Larry Sabato: Bill Clinton’s NYC Inauguration Speech All About Positioning Hillary as a Progressive
University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato joined a CNN panel on Wednesday minutes after former President Bill Clinton concluded his inauguration of New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio where he said that Clinton’s speech was an effort to reframe his presidency, and Hillary Clinton, as progressive. Sabato added that Hillary Clinton is genuinely concerned about a 2016 presidential primary challenge from her left.
CNN reporter Dana Bash remarked no how fascinating it was to see Bill Clinton, a figure who rebranded Democrats as a centrist governing party in the 1990s, reframe his presidency as a champion of the causes of the left.
“As you listen to Clinton’s comments, it seemed to me, first of all, that he was redefining his own presidency as being quite a bit more liberal than it actually was,” Sabato observed. “It’s obvious he’s doing it for Hillary, because if she has a fear, a challenge that can actually dethrone her in 2016, it may well come from the left, progressive, populist wing of the party.”
“So, as you listen to Clinton, in essence, speaking for Hillary, he was trying to reposition her to put as little distance as possible between the left-wing of the Democratic Party and her candidacy,” Sabato concluded.
Watch the clip below via CNN:
[Photo via screen grab ]
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