment, democratic-socialist that is Bernie Sanders. While Sanders may have a great appeal to young people, in a country where the word “socialist” is still dirty, Bernie is fighting an uphill battle this election to say the least. Though the political connotation of the word socialist is slowly changing, a recent Gallup poll found that only 47 percent of Americans would even consider voting for a socialist. For this reason, Sanders is largely viewed as unable to win a general election, which has turned even more voters away from supporting his campaign. 

On the Republican side, it gets even worse. Donald Trump, a man largely viewed as the clown of American politics, has been the only clear front-runner thus far. Additionally, his closest competitor and current leader in the Iowa polls, Ben Carson, has shown to be somewhat of a political clown himself. Among his many gaffes, Carson has stated that he doesn’t “believe” in evolution, he blamed the victims after the Umpqua Community College Massacre, and doesn’t seem to understand what the Debt Limit is. These sorts of gaffes make it extremely difficult to win a general election. While it is still early, and a different front runner may emerge, it is hard to believe a party that is so divided that they can hardly elect a speaker of the house will be able to rally around a presidential candidate to win the general election, especially to beat the formidable campaign of Hillary Clinton.  

After you push aside the noise of campaign season, it seems almost inevitable that Hillary Clinton will be the next president of the United States. Barring any major scandals or gaffes, her political connections, strong campaign team, and lack of other nationally electable candidates has all but guaranteed her the oval office.  

 

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Piggins is a senior economics major from Saugatuck, Michigan.