Greeson: Hillary stands tall among Democratic dwarves

Standing on a stage in Las Vegas, Hillary Clinton, the safest bet to be a candidate in our next presidential process, was equal parts unimpressive and unchallenged.

Clinton was flanked by Bernie Sanders, some guy in a bow tie and two other fellows who could be best described as the human version of the curmudgeonly Staler and Waldorf – the grumpy, mumbling Muppets sitting in the balcony.

The former first lady is far and away the front-runner for the Democratic nomination. A decision made as much because many believe it’s her turn for her playing nice with the party after voters passed her over for Barack Obama seven years ago.

Of course, Sanders has made some noise and Joe Biden apparently still is flirting – like a high school cheerleader passing by the quarterback’s locker before lunch – with a White House run.

But Hillary’s more than the front-runner. She’s a lock-stock-and-barrel sure thing to be in the 2016 race to the White House. If there was any doubt before Tuesday’s debate, those lingering issues were cast aside in two distinct ways.

First, no one really challenged Clinton on the email scandal that has engulfed her for more than a year. If Sanders was serious about getting the nomination – a thought that many believed before Tuesday – by downplaying the fact that Clinton is the modern version of Richard Nixon, then he squandered any chance he had.

For the Democratic Party, the quiet politeness of the challengers was an overwhelming high note for the party. Needing to make a statement, Sanders was forgettable. The other three? Forget about them.

That allowed Hillary to stay above the fray for the most part and lob shots at the Republican Party. Juxtapose that against the three-ring circus that has been the Republican debates.

When the 11 GOP hopefuls were on the debate stage last month, for most of them the most important mission was to do one of three things: a) get noticed; b) take shots at Donald Trump; or c) get noticed while taking shots at Donald Trump.

That makes for better television – there were more than 23 million watching the Republican debate on CNN on Sept. 16 compared to more than 15 million viewers for the Democrats event on CNN on Tuesday – but not for better strategy.

The Democrats in general and Clinton in particular made the most of the opportunity. According to the transcript, the word “Republican” was mentioned 41 times Tuesday night. Trump was mentioned five times – which was roughly the number of times we heard from former Rhode Island governor and Democratic hopeful Lincoln Chafee, who actually was on the stage.

In the tug of war that has become the primary, it becomes too easy to ignore electability. The limited field of legitimate Democratic options allowed the candidates to focus on the grand prize – winning the presidential election – rather than the debate prize of winning the sound bite.

Hillary was able to stay true to the base, take a few calculated shots at Sanders, deliver the occasional shot across the Camp Biden bow and not get her hair messy.

Her answers seemed canned, and she was allowed to wiggle free from any potential corner. The responses from the Republican front-runners were nearly uniform: She got off easy.

That’s true. So is the fact that her Democratic Party as a whole benefited from Tuesday night.

And if the Republican Party hopes to make strides toward actually winning the election rather than winning the spotlight, it will start thinning the herd of hopefuls sooner rather than later.

While the GOP is trying to find its messenger, Hillary is able to craft her message.

Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and 423-757-6343.