I find it very hard to believe

[RiverLover]

13. Related - "Democrats' only choice? Defend Hillary Clinton" (CNN)

Democrats' only choice? Defend Hillary Clinton

They were not-so-affectionately dubbed the "bed-wetters" by then-Obama senior adviser David Plouffe. The definition: Democrats who run to the hills every time there's a bump in the road. The Chicken Littles. The woe-is-us crowd.

Well, they're at it again. Not surprisingly, it's because of the Hillary Clinton email brouhaha, an unforced error that is now ricocheting around the political world. And the home team stands in place, just watching, somewhat stunned.

But Democrats don't actually have the luxury of standing by and seeing how this all plays out. Hillary Clinton is their candidate; their putative nominee. "Their only viable plan is to make her the best candidate possible," says one senior Democratic strategist. "And from time to time, this may require an intervention."

Now might be a good time.

But while the anxious Democrats shake their heads about the state of affairs — and the lack of serious alternatives in the presidential lineup — they might do well to look at themselves. Over the past six years, there's been a sharp structural decline of elected Democrats everywhere below the presidential level.

Sure, we all know about how the Republicans regained control of the Senate in 2014, but what about the fact that blue-state governors fell like tent poles?

Or that GOP governors now outnumber the Democrats by almost two-to-one, 31 to 18. Or that Republicans have complete control of nearly three times as many state legislatures as the Democrats, 30 to 11. And down the ballot, Democrats under Obama have lost more than 900 state legislative seats: the worst showing of any modern president.

That's eye-popping.

So, the conventional judgment that the Clinton behemoth is just too big — too well funded, too well supported, too historic — all helps account for the paucity of alternatives, to be sure. But there's much, much more to it than the phenom of Bigfoot Hillary. It's the phenom of Barack Obama, too — and the very strong counterforces he's generated around the country. The gains at the presidential level have not been cost-free: The country is polarized, the Democrats are often on defense and they're losing ground. One result: a thin presidential bench, which is painfully evident. ...

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/05/opinions/borger-democrats-defend-hillary-clinton/