Here is what is going on inside the national political scene right now:
1. Book It: Two books are dominating Democratic politics right now. Hillary’s rocky rollout of her failing book, Hard Choices, and the report from Ed Klein, author of Blood Feud: The Clintons vs. the Obamas — that President Obama has instructed his top aide, Valerie Jarrett, to explore giving his support to ultra-liberal Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in the 2016 Democratic primaries against Hillary — have been the dominant 2016 presidential news of late.
{mosads}2. These two books are at the center of the 2016 Democratic nomination fight. The fact that Ed Klein’s book — with absolutely no mainstream media coverage — could replace Hillary’s book — which had overwhelming mainstream media coverage including an entire primetime ABC interview with Diane Sawyer — as the number one bestseller on this week’s New York Times list is a telling commentary on the failure of Hillary to “sell” herself and her book. It also shows the power now of the “alternative media,” i.e. talk radio, the Drudge Report and Fox News.
3. Hillary has a terminal disease for a politician: The more you see of her, the less you like her. Sure, the feminist left likes her — up to a point; they might actually prefer Warren as the first woman P.O.T.U.S. — but mainstream Americans seem to like Hillary more when she is out of sight. Her ratings were higher in 2013 when she was not on TV; the minute she started the book tour and was seen almost hourly on national television, her numbers began to decline.
4. In the latest Quinnipiac University poll, she continues to shed support and favorability — and now leads the top-known GOP candidates – former Gov. Jeb Bush (Fla.), Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), Gov. Chris Christie (N.J.), Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) — all by just single digits.
5. And in the latest WMUR poll of New Hampshire Democrats, she has lost 11 percent since the last time they polled.
6. All of this is happening to Hillary when she is under no pressure whatsoever and yet she keeps hurting herself. Her inane claims about the Clinton’s financial plight have really caused damage. The ridiculous amount of her speaking fees at colleges — sometimes up to $300,000 — at a time when tuition pressure is squeezing students shows Hillary’s greed and political tin ear.
7. She is no Bill Clinton when it comes to connecting with people.
8. And the recent revelation that 33-year old Chelsea Clinton is being paid $75,000 per speech is yet the latest example of the subtle corruption surrounding the Clintons and those who want an “in” with a former P.O.T.U.S. and a potential P.O.T.U.S.: You pay the daughter (who has done nothing in life to warrant such a steep fee) to gain access to her mother and father.
9. Hillary’s overall problem — besides this greedy obsession with money? She is insincere and programmed and does not know who she is. You can’t believe anything she says. She is undoubtedly surrounded by hangers-on, friends who want high-paying gigs, handlers, courtiers, left-overs from her Senate campaigns and Bill’s administration — all of whom want in on the Hillary gravy train as it rolls through the billion-dollar 2016 campaign trail to the White House — and all of whom are telling her what to say, how to answer a question and even what to wear.
10. The result is a beatable candidate. Yes, Hillary can be beaten — either by a committed and courageous liberal in the Democratic primaries, or by a unique general election candidate in November 2016.
11. What about the Republicans? Where do things sit as of today for 2016? The answer is simple: nowhere. The GOP is lost at sea not only for a competent, potentially winning candidate, but for a program that relates to America in 2016. A party that has lost five out of the last six presidential races in the popular vote is floundering when it comes to developing both a dynamite national program and a candidate who passionately wants to save America.
12. Why is this? Because most politicians are copycats; they imitate what worked before. For the GOP and the right, the last thing that “worked” was President Reagan, 34 years ago. The GOP and conservatism has lived off of Reagan for those 34 years. They’ve grown soft and lazy. They no longer “get” people. Instead, just like D.C. liberals, today’s D.C. Republicans dictate to the American people.
13. That’s why the young are turned off from the Republicans — and why the GOP’s image is even worse than the Democrats. Republicans are seen as harsh, mean-spirited, cold, closed-minded, anti-non-white people, out-of-touch — and — worst of all — “old.”
14. What has to happen is a new GOP candidate — an outsider with one foot in the Tea Party camp and the other foot in the establishment Republican camp, who passionately believes in a positive vision for the country — fiscally conservative but socially libertarian — has to come along and seize the machinery of the Republican Party.
15. With that behind him or her, this new candidate — a better, saner version of Ross Perot — can run against a corrupt political class. And no one personifies that class better than Hillary Clinton.
16. That is a winnable race. If the right candidate steps forward.
Former Congressman John LeBoutillier (R-N.Y.) is the co-host of “Political Insiders” on Fox News channel, Sunday nights at 7:30 p.m.