There was very little if any surprise Sunday when Hillary Clinton threw her name into the race. Nearly as unsurprising was the media’s fury in the days leading up to the announcement and the overwhelming attention her announcement has been given since.
However, what is a surprise is how professional and industrial the Hillary2016 campaign has come off from the beginning. A slick new campaign commercial that touches the majority of demographics of the voting electorate. A logo with a red arrow pointing to the right with some hoping this shows her movement to the center. Even a Twitter account that has gone from dormant to electric overnight with the perfect mix of professional accolades and humorous comments like "hair icon" in the profiles description. Yet, there is just one major problem: the candidate herself.
The good news is Hillary might just be what the GOP needs in order to be competitive for the executive office again after suffering losses the last two presidential elections. With the Republican Party being viewed less favorably than the Democrats according to the latest Pew Research poll (41% to 46%), something, or as it turns out someone, was going to have to be a common objective to be against for a successful campaign to be built on.
Luckily, the Democrats chosen frontrunner is a target with a plethora of mishaps to feast on. Foreign policy, lack of transparency in government roles, Travelgate and real estate investigations here at home are just a few with obvious disregard and lack of respect for the rules put in place by Congress as shown by her saying the now famous line of, "What difference does it make?"
Republicans should have enough fodder to keep them busy aiming their attacks against Hillary instead of each other. But will they show the political maturity this cycle that they have not shown in the past two election cycles? As it stands with the three already in the ring, I believe this could be achieved. However, we know the race has yet to be declared by all who are interested in pursuing the title of Leader of the Free World and we can only hope this environment of friendly tweets and positive interactions continue.
For the first time, the GOP and the Democrats are in a role reversal as it usually has been those on the left to promote their diversity of candidates. The ones to say their candidates are minorities, young, blue collar and more accurately represent the varied make up of main street America, and the GOP's response has traditionally been: ‘here is a seasoned white male from a wealthy family.’ We could never combat their emotional daggers at the GOP because sadly they were true.
Times have changed as currently the field of GOP candidates is filled with candidates who are black, white, Hispanic, male and female. We have the highly educated by the classroom or highly educated by life and are successful either way. We have candidates from every region of the U.S. who haven't left their area for a more electable one.
On their side, they have one: A privileged Ivy League educated white female who wears shades when she is ordering lunch inside at a fast food place. A woman who gets more for giving one speech than most Americans make in a year yet tried to gain empathy for saying her family was broke when they left the White House. Most importantly, a woman who doesn't even have the respect for all Americans to be so inclusive that she announces her candidacy on a social networking platform rather than in a more open environment and does not plan on any major public rally's until May.
Therefore, it looks like the roles have changed and the GOP has an excellent opportunity to not only regain the White House but also show that respect and dialogue can still occur in politics. Most importantly, the GOP can show why we are the party of the future that will create unity by respecting and encouraging opportunities for all citizens.