Shameless shilling for the Demcratic Party's presumptive presidential 2016 nominee appears to have reached an all-time peak.
A USA Today email I received this afternoon (email web link here) breathlessly delivered the following "Breaking" news story readers will see after the jump. Keep in mind that this is not a normal, garden-variety news story. No, this one's "breaking," meaning that we apparently must drop everything and read it because of its immediate importance to anyone who tries to follow the news:
It's two years and eight months before Election Day 2016, but we just have to know this all-important, poll-driven "breaking" news about Mrs. Clinton right now.
The opening paragraphs in the underlying column by Susan Page pick up where the email left off:
Poll: Hillary Clinton gains respect, likability for 2016
Hillary Rodham Clinton would enter the 2016 presidential race better liked and more respected than she was when she ran for the Democratic nomination in 2008, a USA TODAY/Pew Research Center Poll finds.
By more than 2-1, 42%-17%, those surveyed say her involvement in Bill Clinton's administration would be an asset rather than a liability if she sought the White House again. Four in 10 say her ties to him wouldn't make a difference in the campaign.
"She's in as strong a position as any potential nominee for an open-seat race in modern history," says David Axelrod, a top strategist for Barack Obama in the 2008 nomination battle she lost. "I can't remember any like it."
To be sure, Hillary Clinton continues to spark strong negative reactions as well as positive ones. While 51% say they'd like her to run for president in 2016 (including three of four Democrats), 43% say they hope she doesn't. Just 7% don't have an opinion, an indication of how well-known and sharply viewed she is after more than two decades in the public eye.
If she runs for president in 2016, 38% say there is no chance they would vote for her. Nearly as many, 35%, say there is a good chance they would support her. Another 24% say there is "some chance" they would vote for her.
The poll of 1,002 adults, taken Thursday through Sunday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Clinton's tenure as secretary of State during President Obama's first term has burnished her reputation and softened some of her rough edges, the survey indicates. Two-thirds approve of the job she did at the State Department, including 44% of Republicans and those who lean to the GOP — a remarkably high approval rating given today's polarized politics. In comparison, Obama's job-approval rating was 43% in the most recent USA TODAY/Pew Research Center poll.
Her experience at the State Department and in foreign policy was the item most often named in response to an open-ended question about the most positive thing from her career.
The quote from Axelrod makes it clear that this is all about two things. First, it's meant to discourage potential Democratic Party challengers from getting into the race, so Mrs. Clinton can cruise undamaged to the nomination. Second, and probably more important, it's designed to plant an aura of inevitability around Mrs. Clinton 2016 general election prospects. And Susan Page is apparently oh so willing and eager to cooperate.
Clearly, the brainwashing attempts are already going full-bore. Maybe we should us cancel the 2016 election and make Hillary President by acclamation. With this kind of free promotion, why will she ever need a campaign team?
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
